Initiative on King County nonpartisanship widens lead

An initiative calling for nonpartisan elections of key top King County officials widened its lead Wednesday over an alternative that would let candidates continue to declare their party preferences on future ballots.

Initiative 26, championed by Metropolitan King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer and his chief of staff, Joe Fain, seemed certain to pass after a second batch of absentee ballots was counted Wednesday afternoon.

If I-26 is approved in the primary vote, as now expected, voters will make a final decision Nov. 4 whether to amend the county charter so the county executive, assessor and County Council are elected without party labels.

Voters appeared to be rejecting an alternative written by Democrats on the County Council.

Neither County Executive Ron Sims nor County Councilmember Bob Ferguson, each a Democrat, plans to actively campaign against the initiative even though both disagree with it, Ferguson and a Sims spokeswoman said Wednesday.

"Starting the day I get back from recess, it's all budget all the time," Ferguson said.

Opponents of I-26 said party labels give voters useful information about candidates' political leanings, while supporters said partisan bickering has interfered with solving county problems.

Von Reichbauer, R-Federal Way, noted that more than 63 percent of votes counted so far supported putting some version of nonpartisanship on the November ballot. "I think if anybody of either party tries to torpedo this effort, they do it at their own peril because there's clearly a mandate for change," said.

Von Reichbauer said initiative sponsors would have to study breakdowns of voting before deciding whether they need to raise more money for a general-election campaign.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com