by Mark Neuman
We spoke with King County Council member Dow Constantine, who, along with Susan Hutchison, will advance to the general election in November in the race to become the next King County Executive.
As of Wed., Aug. 19th at 4pm, partial vote count totals showed Dow in second place with just over 23 percent of the vote compared to Susan Hutchison’s 36 percent.
“We are in a very strong position to win the general election,†Dow said from his victory celebration Tuesday night (Aug. 18th). “I am very happy with our numbers.
“The four office-holding Democrats in the (primary) race were really splitting up the vote. And now we have a chance to consolidate that.â€Â
We asked Dow Tuesday evening: Are you, generally speaking, having a good time tonight?
“Generally? Yes. It was pretty nerve-wracking leading up to the announcement of the vote totals. My girlfriend, Shirley, and my mom and dad and I were sitting and waiting for the results to come over. And when it happened it was a big relief.â€Â
We asked Dow about his strategy for his general election campaign.
“There are two distinctions between the two remaining candidates,†he said. “One, Susan Hutchison has a philosophy which is way out of synch with the people of King County.
“And two, there’s also the issue of experience. Susan Hutchison has zero experience at solving the kinds of problems that we’re facing in our economy (and) in our county.
“I have served in the private sector as well as the State House and Senate and the King County Council. I have a strong record of reform legislation of exactly the kind that’s going to be needed as we weather this economic crisis,†Dow said.
“The four Democratic elected officials in the primary, including myself, had a robust exchange of ideas during the campaign. These are all bright, capable people. We raised a lot of great ideas. 
“We need to throw open the doors of this county to everyone’s ideas and everyone’s proposals for innovation.
“I have had conversations on several occasions with (primary candidate and State Representative) Ross Hunter about how we can work together in the future between the state and the county to solve some of these structural problems. I’m very excited about that opportunity,†Dow said.
Thoughts about Burien?
“Burien is a good example of the way in which the county has changed and how the old structures need to be retooled to reflect that change,†Dow said.
“Burien’s leaders and business community set about to really reinvent the place and make it into an urban hub that is readily served by transit and is vibrant with multi-family and commercial and job opportunities.
“There are perhaps a dozen such hubs around the county now so King County is no longer just one big city surrounded by low density suburbs,†he said.
An invitation for an interview with the B-Town Blog has been extended to the Hutchison campaign.
King County Executive election results as of 4pm Wed. 8/19/09:
- Larry Phillips 25073 11.95%
- Fred Jarrett 26045 12.41%
- Stan Lippmann 2634 1.26%
- Alan Lobdell 5397 2.57%
- Susan Hutchison 75382 35.92%
- Dow Constantine 49109 23.40%
- Ross Hunter 23222 11.07%
- Goodspaceguy 2646 1.26%
- Write-in 345 0.16%
