Dow Constantine isn’t the only elected official whose old seat will soon be filled by appointment of the King County Council. State Sen. Fred Jarrett (D-41) plans to resign his seat to take a job as Deputy King County Executive sometime after Constantine’s old council seat is filled, opening up a vacancy in the Senate.
Three candidates will be chosen by a vote of Democratic precinct committee officers in the 41st District; those names will then go to the county council, which will vote on Jarrett’s replacement. Interesting side note: For most of his career, Jarrett was a Republican. He only became a Democrat two years ago. Had he not switched parties, the 41st District could be looking for a Republican replacement now instead of a Democrat.
The leading contender remains state Rep. Marcie Maxwell (D-41), a freshman from Renton; however, three other potential Democratic candidates stepped forward at a recent 41st District Democrats meeting to say they would run if Maxwell chose not to. (State Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-41, says she is not interested in leaving the House, where she runs the powerful transportation committee.)
Those candidates are: Randy Gordon, a Bellevue attorney who tried to beat out Darcy Burner as the Democrat for Congress against Dave Reichert (R-8) in 2006; George Pieper, vice-president of the Greater Seattle Business Association; and Vicky Orrico, a Bellevue community activist who challenged Bellevue City Council incumbent Conrad Lee in this year’s election and narrowly lost.
Maxwell (who hasn’t yet returned calls for comment) has not said yet whether she plans to leave the House; however, she is reportedly under pressure from House Speaker Frank Chopp to keep her seat. Chopp has reportedly warned Maxwell that it will be easier for her to run for reelection from the House than from the Senate, particularly if she has to fight off a challenge for her initial appointment from another strong contender. Chopp is also reportedly telling Maxwell that the House Democratic campaign committee is a stronger, better-funded political operation than the Senate’s. Melinda McCrady, spokeswoman for the House Democrats, has not yet returned a call for comment.
Chopp, of course, always puts up resistance when members of his caucus suggest they might leave the House. However, he could be on to something: DIME PAC, the political action committee set up this summer by the Washington State Labor Council in response to Democrats’ limp support for labor rights, has said it will no longer give money to conservative Democrats or the Democratic Party as a whole. Since the 41st, overall, is fairly conservative, a Democratic candidate for Maxwell’s seat would probably be a moderate—and thus might not win labor’s support, creating more work for Chopp to get them elected.
Maxwell has plenty of time to make her decision: Technically, Jarrett doesn’t even have to step down from the Senate to serve as deputy executive, and he’s extremely unlikely to do so until Constantine’s seat on the council is filled, restoring a 5-4 Democratic majority on the council.
