Girmay Zahilay leading in race for King County executive, Steffanie Fain up for council

It’s the start of a new era in King County government. Voters in the state’s most populous county are choosing new executive leadership for the first time in 16 years.

King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay led on election night with 50% of the vote. King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci trailed with about 48% of the vote.

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Zahilay is the favorite to win after a strong primary showing; between primary election night and final results in August, Zahilay gained 4 percentage points.

Longtime King County Executive Dow Constantine left the top county job earlier this year after almost four terms. Whoever succeeds him will manage the metro bus system, sheriff’s department, jail, and much more.

"There are still a lot of votes to be counted, and we are going to wait and see as more ballots come in," Balducci said in a statement right after ballots dropped. "Regardless of the outcome, I’m grateful and humbled that so many people have placed their trust in me to lead them in these tumultuous times. Our message was simple: Government has to work!"

In a statement via email, Zahilay called the results "encouraging."

"We are confident that when all votes are counted, this lead will hold," he said.

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King County Council results

Voters are also filling other county-level vacancies this election.

When former King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove won the race for state commissioner of public lands last year, he left an open seat in District 5, which covers Renton, SeaTac, Kent, Des Moines, and Normandy Park.

Steffanie Fain, a lawyer and president of the Harborview Medical Center Board of Trustees, was leading in that district with about 53% of the vote on election night. SeaTac City Councilmember Peter Kwon had about 46% of the vote. Fain, who is married to former Republican state Rep. Joe Fain, has called herself a "pragmatic Democrat" and was endorsed by the King County Democrats. Kwon told The Seattle Times he "disavows" any party affiliation.

Though these are nonpartisan races, most seats on the King County Council are held by active and vocal Democrats. The only explicit Republican on the council is Reagan Dunn, who’s running for reelection in District 9, which stretches from part of Bellevue down to Covington and Enumclaw. He led the tally on election night with about 73% of the vote, far ahead of Democrat-endorsed Jude Anthony, an Amazon software engineer.

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Other incumbents faced challenges, too, but were leading on election night. County Councilmember Sarah Perry, of District 3, led with 67% of the vote; District 3 covers Woodinville, Sammamish, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, and North Bend. Perry was 11,000 votes ahead of Snoqualmie City Councilmember Rob Wotton.

Pete von Reichbauer, who represents District 7, covering Auburn and Federal Way, led on election night with about 65% over his challenger, Maya Vengadasalam, a business analyst for Tacoma Housing Authority, who trailed with about 35% of the vote.