Susan Hutchison said the voting record of her opponent, King County Council member Dow Constantine, shows he is not likely to reform county government as he has promised.

In more than 2,000 individual votes at the County Council over seven years, Constantine has voted "no" just twice, Hutchison said at a Tuesday news conference. "He claims to be an agent of reform but his service is the definition of 'status quo,' " she said.

This election season isn't the first time, Hutchison noted, that Constantine's rhetoric hasn't matched his actions. In the 2003 Voter's Pamphlet, Constantine wrote about county budget cuts and said "solving this fiscal crisis in job number 1."

But he voted for every county budget and every union contract since then, Hutchison said, making the county budget situation worse. The county faces a deficit of $56 million next year, and projected deficits totaling more than $100 million in two years after next.

In response, Constantine's campaign spokesman said Hutchison is distorting the council member's record and the legislative process.

The vast majority of full-council votes are unanimous, said Sandeep Kaushik. "The hard work of crafting legislation is done at the committee level prior to the final vote. What she's leaving out is the committee process where alternative ideas are raised, amendments are brought forward and legislation is refined and improved. That's where you see the back-and-forth."

Kaushik said Constantine voted 'no' many times as legislation was refined and council members reached consensus in committee action. But he couldn't provide a tally or record shortly after Hutchison made her claims Tuesday.

Kaushik also pointed to reforms Constantine has pushed in the last year. Those include a county hiring freeze, cuts to the council staff, and a proposed reduction in the cost-of-living adjustment policy for unionized workers. In 2007, Constantine spearheaded an oversight reform for big construction projects that was lauded by the state Auditor's Office this year, Kaushik added.

Why didn't he push for reforms sooner? Kaushik said "most of the issues Susan brings up are in the purview of the executive office," not the council where Constantine has served.

Hutchison maintains that Constantine, as a council member, has ultimate control over county spending and could have done more to limit deficits and mismanagement.

When it was noted that Constantine's council colleagues - including Republicans - voted for recent budgets and labor contracts, Hutchison said, "I don't know anyone else running for King county executive." Hutchison said she would have the courage, and provide the leadership, to sway votes on the council. "King County does not need a 'yes-man' attitude," she said.

As for Constantine's two "no" votes, one came on a 5-4 council decision in 2007 to slow the process for making the county elections director an elected official, Hutchison said. In the other, Constantine cast the only vote against a proposal to expand the "reasonable use" area of private property.

A new poll by University of Washington researchers, released Tuesday, showed Constantine ahead of Hutchison by 13 percentage points among likely voters. It's the first poll during the campaign that puts Constantine in the lead. A poll by KING-5 TV two weeks ago had Hutchison ahead by 5 percentage points.

Kaushik said the turnaround occurred because general election voters started paying close attention to the race in the last two weeks and have warmed to Constantine's message that Hutchison lacks experience and is too conservative for King County.

Hutchison dismissed the UW poll as inaccurate.