Seattle City Council | 16 vying for 5 seats; one race unopposed

Sixteen candidates have filed for five Seattle City Council seats, with five competing for an open seat created by Peter Steinbrueck's decision not to seek a fourth term.

Tom Rasmussen is the only incumbent without a challenger.

Councilmember David Della squares off against a single opponent, Tim Burgess, a former marketing executive and Seattle police detective.

Incumbent Jean Godden faces three challengers in the Aug. 21 primary election:

• Lauren Briel, a sales manager for a commuter-information group. She has never run for office.

• Robert Sondheim, owner of Rosebud restaurant on Capitol Hill and a first-time candidate who wants to represent small business.

• Joe Szwaja, a high-school teacher, who ran as a Green Party challenger to U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott in 2000 and served on the City Council in Madison, Wis., before moving to Seattle.

The council's newest member, Sally Clark, who was appointed to fill a vacant seat last year, drew three opponents:

• Bob Brown, a retired Seattle firefighter who plans a low-budget campaign in his first bid for office.

• Judy Fenton, a self-employed food concessionaire, who said she is running primarily because she wants to bulldoze a statue of a naked man and boy near the Olympic Sculpture Park.

• Stan Lippmann, a lawyer and frequent candidate for a number of offices.

The remaining candidates will compete for Steinbrueck's seat. They are:

• Scott Feldman, an unemployed technology marketing manager and political novice who wants to keep the Sonics in Seattle.

• Bruce Harrell, a lawyer and former University of Washington football standout.

• John Manning, a former council member who resigned in 1997 after he was arrested on domestic-violence charges.

• Al Runte, a former UW professor who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2005.

• Venus Velázquez, a public-relations consultant and finalist for the vacant seat the council appointed Clark to fill last year.

The field of relatively obscure challengers marks a change from the last council election, in 2005, when three well-financed well-known candidates — newspaper columnist Casey Corr, Port of Seattle Commissioner Paige Miller and King County Councilman Dwight Pelz — took on incumbents. The incumbents cruised to victory, and political observers predicted then that fewer challengers would be eager to jump into races this year.

Rasmussen ousted veteran Councilwoman Margaret Pageler in 2003. He leads all candidates in fundraising this year, with $162,778.

"I have a really strong campaign, fundraising has gone well and I have a very broad base of support," he said in explaining his lack of opposition.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com. Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com