Peters and Blanford Ahead; Patu Retains Seat
Update: the next tally of numbers will come at 4:30 p.m. today, Wednesday, the 6th.
From King County Elections:
District IV:
Sue Peters: 51.46% - 39,177 votes
Suzanne Dale Estey - 48.18% - 36,676
Write-in - 0.36% - 273 votes
District V:
Stephan Blanford - 87.60% - 64,540 votes
LaCrese Green - 11.93% - 8788 votes
Write-in - 0.47% - 344 votes
District VII:
Betty Patu: 98.49% - 586,889
Write-in - 1.51% - 871 votes
I just left a very happy Sue Peters election party. Directors Smith-Blum, McLaren and Peaslee were in attendance.
KUOW's Ann Dornfeld's take on the Dale Estey/Peters campaign parties (very funny):
At Peters’ party, it’s a mostly middle-aged crowd milling about the room, drinking wine and cocktails. There are purple balloons, sandwiches and cured meats. It’s a festive mood.
It’s less festive at Estey’s campaign party, where there’s a sparser crowd and most of the guests appear to be drinking water.
From King County Elections:
District IV:
Sue Peters: 51.46% - 39,177 votes
Suzanne Dale Estey - 48.18% - 36,676
Write-in - 0.36% - 273 votes
District V:
Stephan Blanford - 87.60% - 64,540 votes
LaCrese Green - 11.93% - 8788 votes
Write-in - 0.47% - 344 votes
District VII:
Betty Patu: 98.49% - 586,889
Write-in - 1.51% - 871 votes
I just left a very happy Sue Peters election party. Directors Smith-Blum, McLaren and Peaslee were in attendance.
KUOW's Ann Dornfeld's take on the Dale Estey/Peters campaign parties (very funny):
At Peters’ party, it’s a mostly middle-aged crowd milling about the room, drinking wine and cocktails. There are purple balloons, sandwiches and cured meats. It’s a festive mood.
It’s less festive at Estey’s campaign party, where there’s a sparser crowd and most of the guests appear to be drinking water.
Comments
CT
-flibbertigibbet
Was Alison Krupnick the only press (Parent Map) at the victory party?
Active registered voters in the Seattle School District: 410,704
Ballotts returned: 136,896
Ballots ready for counting: 132,575
As of tonight, he difference between Sue Peters and SDE is: 2501
Quite close call yet but hopefully Sue Peters will win in the end, too.
SPS mom
-flibber
SavvyVoter
Dear Friends,
On the last day of our strong and broad-based campaign, I want to express how very grateful I am to everyone who has gotten involved in this team effort!
We have kept our focus on high quality education for all of Seattle’s kids throughout this campaign with unprecedented support for a Seattle School Board race.
Here are some amazing metrics of which I am sincerely proud:
Over 150 people have volunteered their time on this campaign – folks have doorbelled, called, hosted house parties, stuck stickers (several kids helped with that!) and joined me at Farmers Markets across Seattle.
Supporters have shared hundreds of Facebook posts and e-mails with their own networks. This ripple effect has been extremely powerful!
We have knocked on over 8,000 doors including 10 doorbell blitzes centered in neighborhood parks and covering every corner of the city – from Northgate to the Southeast to West Seattle to Ballard.
Our volunteers have called more than 6,000 voters – in just the last few days, we’ve called over 45 key precincts!
We put 1,000 yard signs up in yards all over Seattle.
We earned over 500 endorsements from community leaders across Seattle, including over 50 elected officials and a long list of education leaders. Click here to see a complete list.
And here’s the real “money” story that deserves the headlines: we received an unprecedented 810 donations from over 750 people to this campaign – that’s more donors than any Seattle School Board race in history! 450 of those are contributions of $100 or less – far more donations at that level than my opponent had in total, and less than 5 percent of our donations were at the maximum level.
Those aren’t CEO’s. They are teachers, moms and dads, engineers and office managers who want to get our Seattle Public Schools moving in a positive, productive direction. Like me, they believe all kids in Seattle deserve a high quality education. I greatly value the generosity of each and every one of our contributors.
Seattle can and should have a great, world-class public school system. It’s time to work together and move our District forward in a positive way. In the past few months, I’ve personally spoken with thousands of voters who have told me they agree with my messages that we need to:
Keep the focus on students
Fight for high quality education for all
Strengthen community engagement with a focus on our shared values
While we await tonight’s election returns, I am tremendously grateful for those of you who have helped to give me the potential opportunity to help do just that.
THANK YOU once again for your support!
Suzanne
P.S. Please join us tonight for our Election Night Party. Details below. Hope to see you there!
=============
- petersVoter
From SDE"
SPS mom
EdVoter
DENVER — Colorado voters on Tuesday rejected one of the most sweeping school-financing measures in the nation this year, according to The Associated Press, deciding that the promise of smaller class sizes, full-day kindergarten and smarter education spending was not worth the price of a tax increase.
The vote was a major defeat for teachers’ unions and the state’s governor, John W. Hickenlooper, a Democrat who campaigned heavily in support of the measure to provide $1 billion mostly for educational improvements. It was also a blow to charter-school advocates and a group of deep-pocketed philanthropists who had supported the effort as a rare opportunity to infuse new money into poor and struggling schools. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York contributed $1 million, as did Bill and Melinda Gates, whose foundation is a major contributor to education projects.
Opponents of the education measure were vastly outspent, but they offered a simple argument to voters leery of higher taxes, saying that the increase would hurt job creation, cost small businesses money and bruise the state’s economic recovery, with no guarantees that the changes would actually work.
-not NE
Yup and I think it drives the Times crazy because they want to be the only voice. But their reporting (at least to my mind and at least on education reporting) has increasingly leaned to one side.
Does The Stranger have a POV? You'd have to be blind not to see that but at least they have some decent reasoning and are decidedly upfront about it.
I could quibble about some of the things said in Dale Estey's statement but I won't. I'll just point out that money pays for a lot of efforts.
EdVoter, that Colorado vote was a lot more complicated than just raising taxes to fund education. When you see Bloomberg and Gates in there, you know there's more to it.
Also wondered aloud at the correlation, over time, of their recommendations and election results.
Mary -- I'm with you on the language at the Stranger. My 10 yo likes reading the endorsements/voter pamphlet to us, and we certainly can't have him read the Stranger endorsements. Don't work for my parents, either. Seems like it wouldn't be hard for them to generate a clean version for the liberal 10 and 80 year olds.
zb
As an aside, I was robo-called twice by the Peters campaign (Love you Cliff Mass!) and asked to vote for Sue. All I got from Suzanne Dale-Estey were slimey mailers. Not even a robo-call to ask for my vote.
MC
1) the really "pro" people from either side tend to vote earlier
2) the undecideds - some of them - take information up to the last day. That last Dale Estey flyer may have tipped some voting to Peters - I think it was widely disliked.
Amazed, this doesn't surprise me much. The powers that be do NOT get Seattle School Board races and are constantly surprised when they lose. Money won't win it in Seattle.
(P.S. I'm available for hire as a consultant next time. :)
Voters don't want school board candidates who see the school board as a springboard to other elected offices, business leaders or public policy wonks with no direct involvement and/or knowledge of the complexity of public education, or people who are part of the "elite" that they can't relate to.
Feel free to use these points in your future gig as a consultant. ;-)
--- swk
That might be a little unfair. But has anyone jumped from school board to other elected office?
Back to Melissa's point, I think there is some reasonable suspicion of someone who raises $100K+ for a job that pays $4K. I am also very suspicious of anyone who comes in with a "they've done it all wrong for years, but I'm going to come in and fix it!" message. The board is seven people, and you need three others to get anything done.
not elected office but Maier went to State BoE and Sundquist to the charter commission. What stuns me is those two clowns achieved that having been thrown out after one term...
I do beleive some perceive the position as a stepping stone to bigger things.
But I believe she was drafted to run and directed how to run. She allowed others to direct her campaign and did little to even attempt to curb what the PAC did.
She never truly and publicly disavowed the tactics being used in support of her campaign. (She had one vague statement at her Facebook page but in the Times she had the chance and didn't take it.) I think she should have sent out the word - publicly - that she didn't like it and they might have tried something else.
I perceive the PAC thought the primary mailer worked and it was uneven and somewhat negative. So they went all out during the general and went very negative.
It did not work and I believe people did not like it.
*Not in SPS very long.
*No real experience w/in the district.
I think the "backers" thought her policy experience made her a good candidate. They did not realize that SPS parents want people like them to represent them and Peters fits that profile.
--- swk
What? They burned through the $225K and were left on bread and water?
-flibbertigibbet
--- swk