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Offering commentary and analysis from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's uplifting perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015

Democrat Claudia Balducci crushes Jane Hague for King County Council, 6th District

The East­side of King Coun­ty con­tin­ues to turn blue.

Belle­vue May­or Clau­dia Bal­duc­ci has emerged vic­to­ri­ous over long­time incum­bent Repub­li­can Coun­ty Coun­cilmem­ber Jane Hauge in the 6th Dis­trict (Belle­vue, Kirk­land, Mer­cer Island, and envi­rons), cap­tur­ing near­ly six­ty per­cent of the vote in ear­ly returns — a stun­ning, lop­sided result that few saw coming.

Claudia Balducci

Clau­dia Bal­duc­ci speak­ing at the King Coun­ty Democ­rats in August 2015 (Pho­to: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

Bal­duc­ci has made it a point to remind vot­ers that she is a Demo­c­ra­t­ic, pro­gres­sive can­di­date, while her oppo­nent is an entrenched Repub­li­can incumbent.

Hague has been a fundrais­ing machine, but her defeat tonight just goes to show hav­ing a giant war chest is not a guar­an­tor of vic­to­ry. (Hague sig­nif­i­cant­ly out­raised Bal­duc­ci; she was a fundrais­ing machine.)

Hague has been crit­i­cized by Bal­duc­ci and oth­ers about her missed votes on the Coun­cil, lead­ing to the impres­sion that she’s phon­ing it in and only seems to want the job at elec­tion time. Well, she won’t have it any­more, come January.

This is a very sat­is­fy­ing vic­to­ry for the King Coun­ty Democ­rats, who have long want­ed to replace Hague and elect a Demo­c­rat from the east side of Lake Wash­ing­ton. The Wash­ing­ton State Democ­rats are also very happy.

“When we chose Clau­dia Bal­duc­ci as our ‘Elect­ed Offi­cial of the Year’ this year, we knew she was a ris­ing star in our par­ty,” said Jax­on Ravens, Chair of the Wash­ing­ton State Democ­rats “Con­grat­u­la­tions Clau­dia on a resound­ing vic­to­ry over a well-fund­ed entrenched Repub­li­can oppo­nent. As a mem­ber of the King Coun­ty Coun­cil, Clau­dia Bal­duc­ci will con­tin­ue to be a strong, effec­tive leader for the East­side and a cham­pi­on for our pro­gres­sive values.”

Written by Nick Pernisco :: 8:48 PM

Categories: Elections, Live Coverage

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