Satterberg gets nod

DAN Satterberg, interim King County prosecutor, deserves election to the remaining three years of the term of the late prosecuting attorney, Norm Maleng. His experience in the office gives him the edge over a strong challenger, Bill Sherman.

Satterberg was Maleng's chief of staff for 17 years. He was involved in all the big decisions Maleng made, including the Green River killer prosecution and other potential death-penalty cases. He knows the office inside and out.

In our own dealings with Satterberg as a news source, he has been a straightforward public servant who cares about open government. He has an aura of confidence, and he instills it. He is one of the few candidates for office this year rated "outstanding" by the Municipal League.

Satterberg is a Republican, as was Maleng. But Maleng and Satterberg did not operate as partisans and Satterberg promises that will not change. He is supported by several prominent Democrats, including Seattle attorney Jenny Durkan. Indeed, he argues that the office should be officially nonpartisan, as is the office of the King County sheriff.

Satterberg's opponent, Sherman, has argued that he will be no less nonpartisan, but that on some issues — environmental crimes, or as an advocate of banning assault rifles — he will bring a different perspective as a Democrat. We believe the people do not want a Democratic or Republican perspective on this office.

Sherman's nod to party values came only in a few moments of discussion. On the whole, he is careful and professional. He is also one of the candidates the Municipal League rates "outstanding," and with reason. Though he has only three years' experience as a prosecutor — until the campaign he worked in Maleng's domestic-violence unit — he has had a variety of legal and political positions, including work in the 1990s for Vice President Al Gore.

A year ago, this page endorsed him in the Democratic primary for one of the state representative seats in Seattle's 43rd District — he lost — and we may endorse him in the future.

But, for the position of King County prosecutor, he is up against a wall of experience, and he does not make enough of a case to knock it down.