Voters say yes to parks funding

King County voters were overwhelmingly approving $217 million worth of property-tax levies to maintain and expand parks in Tuesday's balloting.

In the first-ever August primary election, at least one Seattle School board member — Darlene Flynn — was still in a tight race to survive the primary election. In the Port of Seattle races, incumbents Alec Fisken and Bob Edwards were receiving strong primary challenges — foreshadowing what will likely be tight races in the November general election.

In the King County prosecutor's race, Bill Sherman appears to have won the Democratic primary contest to face Republican Dan Satterberg, the interim prosecutor, in the general election. The November winner will replace longtime King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, who died last spring.

As of 11 p.m., King County election office said roughly 132,000 votes had been counted — about 44 percent of the total ballots county officials had expected would be cast.

Here's a look at Tuesday's key races, based on the latest returns:

KING COUNTY PROSECUTOR

It was a race no one could have imagined six months ago, an election to replace long-tme King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng.

Maleng's sudden death in May, after holding the office for 28 years, prompted two Democrats to vie against Maleng's longtime assistant, Dan Satterberg, who is now interim prosecutor and the sole Republican in the race.

In one of the most closely watched contests in King County, Bill Sherman, a deputy prosecutor, was easily winning the Democratic nomination.

Sherman was well ahead of Seattle attorney Keith Scully in a race where Democrats are on the ballot for the first time in nearly a decade.

Satterberg enters the November general election with some big advantages. The Metropolitan King County Council named him interim prosecutor after Maleng's death, and he is endorsed by the Maleng family and many prominent Democrats. Much of Satterberg's campaign has focused on maintaining the legacy of Maleng, who first won the position in 1978 and ran without an opponent in all his races except 1998.

During the Democratic primary campaign, Sherman stressed his work with victims of domestic violence. He said he would bring more attention to elder fraud, identity theft and drug treatment.

Scully also talked of taking a new approach to the prosecutor's office. Scully said the office worked well, so he wouldn't shake things up too much, at least right away.

He said he would fold the half-dozen or so prosecutors assigned to handle fraud cases into the criminal department. He would also sprinkle new attorneys around the office instead of putting them in district court, where they often face highly skilled DUI defense lawyers.

After serving in the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Scully spent a year prosecuting Serbian war criminals in The Hague. He is now the legal director of Futurewise, a local conservation group.

KING COUNTY PARK LEVIES

King County voters are approving two park-funding proposals, which would raise property taxes to pay for $217 million in park improvements during the next six years. Proposition 1 would continue funding regional attractions such as Marymoor Park, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park and parts of the Burke-Gilman Trail. It also would restore maintenance to 2002 levels and begin a program of repairing 75 aging trail bridges and trestles.

The levy of 5 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation would cost the owner of a $400,000 house $20 in the first year.

Proposition 2 would send three cents of every nickel collected to King County to buy open space and build regional trails, one cent to Seattle and 38 other cities for parks acquisition and development, and one cent to Park expansion.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL

In the City Council races, Bruce Harrell, an attorney, and Venus Velázquez, a public-affairs consultant, will square off in November to replace retiring Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck.

The two easily outpaced three other primary foes in the sole open seat. Both Harrell and Velázquez raised more than $100,000.

Two council incumbents — Jean Godden and Sally Clark — moved on to the November election with little trouble.

Godden was the leader in Position 1. Joe Szwaja, a high-school teacher was running second ahead of Lauren Briel, a transit-pass vendor and Robert Sondheim, a restaurant owner.

Clark's challenger for Position 9 is still undecided. Festival-concession operator Judy Fenton had a slight edge over retired Seattle firefighter Bob Brown and attorney Stan Lippmann.

Incumbent David Della will face marketing consultant Tim Burgess in November; they were the only two candidates who filed for Position 7.

Incumbent Tom Rasmussen has no competition for another four-year term in Position 5

PORT OF SEATTLE

The normally sleepy Port races attracted a field of 10 candidates vying for two seats, the interest heightened by by controversies over a now-abandoned $340,000 severance package for former Port CEO Mic Dinsmore, and the sending of sexually explicit e-mails by the Port police.

Incumbent Port Commissioners Bob Edwards and Alec Fisken will make it to the November election, but both will face strong challengers. In late returns Tuesday, Edwards was running slightly behind against Gael Tarleton, a University of Washington official and first-time candidate. Four other rivals were far behind. Tarleton has raised twice as much in campaign contributions as Edwards.

Fisken will battle Bill Bryant, an overseas trade lobbyist. Bryant has also collected twice as much in contributions as Fisken.

The Port of Seattle is a countywide agency, financed by county taxes, that runs Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and owns the cargo terminals on Elliott Bay.

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD

Incumbent Darlene Flynn is in a close three-way race to make it to the general election in North Seattle's District 2. Former PTSA leader Sherry Carr has a substantial lead in the race, while Flynn was barely ahead of Lisa Stuebing, a nonprofit manager.

In the District 6 open seat in West Seattle, Steve Sundquist, a retired finance executive, was leading the five-person field of community-activist Maria Ramirez, retired math teacher Danaher Dempsey and Socialist Party activist Edwin Fruit.

The November election has the potential to dramatically change the makeup of the majority of the seven-member School Board.

There were no primary battles in the two other School Board positions that will be on the ballot in November. In District 1, the city's northernmost district, incumbent Sally Soriano faces attorney Peter Maier. In District 3, which includes the University District and Ravenna, community activist David Blomstrom faces Harium Martin-Morris.

In 2003, voters elected four new members to the board. Flynn is one of two of those who opted to run again for re-election.

REDMOND MAYOR

In the most hotly contested race on the Eastside, Redmond City Councilmen John Marchione was leading the primary contest Redmond mayor's. For the second spot in the general election, Jim Robinson, a Boeing financial analyst and long-time council member, was holding a narrow lead over former councilwoman Holly Plackett in the Redmond mayor's race.

Each hope to replace departing Mayor Rosemarie Ives, who has led the city since 1992.

Marchione and Plackett ran in Tuesday's primary with promises of a more collaborative approach than Ives. Robinson has the mayor's endorsement and said he wants to raise business taxes.

KING COUNTY COUNCIL

In the 6th District race on the Eastside, Republican incumbent Jane Hague will face Richard Pope, a perennial candidate.

Pope was the only Democratic candidate for the seat representing Mercer Island and most of Bellevue and Kirkland. A former Republican precinct committee officer who has lost 10 elections in 11 years for a variety of offices, Pope registered as a Democrat less than an hour before the filing deadline.

The county Democratic Central Committee quickly disavowed Pope and threw its support to write-in candidate Brad Larssen. But Larssen's campaign was getting few votes last night.

SNOHOMISH COUNTY SHERIFF

The Snohomish County sheriff's race to replace retiring Sheriff Rick Bart is shaping up to be one of the closest in November.

In a three-person primary, John Lovick, the state Legislature's House speaker pro tempore, was holding a slight lead over Tom Greene, bureau chief with the sheriff's office. Lovick spent 31 years with the Washington State Patrol, while Green has 25 years of experience with the Snohomish County Sheriff Office.