Lovick wins Snohomish County sheriff race
Snohomish County residents can now call state legislator John Lovick their new sheriff.
Lovick’s opponent, Tom Greene, a 25-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, conceded Tuesday night to Lovick, whose lead has slowly grown daily as more new votes are counted.
Greene has garnered just less than under about 49 percent of the votes counted so far.
“I have plenty of opportunity in front of me,” he said. “But what I want is to be this county’s next sheriff.”
Greene outspent Lovick 2 to 1 in this year’s election, mainly to overcome Lovick’s name recognition and popularity. Lovick drew criticism after the primary, in which he led Greene and sheriff’s Lt. Rob Beidler, for what some said was a lack of serious campaigning.
But between the primary and general election, Lovick poured more into his message of reforming the Sheriff’s Office by saying he would bring back crime-prevention officers and build better relations between local law-enforcement agencies.
County executive
Surprisingly, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon’s opponent has gathered more votes than expected. Reardon is handily defeating Republican candidate Jack Turk, a magician who also advises other magicians and entertainers.
“I can’t tell what’s in the heads of people as to why they voted for me,” Turk said. “I pretend to be a mind-reader, but I’ll admit it’s smoke and mirrors.”
Turk did no campaigning, entering the race just three months before the election after Bart dropped out.
Adding to the Democratic control of the Snohomish County Council appear to be state Rep. Brian Sullivan and former state Rep. Mike Cooper, both of whom have substantial leads. Their wins would leave John Koster, who considered a run for county executive, as the council’s lone Republican.
Port of Everett
The ringing defeat of 18-year Port of Everett Commission incumbent Don Hopkins by political newcomer Michael Hoffmann stunned just about everybody - except Hopkins.
Hopkins says he knew he was in trouble when he opened his county voter’s guide and discovered his campaign statement was missing. He says he mailed his information around the time of the September primary; the county says it never arrived.
“I opened [the pamphlet] up, and I almost fell out of my chair,” recalled Hopkins, a retired longshore clerk and Lotto millionaire.
Hopkins, however, has a positive attitude about his loss and is encouraged about the potential of Hoffman, an architectural designer, to do a good job.
“I enjoyed it while I was there - hopefully, we accomplished a lot - but now it’s part of my life and I move on,” said Hopkins, 65. “This fellow seems like a nice, young guy. He’s got a lot to learn - I’ve tried to hook him up, introduce him to people. I told him I’ll help him however I can. He told me I’ll be on his speed dial.”
Hoffman, 42, says he ran his campaign on a shoestring budget, didn’t doorbell much and had few campaign signs.
“I think it’s more of a vote for change,” said Hoffman, who promises to bring “a new point of view” to the commission.
Hoffman said he will be “environmentally conscious and progressive” and will represent a younger generation on Port matters.
Edmonds City Council
Richard Marin, who has served on the Edmonds City Council since 2001, is far less stoic about his narrow loss to attorney Steve Bernheim.
Marin, a Community Transit and Sound Transit board member, blamed his loss on the unpopularity of the Proposition 1 roads-and-transit measure.
“It looks like I went down with it,” said Marin, an outspoken proponent of the measure, which he thinks was doomed by misinformation, misguided endorsements and a “huge, huge, huge misunderstanding” about its impact on taxes.
When he leaves office, he also will lose his seat on the transit boards. Bernheim’s victory solidifies the council’s current majority that opposes significant change to downtown Edmonds. Marin had been part of a previous majority, toppled in the 2005 election, that wanted to encourage redevelopment by allowing three-story buildings in some downtown areas.
School boards
A longtime school volunteer and critic of district spending is leading in the Monroe School Board race. Debra Kolrud, 50, was well ahead of incumbent Carlos Martinez, 53, a Monroe police sergeant who was appointed to the board in 2006.
“I’m excited. Now I’m going to have to do some homework,” Kolrud said.
Kolrud did little campaigning, but she has lived in Monroe since 1967 and is a graduate of Monroe High School. Her three children also graduated from the school.
She was a founder of Bearcat Pride, the high-school parent group, and said she spent so much time running the organization’s concession booth, “I might as well have taken an apartment.”
Martinez sent out flyers and posted some yard signs during the campaign but didn’t file a statement in the voter’s guide. The former Army helicopter pilot is believed to be the first Hispanic to serve on the School Board and during the election said he was proud of bringing a multicultural perspective to the post.
Kolrud, a former business owner, attributed her victory to her reputation for integrity and her concerns about district finances. She said reserves are too low, and the proposed $53.1 million maintenance-and-operations levy the district will run Feb. 19 is too large. She noted that it represented a 52 percent increase over the 2004 levy.
In Arlington, incumbent Jim Weiss, 41, was defeating former board member Glen Reid, 79, in a rematch of their race four years ago. Reid, a retired chemist, was critical of the education Arlington students receive and questioned whether students were being taught anything.
Weiss promised to focus on raising academic achievement and instituting a customer-service approach to district operations.
Diane Brooks: 425-745-7802 or dbrooks@seattletimes.com; Christopher Schwarzen: 425-745-7813 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com; Lynn Thompson: 425-745-7807 or lthompson@seattletimes.com