Tuesday is the deadline for voters to cast their choice in this year’s primary election.
On the ballot are candidates vying to be Federal Way’s first elected mayor and District 30 representatives. The top two winners of each race will proceed to the November general election. This year’s elections will be conducted by mail for the second consecutive year.
“We are the largest county in the country to do entirely vote by mail,” said Katie Gilliam, King County Elections spokeswoman. “We have acted as a model.”
Candidates for elected mayor are city council members Jim Ferrell and Mike Park, current mayor Linda Kochmar, who was chosen by her fellow council members from within the council ranks for the position, and current State Rep. Skip Priest. They are competing for a three-year term.
Running for District 30 State Representative, position 2, are Carol Gregory, Anthony Kalchik, Ed Barney, Katrina Asay and Jerry Galland. Gregory lost her 2008 race against Priest for a position in the House. Kalchik is a Federal Way realtor and advocate for the Slavic community. Barney is a Federal Way school board member. Asay is mayor of Milton. Galland is a resident of unincorporated King County and has led a campaign against annexation into Federal Way. He is also leading a campaign against South King Fire and Rescue’s Proposition One — a measure also appearing on the ballot asking voters to authorize the fire district to impose benefit charges for the next six years.
Candidates Tracey Eide and Tony Moore, the only candidates running for District 30 State Senator, will both progress to the general election. Candidates Mark Miloscia and Shawn Sullivan, the only candidates running for District 30 State Representative, position 1, will also move on to the November election.
Registered voters should have their ballots. They were mailed beginning July 16 to overseas and military citizens. Ballots were mailed to the remaining registered voters starting July 28. Ballots must be postmarked by Aug. 17 or dropped off at a designated ballot drop box no later than 8 p.m. on election day to be counted.
This year, fewer ballot drop boxes are available. Whereas there was 20, there are now four.
“It’s purely due to budgets cuts,” Gilliam said.
Drop off boxes are accessible at the King County Administration Building, 500 4th Ave. in Seattle; the King County Elections headquarters, 9010 E. Marginal Way S. in Tukwila; Bellevue City Hall, 450 110th Ave. N.E. in Bellevue; and Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St. in Seattle. Check out the King County Elections website, www.kingcounty.gov/elections, for operating hours.
King County tracks the number of ballots received daily. Countywide, 1,076,214 ballots were issued, according to the King County Elections website. Of those, 158,484 had been received as of Aug. 11. In District 30, 61,949 ballots were issued. Of those, 9,139 had been received as of the same date, according to the website.
King County Elections will post the results of the primary election at 8:15 p.m. Aug. 17. Updates will be available daily at 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Results will be certified September 1.
Learn more:
Visit the King County Elections website, www.kingcounty.gov/elections, to learn more about the state’s primary election.
Visit candidates’ websites to learn more about the candidates
Jim Ferrell: www.voteferrell.com
Linda Kochmar: www.lindakochmar.com
Mike Park: www.benepeople.com/clients/votepark
Skip Priest: skippriest.com
Katrina Asay: www.VoteKatrinaAsay.com
Ed Barney: www.fwps.org/info/board/members/memberbarney.html
Jerry Galland: gallandstaterepresentative.com
Carol Gregory: www.friendsofcarolgregory.com
Anthony Kalchik: www.votekalchik.com
