OK, I'm going to say it, and the hacks for the Powers That Be will pretend it isn't true, but it is ...

Because Seattle doesn't want the Billionaires Tunnel and we get shat on by the rest of the state - dis us and you depress local voter turnout.

Shut up, Will.

My guess is that there just weren't enough tv commercials. I am only fractionally kidding with that.

Jesus, it's been a week already. Rumbaugh lost. No matter how many times you bitch about it, we're not going to have a special election to get Stan Rumbaugh elected to the Supreme Court!

Fuck, you'd think the guy spent his entire campaign fund just buying off the Stranger! We all want marriage equality, but we don't want to keep re-hashing a goddam primary election because of one guy!

While I can't explain the high turn-out in San Juan and Wahkiakum, I would guess conservative voters in Lincoln and Columbia counties were more mobilized this election because of the Didier-Rossi-Murray stand off.

King County voters were probably too lazy to vote, knowing that Murray would likely make it past the primary.

Didier got 49% of the votes in Franklin County???!

http://tiny.cc/ivr6l

Election burnout. I really just don't give a shit. It doesn't matter who is in charge, they are just going to run the city/county/state/country into the ground.

I can't believe I voted for Gregoire. Twice.

Christ, I sound like a teabagger.

@5, his alfalfa farm is in Eltopia there.

We almost always have lower turn out. Especially when there are not local races of importance.

It's a sign of things to come. Liberal/Democratic voters are totally unenthusiastic about voting right now. We're all depressed. Obama's been hit-or-miss at best, and it's become painfully apparent that most other prominent Democrats are only a tick or two better than Republicans. Not to mention the general depression out there, with the economy and the oil spills and the escalating wars and all the rest.

Meanwhile, conservative voters think the country's being run by a Muslim Socialist who Acorn'd his way into the Presidency and is spending us into ruin. Plus, all the gay marryin' has their panties in a twist. They're motivated, and they're going to outvote us badly in November.

Fuck.

Is there a higher margin of young-adults (18-30) in our urban areas? Do people move into the 'burbs as they age?

I worked my ass off to get my peers to vote. It came down to ultimatums. My friend's can hit the bars each night, but remembering to buy a stamp and send it in a day before it's due is just too much to ask for.

There are several reasons liberals didn't turn out.

First, since Patty Murray had no viable primary challenger, there was little incentive for liberals to pay any attention to the primary. The conservatives turned out in droves to settle the Rossi/Diddler primary. Everything else down ballot was secondary in consideration. There wasn't even any ballot measures to generate much interest.

Second, liberals in general have always been more apathetic voters. Ditto for younger voters. Apathetic voters are more likely to skip a primary and only bother to vote in major elections.

Third, the generally higher turnout can probably be attributed to the mail-in ballot. I bet the next dull primary also gets generally higher turnout than older pre-mail-in primaries.

Last, even if in your fantasy King County voters were at 60% (or even 50%), you shouldn't assume that it would have made a huge difference in the judicial races. Judicial races are off the radar for all but the most dedicated voters. Other than the Stranger, the judicial races barely garnered more than a peep by any other news media, and only tepid endorsements. None of them have the cash for big state-wide campaigns. Unless they can generate a lot more money, or a lot more public interest from the general press, these races will always be off the radar of average voters.

For the simple reason that no race on the ballot was worth a stamp and King County, in its infinite wisdom, has removed any convenient ballot drop boxes. Maybe the more rural counties made it easier to vote.

I'd say most voters don't bother because they know their candidates are going to make it through, and they aren't considering the fact that primary results can shape narratives that effect the actual election.

For instance, I mostly voted so I could vote against that Republican judge you were yammering on about.

@ 10 schmacky.. they didn't outvote us in the last presidential election and they were scared as shit then.. and wasn't there a slog post yesterday that postulated that gay marriage doesn't bother conservatives as much as we think ?
...so unless the rest of us sit on our hands under our asses in the next go round...then....

The big three traditionally have lower turnout, for many reasons.

Younger voters and more transient voters.

Larger minority populations.

Most of us didn't have any competitive primary.

Lack of understanding how State Judicial races work.

Not paying attention - it's the middle of August, our nicest month of the year.

And, of course, apathy and burnout.

Turnout should pop in November, and hopefully there will be more GOTV operations across the county to boost Patty's numbers. Hopefully.

@11, "the burbs" are in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. The higher turnout wasn't in the burbs, it was in the rural areas beyond the exurbs.

Y'all better goddamn vote in November, that's all I've got to say.

Damn. I'm going to have to give @13 for the Poll Tax Win.

I voted for Fnarf for Dogcatcher, but I almost went with Eyman.

I enjoy Slog comments more than almost any other site's comments section, but boy oh boy the comments of Will in Seattle nearly always make my scratch my head and say "what the fuck?"

Younger people would vote if the draft was reinstated.

I really miss the neighborhood ballot drop boxes.

@12 has it right - Patty's presence on the Nov. ballot was a lock so voting wasn't neccessary to achieve the desired outcome. The rural counties (Wahkiakum reprezent!) were fired up to put Clit Diddler on the ballot - and look how well it worked for them.

Want liberals to turn out in the primaries? Give us actual options, or put MJ legalization on the ballot.

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of a passionate intensity."

@22 for runner up for Bestest Point Ever.

I missed voting this time. I feel guilty. I was out of town for 2 weeks and forgot my ballot on my desk. If it had been a big election (presidential or congressional) I would have asked a friend to break into my house and fedex me the ballot. But for a primary, I let it go.

Riz @15: I was more or less kidding about the gay marriage thing. But the reason we outvoted them in the last election is because liberals were incredibly hopeful and optimistic. See, I have this theory that conservatives vote out of fear and liberals vote out of optimism. In 2008, optimism ("hope," if you will) trumped fear. But after two solid years of economic chaos, exacerbated by the right-wing lie machine, fear is a much stronger emotion right now, and is driving turnout.

Trust me, I hope I'm wrong.