It backed state Rep. Ross Hunter, a Democrat, in the primary election for King County executive. But today the Eastside Business Alliance -- which includes the Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland and Issaquah chambers of commerce -- announced its endorsement of Susan Hutchison.

"When you look at her priorities, her desire to work on creating job and economic growth, her talk about standing up for small business, it seemed to be in stark contrast to what we've seen out of King County and the leadership, or perhaps lack thereof out of Dow Constantine," said Jim Hill, alliance chairman and vice president at Kemper Development.

Hill said the alliance wasn't troubled by Hutchison's lack of government experience. The Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce endorsed Constantine, a Democrat, earlier this month. That surprised some because the group endorsed Republican David Irons over incumbent Ron Sims in the executive's race four years ago and a chamber spokesman acknowledged that Constantine was not widely regarded as a "business-type candidate."

But Michael Luis, chairman of the Seattle Chamber's political arm, the Alki Foundation, said Constantine could walk into the job knowing how county government worked. The group wasn't sure if that was true of Hutchison, a former KIRO-TV news anchor who heads the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences and chaired the Seattle Symphony board of directors.

Hill said that wasn't such a concern for his group. A "new direction" in county government was critical to the Eastside alliance, he said.

"When you look at her past, she was worked with business and a very significant non-profit. She actually has a pretty good record that could translate well to positive change within King County government," Hill said.

The alliance's board of trustees, who made the endorsement decision, includes representatives from Boeing, Puget Sound Energy, Comcast Cable, Wallace Properties and Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish counties.

Hill said the alliance will contribute the maximum allowed, $800, to Hutchison's campaign, and will alert its members to its endorsement.