Longshoreman Davis ahead of Peeler in election

Longshoreman Jeff Davis appeared poised to win the Port of Olympia District 3 commissioner seat Tuesday night, defeating opponent Dave Peeler with 54.5 percent of the vote.

Backed by strong union support, Davis, 41, who works for the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union Local 21 in Longview, raised more than $30,000 to help propel him to his apparent general election win.

Peeler, 58, who works for the nonprofit People for Puget Sound, raised a fraction of that amount and likely fell short in his bid to become the next commissioner, with 44.7 percent of the vote. Peeler won the August primary.

“I ran on the issue of economic development and to make the port work and that’s what I intend to do,” Davis said about his apparent Tuesday night victory.

In a nod to Peeler, Davis said that all Thurston County residents won Tuesday because they have a good leader at People for Puget Sound. “I hope to work with them on stormwater issues as they pertain to the port in the future,” he said. Davis added that he won the election by emphasizing jobs, saying that ports can be champions and advocates for jobs in the area. “In tough times people are looking for that type of hope,” he said.

Peeler could not be reached Tuesday night.

Peeler and Davis ran for the District 3 seat because it is being vacated by Paul Telford who plans to retire at the end of the year. District 2 Commissioner Bill McGregor ran unopposed in Tuesday night’s election.

During the campaign, Davis said the port needs to better market the marine terminal to attract new cargoes and combat a perception that it is anti-trade. Peeler said he would critically evaluate all of the port’s operations, including the marine terminal. Peeler also worked hard to squelch a perception that he would close the marine terminal.

“No, I don’t want to close down the marine terminal,” he told The Olympian’s editorial board in October. “I want to think about how it can actually make money as opposed to lose money.”

The two candidates also differed on the Capitol Lake vs. estuary issue and the proposed development of NorthPoint, a 2.4-acre parcel just south of the KGY radio studios that has been identified for a hotel or mixed-use office building. Davis supports Capitol Lake as is and thinks the port should concentrate on its East Bay development before it focuses on NorthPoint. Peeler acknowledged the NorthPoint has some of the best views in the area, but he said he would like to see redevelopment that emphasizes public access and provides for the continued operations of KGY, although not necessarily in its current location.

On Capitol Lake, Peeler said the port needs to take a larger role in working with the state to decide whether it remains a lake or an estuary.

While Peeler fended off charges that he would close the marine terminal, some questioned the amount of money Davis raised from outside the county. Davis was questioned about his fundraising at a candidate forum last month.

“If you were to go to the state Public Disclosure Commission Web site and look at my contributors, they all have Stevedore and ILWU names behind them and, quite frankly, I’m fantastically proud of that,” he said. “We stick together, we work together and we live and die together, so when we find out anywhere on the West Coast that somebody is out there fighting for the cause then we do work together, we do contribute to those campaigns.”

Although both candidates are Democrats, Port of Olympia commission races are nonpartisan.

Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403

rboone@theolympian.com