Good evening from West Seattle, where NPI is among the media organizations represented at Senate hopeful Shannon Braddock’s election results watch party. Braddock, as readers may know, is running to succeed Senate Majority Leader Sharon Nelson as the 34th District’s state senator.
The mood was light and optimistic at the beginning of the night, as supporters filed inside the pizzeria. The campaign ordered beers and pizza and encouraged a casual ambiance that was easy to feel comfortable in.
The candidate everyone was here to support, Shannon Braddock, has been deeply involved in advocacy for children and under-privileged in her local area.
As Deputy Chief of Staff under King County Executive Dow Constantine, much of her focus has been on funding for local schools and responsible firearm laws.
She hopes to translate her local experience with some of Washington’s most contentious issues into statewide policy, planning to teach and learn in the Washington State Senate, which Democrats gained control of last year.
While the mood was always bright, once the results rolled in, the atmosphere became more and more jovial.
It quickly became apparent that along with Joe Nguyen, Braddock was leading the pack and is likely to move on to the general election as one of two Democrats on the ballot. She stood up on a chair in the middle of the room, hands above her head, gesturing gratefully at the packed house that was there to see her.
Senate hopeful Shannon Braddock addresses her supporters in West Seattle (Photo: Greg Evans/NPI)
“Standing for someone is hard,” she knowingly intoned.
“Thank you for all the support. Thanks so much.”
Her speech was brief, and lacked the sort of grandiloquence you might expect from someone angling for what could be called a promotion. She returned again to the sense of camaraderie and community that has been her strength up to this point, and rather delightedly added: “To think a single mother could do this.”
Her supporters cheered and applauded.
Her common refrain of responsible firearm laws, schools that work for all children, and intentional fiscal pragmatism was well received by everyone in the room. Obviously, her campaign has also been well received by a significant proportion of voters in the deeply blue 34th Legislative District. Braddock and Nguyen will face off in the general election later this year, on November 6th.
Braddock currently has 26.87% of the vote, while Nguyen has 27.69%. The next closest candidate is also a Democrat, Lois Schipper. She’s got just 9.51%.
Eight other candidates were also in the running, but it looks like they will all be out of the hunt when the election is certified in a couple of weeks.
Check out NPI’s Pacific NW Portal for up to date election results and continuing coverage of the August Top Two election, the first round of the state’s two part elections system, which concludes with the general election in November.
2 Comments
I hate to break it to you, but Joe Nguyen, the more progressive candidate in this race, is going to be the next state Senator from the 34th District.
Considering Joe is in first place, it’s reasonable to assume your prophecy will be fulfilled. Over 90% of candidates who win in the Top Two go on to win in the general.