When we went to press on election night, The Stranger Election Control Board was actually psyched. Yes, the monorail was getting trouncedâtrounced!âbut that was expected. What we were thrilled about was the upset of the evening: Initiative 912, the state gas tax repeal, appeared to be headed for a slight defeat.
Polling in the week leading up to the election showed that the monorail, a speedy elevated transit systemâand a bargain at just $10.83 a month on average per car ownerâwas headed to sure, humbling defeat, and thatâs just what happened. Lesson: When citizens are allowed to second-guess every stage of a mass-transit project, mass transit doesnât get built. Another missed transit opportunity for Seattle. Also bumming us out on election night: The only challenger we dug, rough guy Dwight Pelz, a wisecracking left-wing brawler, seemed headed for defeat against nonentity (but black!) incumbent Richard McIver.
Oh, and some of the SECB had hoped to see Mayor Gridlock, Greg Nickels, do a little worse than he did. A number of SECB members soured on Nickels as Election Day approached, thanks to his cowardly anti-monorail position and also to his recent push for more nanny-state nonsense. They had hoped to see the mayorâs challenger, Al Runte, pull down better numbers. But Mayor Gridlockâs opponent, a former assistant UW professor, was a bush-league vanity candidate. Indeed, at his party at Rock Salt on Westlakeâattended by about 30 folks, including 10 high schoolersâthey didnât even have internet access to get election results, the SECB member in attendance had to deliver the bad news to Runteâs crowdâit was 63 percent to 36 percent for Nickelsâwhile the professor sipped a martini.
However, there were some thrilling developments on election night. First and foremost, Initiative 912, the dreaded gas tax repeal that would yank money from the viaduct and kill safety improvements to eight major state routes in King County including SR 520 (and kill major transportation projects in Eastern Washington as well), which had been teetering in the pre-election polls, was defeated 53 to 47. Evidently, post-Katrina voters wised up to the fact that infrastructure maintenance isnât such a bad idea.
Another bright spot: City Council President Jan Drago, a politician weâve grown to appreciate over recent yearsâdue in part to her bad-ass tenure as budget chair, standing up to Nickels, and her diehard commitment to mass transitâstomped her opponent, the mayorâs butt boy Casey âWhat can I do to get your voteâŚpleaseâ Corr. The smarmiest and most evasive candidate weâve ever interviewed, Corr was Nickelsâs hand-picked candidate and Corrâs rejection was a defeat for Gridlock Greg.
Election night for the Stranger Election Control Board began at Pike Place Marketâs Alibi Room, where we liquored up before crossing our fingers for the first ballot drop at 8:15 p.m.
The first numbers confirmed our worst fears. The monorail was getting slammedâ67 percent to 33 percent. No one at the pro-monorail party being held at Pioneer Squareâs dimly lit Trattoria Mitchelli among old Hollywood movie stills and pro-monorail signsâincluding a Vote for Cindi Laws sign sitting sadly in a planterâeven noticed the dismal results. The 70 to 100 folks on handâall the monorail diehards like 2054 leaders Christian Gloddy and Molly Taylor, longtime monorail campaigner Peter Sherwin, and 2002 campaign manager Patrick Kylen, were already expecting the worse. Indeed, early in the night, before the devastating numbers even came in, Laws, sitting alone at the bar, remarked flatly: âIâm bitter. I have always been an idealist, an indomitable optimist. I donât know if I can get that back.â
After the early numbers came in, Sherwin added: âThereâs still no alternative [transportation solution.] The opposition has never offered an alternative. The mayor never offered an alternative.â
As for the city council races, the incumbents cleaned up: Richard Conlin was beating Paige Miller 60 percent to 40 percent at press time, Jan Dragoâs flattened Casey Corr 60 percent to 40 percent, and Nick Licata pounded Paul Bascomb 75 percent to 25 percent. Pelz came closest to bringing down one of the incumbents, but not close enough. Speaking to a cheerful crowd of about 40 supporters munching on chicken wings at Pioneer Squareâs Doc Maynards (decked out tonight in yellow and blue balloons), Pelz, said he was âstill in the race.â Then he told the crowd there are âreasons to still feel good about this.â Pelz started to thank his supporters, got a bit teary, and sounded as if he was beginning to make a concession speech. Someone from crowd shouted, âDo it again!â Dwight, laughing, shouted back: âFuck you,â seemingly ruling out a future council race.
Dragoâs party was at Belltownâs Glassblowing Studio, and the red wine was fueling a festive atmosphere when the SECB dropped in. Asked if she felt good about her early lead, Drago leaned in and said, âYes, thatâs verrrry good.â Erin Thurston, Dragoâs campaign manager, watching for a second drop, expected the race to tighten up, but believed they had it in the bag. When the second numbers hit at 9:30 p.m., putting Drago 20 points over Corr, she practically declared victory.
Over at the Westin Hotel, the second drop is even better for the No on Initiative 912 crowd. When No on 912 creeped ahead 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent (with the bulk of King County still to come) spokesperson Andrew Villanueve told the party, âThe results are looking better than weâd ever hoped.â He explained that itâs neck and neck in swing counties like Clark and Whatcom Counties; and the anti-tax measure isnât passing by as big a margin as theyâd feared in hostile counties. Then, at around 10 p.m., Governor Christine Gregoire arrived dressed in a black suit. The crowd broke into loud applause as Gregoire took the stage. She was introduced, somewhat inaccurately, as the âquarterback of the team against 912.â (Gregoire was AWOL during the campaign against 912.) Gregoire told the crowd: âThe legislature knew that it wouldnât be popular, but it was the right thing to do.â Referring to the No campaignâs lead, Gregoire joked: âIf anybody knows anything about close elections, I do. And this truly is a landslide.â
Meanwhile, another statewide initiative, the smoking ban, was winning big as we went to pressâup 63 percent to 34 percent.
All in all it was a mixed bag. Some big wins, some big losses, and one very welcome upset.