Rookie candidate Joe Mallahan got an "outstanding" rating from the Municipal League of King County, better than incumbent Greg Nickels ("very good") and all others in Seattle's mayoral race.

The league ratings, just announced, can be found here. Jan Drago and Mike McGinn earned "good" marks. The rest of the mayoral pack received "adequate," "not qualified," or "insufficient information" ratings.

In the King County executive race, Dow Constantine, Ross Hunter, Fred Jarrett and Larry Phillips were deemed "very good." Susan Hutchison and Alan Lobdell were "good."

In Seattle City Council races, three candidates were "outstanding": Sally Bagshaw, Richard Conlin and Robert Rosencrantz. Five candidates were rated "very good": Jessie Israel, Martin Kaplan, Nick Licata, David Miller and Jordan Royer.

The league's nonpartisan evaluations cover 113 candidates for local office. The ratings are based on knowledge, involvement, effectiveness and character. The league says "political affiliations or stands on specific issues are not considered and candidates are not rated against each other."

The ratings were done by 65 volunteers who studied public records and candidate questionnaires, checked references and interviewed candidates. Ratings were reviewed by league trustees.