In one of the only* local nail biters in this year's general election, Port of Seattle Commission candidate Ryan Calkins has dramatically widened his lead over incumbent John Creighton after the latest set of ballots were counted.
Calkins now leads Creighton by 14,386 votes, compared to just 98 votes (.02 percentage points) yesterday. About 75,000 new King County ballots were counted between yesterday and today, according to King County Elections.
Creighton is the longest serving current port commissioner. Calkins previously worked as an importer and now works for a nonprofit that invests in low-income entrepreneurs
Three Port races were on the ballot this year, each featuring a more left-leaning/environmentally focused/Stranger-endorsed challenger. In the other two races, those progressives lost. Incumbent Stephanie Bowman beat workers' rights advocate Ahmed Abdi to hold on to her seat. Peter Steinbrueck, a former contract consultant for the Port of Seattle and Seattle City Council member, won an open seat over Preeti Shridhar
King County Elections says it has about 68,000 ballots left to count countywide. See more of the latest ballot returns here.
*The other ones are in Burien and holy shit.
This post has been updated to correct Steinbrueckâs past role at the Port of Seattle.
