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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Politics New Poll in County Exec. Race

Posted by Dominic Holden on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 7:52 PM

County Council Member Dow Constantine's edgy strategy to pull forward in the race for King County Executive—by repeatedly pointing out that frontrunner Susan Hutchison is a conservative Republican—seems to be paying off, a poll conducted by KING 5 News and released on its 5:00 p.m. tonight broadcast shows. Constantine has gained five points, jumping to second place from third place, which he held in KING's last poll on June 5. The other leading Democrat, County Council Member Larry Phillips, has lost two points since that poll, slipping from second to third. Under new rules, county candidates aren't required to disclose party affiliation. These are the numbers:

• Hutchison — 41%
• Constantine — 12%
• Phillips — 7%
• Hunter — 6%
• Jarrett — 4%
• Goodspaceguy — 3%
• Lippman — 2%
• Lobdell — 2%
• Undecided — 23%

If Constantine can hold second place through the August 18 top-two primary, he will proceed to the November ballot. That would be good: He could maintain his attack on Hutchison into the general election.

"I think we are seeing a sign that it is turning into a two-person race: Dow versus Susan," says Sandeep Kaushik, a spokesman for Constantine's campaign, who forwarded these poll results to The Stranger. (More on Constantine's strategy in an article this week.) "Dow Constantine has been the only Democrat in the race willing to point out that stealth conservative candidate Susan Hutchison’s right-wing beliefs and affiliations," he says.

In a game based largely on name recognition—a game that gives former news anchor Hutchison an advantage—Constantine's efforts to get his name into the press could be earning him name identification and allowing him to shoulder past Phillips. But talking about her in the press could also be helping bolster name recognition for Hutchison, who gained more than any other candidate—seven points since the last poll. However, if Constantine keeps up his attack, Democrats who blindly supported Hutchison based on name recognition could get wise and shift their support to another candidate.

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Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Hutchison is going to win on name recognition alone. She could kill abortion doctors and then cook up some fetus fettucini, and she'd still win because she USED TO BE ON THE TEEVEE HAW HAW.

Posted by The CHZA on June 23, 2009 at 8:55 PM

"Party Politics Pays Off"....

for Hutchinson.

Dom, you Jackass, did you even read your own article?

Hutchinson has picked up 7 points
and your boy Constantine only 5.
If he keeps this brilliant strategy up she'll be beating him 69% to 31% in a couple of months.

Posted by Stick to Smoking Weed, son on June 23, 2009 at 9:07 PM

@ 2) I doubt that she'll just keep picking up support. After the primary, supporters of other candidates will flock to whichever Democrat is on the ballot. And if Dow maintains his line of attack--and voters realize that Hutchison is far right of the county electorate--he'll pick up some of her supporters, too.

Truly yours,
Jackass

Posted by Dominic Holden on June 23, 2009 at 9:23 PM

@3 You're right.

Go Dow Go!

Posted by I Got Nuthin' on June 23, 2009 at 9:36 PM

How depressing are these poll numbers? I mean, ignoring the fact that I, on principle, hate the County Exec position...

I will console myself in the fact that Diaz has given up on his stalling (I think) and New York State is voting on marriage equality tomorrow and will, barring any unforseen vote flipping, be the next state down.

Then after the (hopeful) euphoria settles, damn, back to caring about the county exec.

Posted by Baconcat on June 23, 2009 at 10:03 PM

I might die if crazy ol' Goodspaceguy was beating me in the polls.

Posted by ebon on June 23, 2009 at 10:20 PM

The Exec position is bigger than the Mayor's office. That's right, King county is bigger than Seattle and Bellevue is going to stuff Katie whatever down our throats. Get behind Dow, now! and please forgive my drunk slogging...

sorry larry.

Posted by fag on June 23, 2009 at 10:26 PM

Yes - definitely time for the Dems to unite behind the front runner to get him the money and support he needs to defeat King County's own version of Sarah Palin.

Go Dow!

Posted by Meinert on June 23, 2009 at 11:16 PM

If you hate America, go for Susan.

Larry and Dow are the front runners in the 43rd, and both endorsed by the King County Democrats.

Susan never will be. Ever.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on June 23, 2009 at 11:41 PM

Hutchison gained in the polls because Dow correctly identified her as a far-right Republican. The core Republican vote in the county is about 40%. As the real Susan comes out that will drop as Dominic said.

Posted by westside on June 24, 2009 at 12:34 AM

Great, just what we need. A former board member from the Discovery Institute running the county.

Posted by Facepalm on June 24, 2009 at 1:37 AM

10
As Hutchinson is identified as Republican by her foes she will automatically garner the 40% loyal GOP vote.
She then only needs to build on her huge name recognition to squeeze another 11% from the remaining 60%.
She only has to convince 1 of 6 non-GOP voters to support her to win.

Posted by We Like Her Chances on June 24, 2009 at 5:25 AM

2
You changed the title of the post without indicating that within the post.

Posted by Amateur Hour on June 24, 2009 at 5:27 AM

Constantine's in third place, Undecided is in second. And that's A LOT of undecideds.

Posted by DOUG.

on June 24, 2009 at 7:29 AM

@8
Is Capitol Hill Block Party a for-profit event?

Posted by Enquiring minds want to know. on June 24, 2009 at 8:23 AM

@15 - yes. one that donates money to non-profits. either way, I as an individual can openly endorse any candidate even if I work for a non-profit. Or would you like to silence people who disagree with you? Which candidate do you support?

Posted by Meinert on June 24, 2009 at 8:38 AM

Hutchison has a demonstrable lack of political smarts, a dismal lack of logic skills, her dimwittedness and "stupid pretty girl" charm are liabilities, and she will be answering to departments full of democrats. She will be honoring liberal obligations to Places That Are Not Seattle (PTANS), nothing more.

Oh, and as King County has constantly screwed over Seattle, residents here really have nothing to lose in this one and it may just be that we would relish putting a dullard like her into office to permanently screw up the GOP's chances in Western Washington and throw a little salt on that slug Reichert. And for every "OMG PILING ON DA WOMMUN" card the republiduds play, we'll play the Burner card.

This will be fun!

Posted by Baconcat on June 24, 2009 at 8:52 AM

I think we should brand Republicans with a big red R to make them easy to spot.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on June 24, 2009 at 10:14 AM

40% is what every Republican candidate for county office gets. It's what David Irons got in the 2005 exec race. It's Susan's ceiling and she'll probably get just about exactly that in November.

Posted by lorax on June 24, 2009 at 11:57 AM

Are we really putting so much weight on a king 5 news poll? These are usually posted on their website and whoever sees it first (or hears about it first because they are a TV insider) can vote thousands of times...

Additionally, Larry is leading everyone in fundraising, isn't that a more true indicator of who will win? I heard Dow is a womanizer, is that true?

Posted by marysmith on June 24, 2009 at 1:18 PM