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.

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.”