The election offers a wave of good results in Thurston County and Washington

Editor’s Note: We apologize for jumping the gun here. Over the weekend, Thurston County Commissioner Gary Edwards pulled ahead in his race for reelection against Lacey City Councilman Michael Steadman. So the election is not over AND Edwards was not defeated. Stay tuned for the final results of that race.

And a correction: This editorial initially thanked the volunteers who had been working with the Thurston County Auditor’s Office to register voters and process and count ballots. The Auditor’s Office does not use volunteers for any election-related activity — they are all paid staff, a distinction between how elections are conducted in Thurston County and in Washington state and in many other places. So we stand corrected and offer our thanks to the staff for their hard work.

One thing it’s safe to say about our national election: The biggest losers are the pollsters who predicted a comfortable Biden win. We are feeling mighty embarrassed for believing them. Now they’ve fooled us twice, in 2016 and again this year. Those of us who were expecting a Blue Wave election and Democratic Senate majority are vowing to never again be so gullible.

But here in Washington state we had a pretty sizable blue ripple. Jay Inslee, our sane, science-driven governor, was easily re-elected. And in a weird twist, the tiny town of Republic promptly defunded its police force and fired Loren Culp, Inslee’s maskless opponent and Republic’s lone officer/Police Chief.

In other statewide offices, there were scarcely any A-list Republicans even willing to run this year. Democratic incumbents — state Auditor Pat McCarthy, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, and Attorney General Bob Ferguson — all cruised to re-election without breaking a sweat. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal even won easily, despite a last-minute panic by Democrats worried the nonpartisan incumbent would be threatened by challenger Maia Espinoza.

Another sign of Washington’s deepening shade of blue: a generally respected Republican, state Treasurer Duane Davidson, lost to a less qualified Democrat, state Rep. Mike Pellicciotti.

Secretary of State Kim Wyman is now the last Republican statewide elected official standing on the West Coast, having held off a stiff challenge by Democrat Gael Tarleton.

Yet another sign of our liberal cast of mind is the robust affirmation of Referendum 90, which calls for letting kids in on the secret of where babies come from, and — even more important — how to have healthy, safe relationships.

Here in Thurston County, the blue ripple appeared to come to shore with the ouster of conservative former sheriff Gary Edwards from the county commission, but later vote counts put Edwards ahead of Lacey City Council member Michael Steadman, a moderate Democrat. Stay tuned for how that will shake out.

Voters also elected Carolina Mejia, a young Latina and Democratic activist to the three-member commission. She will replace former police officer and Tenino police chief John Hutchings.

Speaking of law enforcement officers, King County voters approved a ballot measure to make theirs an appointed rather than elected position. This is viewed as a step toward more police reform led by the county commission.

King County voters also approved a tax measure to sustain funding for transit, and a $1.7 billion bond measure to expand and update Harborview Medical Center. This lends a new perspective to our county’s dithering over whether to spend less than $300 million on an urgently needed new courthouse. We admire our neighbors to the north for being willing to tax themselves for the common good. They set an excellent example.

But back to our own backyard. We’re glad we are sending super-smart Olympia City Council member Jessica Bateman to the state House of Representatives, but sorry that Beth Doglio, who gave up her seat to run for Congress, is now out of office.

Nonetheless, Marilyn Strickland, the more moderate Democrat in the congressional race, will be making history as the first Black and first Korean congressional representative the state has sent to the other Washington. We predict she will be a bridge-building star.

It’s also pretty wonderful to see Sharonda Amamilo elected to the Thurston County Superior Court bench. Her experience in family and tribal law means she brings a very non-traditional set of skills and experiences to the job. Some are uneasy with the fact that she has no judicial experience, but she has the brainpower and the heart to make good decisions, and she’ll make a vital contribution to criminal justice reform.

Thurston County voters elected three women of color — all firsts in the positions they’ve won. That is a very bright spot in a year otherwise full of conflict and woe.

Finally, we want to thank Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall and the many staffers who have been carefully registering voters and processing and counting ballots. This election year, far more than most, their role is being recognized as foundational to our democracy. We promise never to take them for granted.

This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 5:45 AM.