Judy's victory is great news for US and bad news for THEM. It's about time we had someone on the city council willing to draw battle lines in Seattle -- the world capital of official task forces. Nicastro is smart, young, and angry about all the right stuff. During the campaign, some lefties claimed Judy toned down her "rent control" rap -- something we don't think she did. Well, Judy, now's the chance to prove 'em wrong. We fully expect Nicastro to get to work sticking it to the Man on everything from renters' rights to the parks exclusion ordinance, the poster ban, and the teen dance ordinance. Get to it, Judy -- or else. JOSH FEIT

Peter will be mayor sooner or later. For now, though, he's a city council member. That's fine with us: As mayor, Peter will probably remember to tick the "veto" box. A progressive consensus-builder who can tap into Paul Schell's vision-thing, Steinbrueck is starting to fill his dad's (Pike Place Market savior, Victor) big shoes. Despite the occasional shitty idea -- like tagging the homeless (make that "monumentally shitty idea") -- Steinbrueck along with Licata are the city council's hard-nosed power players. JOSH FEIT

Progressive Curt Firestone blew it, so now we're stuck with four more years of fake-green rhetoric, insider back rubs, and corporate whoring. Margie supported the stadiums, the Nordstrom garage, and logging the Cedar River watershed (until the council voted it down, at which point Pageler pretended to have been against the logging all along), and since progressives put all their chips -- and endorsements -- on Firestone, we can expect only worse from Pageler over the next four years. Next verse, same as the first (only it gets worse): Ladies and Gentlemen, Margaret -- your next council president! -- Pageler! GRANT COGSWELL

Thanks to friends in high places, Heidi Wills will be cashing hefty city council paychecks for the next four years. Heidi raised $170,000, more than any other candidate this time out, and we have no doubt her gracious contributors will be cashing in as well. Possessing the three qualities the downtown establishment looks for when anointing city council candidates -- she's two faced, she's progressive in appearance only, and she's easily manipulated -- we expect Heidi to serve Seattle with distinction (i.e. she'll be distinctly disappointing). Heidi will doubtless vote for every Sidran-generated civil liberties-bashing law she can, create excuses to uphold the poster ban and teen dance ordinance, and establish a voting record that will closely mirror Jan Drago's. If Heidi doesn't feel this characterization is accurate or fair we invite her to prove us wrong -- with votes, Heidi, not words. Votes. DAN SAVAGE

We wanted Dawn Mason, but YOU had to go and vote for that boring white guy. Actually, Compton ain't so bad. He's done his homework on transportation, and he'll be a smart vote on growth management. We hope he gets hip to how profoundly evil some of Sidran's civility laws are, and that he doesn't become the honorary Male Member of the dwindling Old Girls' Club, and instead allies himself with Conlin and Steinbrueck over Drago and Pageler. On the campaign trail, the former KING-5 news guy boasted about his talent for asking tough questions. Let's hope he'll ask tough questions before he votes on any future council-generated corporate welfare or civil liberties squashing. JOSH FEIT