Citywide candidates met at a forum last week hosted by district Democratic groups, including the 37th, who will vote on their endorsements tonight.
Citywide candidates met at a forum last week hosted by district Democratic groups—including the 37th District Democrats, who will vote on their endorsements tonight. HG

Now that the Seattle City Council will be elected using districts—and, by the way, here's everyone who's running and what to expect in each race—it's time for a new spin on an old exercise: Democratic Party groups around the city endorsing in council races that overlap with their legislative district!

Over the weekend, those Democratic groups started lining up behind candidates, and that'll continue throughout this week. Why the rush? Candidate statements—those pro/con paragraphs that appear in the voter guide—are due Wednesday, and some political groups like to get their endorsements finished in time so candidates can mention them.

So far in legislative district endorsements, the 32nd and 46th District Democrats (both covering northern areas of the city) endorsed in the three northern council districts (Districts 4, 5, and 6) and the two citywide races, shunning some incumbents.

The 46th District Democrats endorsed both parks and Democratic activist Michael Maddux and neighborhood council leader Tony Provine in District 4, with incumbent Jean Godden coming in last in the first round of voting and not advancing beyond that. (Surprisingly, her best-funded opponent, transportation advocate Rob Johnson, didn't get much traction either.) That group also dual endorsed Halei Watkins and Sandy Brown in District 5 and incumbent Mike O'Brien in District 6. In the citywide race with no incumbent, the 46th District Democrats endorsed community activist Bill Bradburd over civil rights attorney Lorena González. In the other one, the 46th skipped over Tim Burgess, endorsing former Tenants Union director Jon Grant.

The 32nd District Democrats dual endorsed in both citywide races—Grant and John Roderick for Position 8 and Bradburd and González for Position 9—and favored Debora Juarez for District 5. (Grant and Roderick also got the King County Young Democrats' endorsement last night, according to Grant. Poor Burgess.)

Tonight, the 37th District Democrats, who recently canceled a forum after disagreement about whether they should allow socialist council member Kshama Sawant to participate, will vote on whom to endorse in District 3, where Sawant and others are running. That legislative district covers the Central District and southeast Seattle. Since district Democratic groups can't endorse non-Democrats, 37th District Sawant supporters will be pushing for no endorsement at all. While it's not unheard of for party groups to skip endorsements in certain races, deciding to do so because of support for a non-Democrat would be significant.

The meaningfulness of party endorsements is limited, and they may tend to favor those with close party ties, like Maddux, but they're one of the first bellwethers we have in these races.

Other district Democrats are expected to endorse this week, including:

The 36th, covering northwest Seattle and downtown and Magnolia.
The 43rd, covering Fremont, Wallingford, the University District, and Capitol Hill.
The 11th, covering a strip in the south-central part of the city, including Georgetown.
The 34th, covering West Seattle.