Seattle School Board Primary Election Results, 2023

District 1

Debbie Carlsen                     24%            

Liza Rankin                          59%

Michael Christophersen       13%

Blaine Parse                          4%

Not good news for those of us who would like to see Rankin out. Carlsen is going to have to work very hard to overcome that but it's doable if she talks about Rankin's real record.


District 3

Ben Gitenstein.                    33.89 %

Christie Robertson.              28.32%

Evan Briggs.                        37.23%

I'm pretty surprised because I thought Robertson did a great job and had a good background. This will be an interesting match-up with Gitenstein and Briggs. 


District 6

Maryanne Wood                15.83%

Rosie McCarter                   6,17%

Gina Topp                          77.40%

I'll have to go check but Topp's showing may be a primary record. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oh well, my predictions are spot on. So let me remind you: Rankin will be re elected. Evan will win by a slim margin (I will admit Ben is not who I expected to come in second). Gina will win by a landslide because Slye did not run despite the rumor mill and Gina’s opponents are NOT school board material.
Sooooo: Progressive Seattle Parents (Robert, Jane and Beth): eat your little hearts out and…

Buckle Up
Anonymous said…
SPS is done in my opinion. Sending Rankin back is what is needed to push those parents over the fence that were thinking about going elsewhere. Realistically who would even want to be on the board after they start closing schools but Rankin wont have to hear it because she only goes out to Olimpia.

D1 voter
Anonymous said…
Nobody listens to Rankin in Olympia. They don't take her seriously because they know she's a rubber stamp for the district, in over her head, and has no independent thoughts -- she's just sharing district talking points that she does not actually understand. Her re-election would be a disaster for SPS, and if she's joined by Evan Briggs, we will see this district privatized and charterized by the end of the decade if not sooner.

Doomer
HereWe Go said…
At least Rankin will be on the board as the district continues on a downward trajectory.

Naturally, Rankin will blame and point fingers. She will want to "frame" conversations in a certain way. Taking personal responsibility isn't Rankin's MO.
Doomer, how do you know no one listens to Rankin in Olympia? I know she has Gerry Pollet as a handler when she's there but I don't know much else.

I agree; I have never heard her give an independent thought or idea. She was so gung-ho on outdoor learning but seemed to just give up on that.
Anonymous said…
Seems to me Seattle as a whole is slowly crumbling especially north Seattle. People would be wise to consider relocating to a more up and coming area with pride in their schools. At some point people with the means will sell and move on.

Loon factory

Anonymous said…
Nobody listens to Pollet either. He is a marginal figure in the House Democratic caucus who has zero ability to move legislation. Rankin won't get the time of day from the elected officials who actually matter, has no relationship with key committee chairs or caucus leaders, and has never once shown an interest in actually addressing their concerns with SPS. Why would she? The only reason she's on the board is to ensure that district admins have a compliant majority on the board that will rubber stamp their wishes and avoid accountability.

How do I know this? Simple. You just have a conversation with these legislators. They're willing to talk. They don't like taking the blame for SPS's mistakes and are not shy about explaining what is going wrong.

Doomer
Anonymous said…
Well voters have had their say and now the only way to stop the train wreck is to stop feeding it $$$$ I think it's time to fail levies or even better roll back taxes.

Fund this
Anonymous said…
Buckle Up

Rankin looks like a sure thing, unfortunately, but I have still hope for Gittenstein. Hopefully, he will win over the majority of Robertson voters (she seemed like a sensible candidate).
If Briggs beats him, it’s hard to imagine SPS not continuing or accelerating its downward spiral.

SPS Parent
SPS Parent, oh ye of little faith.

Yes, Rankin is sitting pretty right now but I expect to see forums where she gets asked some tough questions about her record. I'm going to try to put it out that those should include SOFG,Ingraham,Broadview Thomson, etc.

Carlesen has to be a stronger candidate and we'll have to see if she can do it.

I think the contrast between Gitenstein and Briggs will be pretty obvious but the key may be the same as for Rankin. Including SOFG and all the money the board is spending on that, you have a director who was found to have committed bullying, harassment and intimidation against senior staffers (an investigation SHE asked for) and then she turns around and sues the district over it.

If Hampson's endorsement is for Briggs, that doesn't say much for Briggs.
Just to update:

In D1,Rankin has a really solid lead now at 61.23%. Carlsen has stayed about in the same place at 22.50%.

In D3, Briggs has inched up to 40.14% while Gitenstein dropped to 31.44% while Robertson inched up to over 28%. The problem for Briggs is that the Robertson votes are not going her way. If Gitenstein just garners 20% of them in the General , he'll win.

In D6, Topp continues her astonishing climb upwards, now at nearly 80%. It'll be interested to see how high she'll go in the General. We could take bets.

And now, I sure hope we'll be hearing something from D2 from both Lisa Rivera Smith and Christina Posten.
Patrick said…
The trouble with betting is that you always need to find someone willing to bet the other way...
Anonymous said…
You don't need to waste time because historically any primary winner with over 50% has always won the general. Maybe I'm wrong so double check the numbers.

So Sad

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