Election Analysis Part III: Tumwater and Lacey

By Matthew Green

Tumwater City Council

There was only one competitive city council race in Tumwater. Kyle Taylor Lucas had been appointed to a vacant seat, and ran to hold it against challenger Debbie Sullivan.

Lucas was the liberal candidate, endorsed by most Democratic Party leaders and most members of the Tumwater City Council, as well as environmental groups, unions including state employees and SEIU, and womens advocacy groups. She also received financial backing from several tribes; Lucas is a member of the Tulalip Tribe and once led the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs.

Sullivan won the support from more conservative elected officials, such as Sheriff John Snaza and Tumwater councilmember Ed Hildreth, from the development industry (the Olympia Master Builders and the realtors association), and from the Tumwater police and firefighter unions. In addition, Sullivan managed to get win a co-endorsement from the Democratic Party, mainly due to the efforts of State Representative Chris Reykdal, the only major Democratic figure who endorsed her.

Lucas ran as a progressive candidate, sprinking her campaign material with references to human rights, climate change, a green economy, and family wage jobs. In contrast, Sullivan largely avoided issues (and when she did talk policy, she used conservative code words such as “balanced growth,” which means “don’t let environmental regulations stop development”). Instead, Sullivan emphasized her leadership experience as the chair of the Tumwater Planning Commission and managing small businesses, which contrasted nicely to Lucas’ experience, which was mostly in government jobs. Sullivan is also a member of STOP Thurston County, a conservative group the opposes the county’s development and environmental protection regulations, though she did not highlight that affiliation during the campaign.

Though Lucas raised more campaign cash – $7,000 to Sullivan’s $4,000 – some political insiders criticized how Lucas spent her funds (namely, too much on reimbursing the candidate for campaign-related expenses, and not enough on reaching out to voters). Meanwhile, Sullivan was aided by $4,500 spent independently by the firefighters, police, and master builders. That seemed to put Sullivan over the top, as she won 55%-45%.

In other Tumwater elections, Ed Hildreth easily beat a Tea Party candidate, and Mayor Pete Kmet and councilmembers John Way and Nicole Hill were unopposed.

Lacey City Council

Meanwhile, in Lacey, there was also only one truly competitive city council race, though it may have been enough to shift the balance of power on the council.

In the 2009 elections, due largely to a controversy about fire stations, three longtime Lacey councilmembers were ousted. All three were replaced by candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party, a rarity in Lacey. A fourth Democrat was later appointed and then won election in 2011. Thus, for the first time ever, the Lacey council was controlled by a majority of liberal-leaning councilmembers (at least, liberal by Lacey standards, though perhaps not by Olympia standards).

That control was short lived, however. One of the councilmembers supported by the Democrats, Ron Lawson, started siding with the three more conservative members of the council. Notably, when it came to appointing one of the councilmembers to serve as mayor, Lawson voted for one of the conservatives.

This year, Lawson, two other liberal councilmembers (Andy Ryder and Cynthia Pratt) and one of the conservatives (Virgil Clarkson) were all up for re-election. Though at first it appeared there might be several several competitive races, Ryder ended up unopposed, while Pratt and Clarkson faced unexpectedly weak opponents and went on to win easily.

That left Lawson. Even though he began siding with the conservatives, he was hard to describe as either conservative or liberal – more of a “maverick,” often out on his own idiosyncratic political bent. Losing support from both sides, he ended up with two opponents, one from each end of the political specturm. The more conservative challenger lost in the primary election. The remaining challenger was Michael Steadman, a businessman and member of the Lacey planning commission who lost a council campaign in 2011, and who spent the time between elections building closer relationships with the Democrats.

Those relationships paid off. Steadman won the endorsement of the Democratic Party, which he did not have in his previous campaign. He also outspent his opponent, raising about $9,000 to Lawson’s $4,500. All that, combined with a lackluster Lawson campaign, helped Steadman win 54%-46%.

Now, four Democratic-leaning city councilmembers have a second chance to change the direction of Lacey. ◙

As always, if someone involved with the campaigns discussed above has a different analysis of what happened in these elections, please write us.