Elections chief wouldn't run to keep job

Sherril Huff, King County's elections director, said Tuesday she won't be a candidate to keep her job if voters make it an elected position.

"No, I'm not running," Huff said during a tour of the new election headquarters in Renton.

Huff, 62, commutes to work from her home in Kitsap County. "I don't have a base in King County," she said.

From 1979 to 1986, Huff ran Kitsap County elections as an elected auditor. After running successfully twice for Kitsap County auditor and once unsuccessfully for the Kitsap County Council, she said, "I don't feel I have to do that again."

King County voters will decide in November 2008 whether to amend the county charter to make the elections director an elected nonpartisan position. The county executive now appoints the director.

The elections director would first be chosen by voters in February 2009.

The charter amendment seems to have strong support. Last month, 57 percent of voters approved Initiative 25, putting the charter amendment on next year's ballot.

King County Executive Ron Sims appointed Huff director of Records, Elections and Licensing Services last April, two years after she became assistant director. Sims spokeswoman Carolyn Duncan said Huff had informed Sims of her decision not to run. Sims was not available for comment.

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

The information in this article, originally published December 19, 2007, was corrected December 19,2007. King County voters will elect an elections director in February 2009 if voters first approve a county charter amendment in November 2008. A previous version of the story incorrectly reported the director would be elected in February 2008.