Dow gets my vote.

Dow Constantine is the only candidate on the ballot who is remotely qualified to be King County Executive.

Susan Hutchinson, all name recognition and make-up.

Fancy hat, no cattle...

dow constantine is the best candidate by far. dow is ready to lead...susan is ready to deligate

we need a leader

At this time, it's not time to experiment. It will be very important for us to put someone into place who is ready to go day 1. Could an outsider look at things differently and be positive, yes but I dont think Susan Hutchinson knows enough about the facts of running the county government and is saying what people want to hear versus what would happen when she took office. It's harder than just retoric.

Susan is by far the best choice for the job. King County has done a good job of making the "conservative Republican" a bad word. in this non-partisan position it is time for a change to get us out of the mess the same old politics has got us into. Susan Hutchison will be a breath of fresh air that King county needs.

Dow Constantine is the only well qualified candidate. Susan is articulate, but she is limited in her experience. Very Sarah Palin-esque, which scares me. This position is far to crucial to the health of our county to be gambling with a candidate who has such minimal experience. Dow has a firm grasp of the role, and knows how to address the reform needed in our county.

2 votes for DOW from this household!

When Susan Hutchinson was asked a question she went right in talking about Dow Constantine. She had to be asked to get back to the question. I am voting for Dow.

Dow Constantine has my vote.

Dow is a liar.

He makes a big deal about his "cost saving idea" by changing the range for Union Cost of Living Pay Raises from 2% to 6% to 0% to 6%.

1) To start with this bill was first introduced in the council back in April and Dow refuses to allow it out of committee.

2) This year the Union COLA raises were all negotiated at the maximum of 6%. What good does changing the bottom end to 0% when the Union owns you and refuses to accept anything less than the maximum. This is a B.S. smoke screen that doesn't save the county ONE SINGLE PENNY.

Dow has a HUGE problem. He keeps talking what HE WILL DO but he has been chair of the council for an entire year and EVERY one of his "solutions" was proposed by someone else and he has blocked them from happening.

If you listen to Dow's "top three issues" you would think he was running for Congress not the Executive. Abortion rights, the environment, and light rail. All good issues, none of them even close to the top priorities for King County.

Dow has been responsible for leading us into this current mess, is dishonest, corrupt, and puts his personal agenda ahead of the people.

Top it off with Dow not having the respect of the council and his anger management issues and it is clear he would be ineffective as a leader.

The Dow is Down!

Wow, good job from Dow's campaign posting their talking points in fake support.

Yes Dow has experience, he has had a lot of practice making empty promises and not delivering. He has a lot of practice doing exactly what the union demands from their bought and paid for puppet. Having experience isn't any good if you can't lead. Dow can't lead.

When your accounting practices are so bad the state can't even finish an audit you need to clean house in the executive branch.

When you have nearly 900 people making over $100K a year, and almost 3,000 making over $80k (before the gold plated benifits) you need someone that will trim staff not add more.

We need regime change and keeping the same guy in charge that was on point making the mess would be a disaster for our county.

this election is an intelligence test for the king county area. we move forward together and with information or we follow false tax promises that will lead to disaster and a pretty face that will blame her problems on her staff.

we are all afraid of where our state and our country is going. they were afraid during the great depression too. don't fall for the easy way out.

trust in your ability to think and stop watching FOX News! it is propoganda

I see another pitbull wearing lipstick. No question, my vote will be for Dow.

I have to say that the Dow Constantine interview let him off on some pretty big issues: he's in charge of the budget committee. The budget, in his own words, is in "crisis." Uhhh, hello? How about asking him what he got wrong and why anyone should trust him, now that the boat is underwater and we're lashed to the decks?

He took absolutely no responsibility for the fact that due to HIS budget crisis the King County Sheriff's office has had to dump 30 deputies and the King County prosecutor's office now only prosecutes theft cases if the bad guy steals more than $9000.00.

Dow gets my vote.

Susan Hutchison doesn't even answer questions, she just skirts the issues and smiles, hoping not to show the wolf under that sheep's clothing.

Susan's not a typical Bellevue repub, she's a conservative whackadoodle.

People who vote for her thinking she's a moderate non-partisan are in for a rude awakening if that overly-botoxed crackpot wins the election.

Dow has two votes in this household.

I was shocked to see that the Seattle Times Editorial Board has seen fit to endorse Susan Hutchison for the critical job of King County Executive for her "host of fresh ideas of how to tackle the budget."

The parallels between Susan Hutchison and Sarah Palin are astounding -- and frightening for King County.

Both Palin and Hutchison have journalism degrees with no education or training or experience in government or public policy.

Palin went from mayor of Wasilla, pop. 5000 to Governor of Alaska, pop 650,000. Hutchison wants to move from the Seattle Symphony 138 employees to King County 14,000 employees.

Palin spent three years as Alaska Governor and quit. Hutchison has spent 2-1/2 years at the Seattle Symphony and is ready to move on.

Palin was able to balance Alaska's budget on oil revenues in the state's Permanent Fund. Hutchison has funded the Seattle Symphony by raising funds from the Simonyi Foundation, which she managed, and the City of Seattle, which has its own budget crisis.

Palin's campaign for Vice President was filled with empty platitudes about "real Americans", "mavericks", and "family values". Hutchison's TV ads profess "fiscal discipline", "independent reform", and say she will "cut waste", "balance the budget", and "relieve traffic congestion". What's next -- a cure for cancer and world peace?

Palin was an unknown prior to her introduction on the national scene. Hutchison has shown Seattle that she knows how to read news and raise money from the wealthy for her worthy causes.

The Times endorsement claims that "the County must act more like private sector business...". Would they like the County's business model to be AIG, who provided us with the largest bankruptcy in the history of the planet -- or WAMU, whose failure decimated jobs and pensions here in Seattle and King County, as well as across the nation.

King County is facing seriously critical issues in the next few years; issues with budgets, infrastructure, human services, the environment; issues that touch our lives every single day. These issues require indepth knowledge of the County government and the knowledge and skills to fix it through hard work and collaboration -- not by Executive decree alone.

Our country dodged a bullet by not installing Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Now our county must dodge the same bullet and keep Susan Hutchison fundraising for her worthy causes -- and leave the hard work of running King County to the hardest worker on the Council -- Dow Constantine!!

It's not even close; Dow Constantine gets my vote!

Susie is intelligent, has common sense and is honest, a rare combination in office seekers these days

Bill, you are right, this is an intelligence test and you just flunked.

Everything you talked about is fabricated rhetoric without a single basis in fact, just your fantasy thinking.

On the other hand we have Dow, with a proven track record of lying, deception, corruption, and abuse of power and the taxpayer.

Susan may fail as Executive, we have no idea, but that failure would be a result of her giving her best effort to bring real change and financial responsibility.

Dow may fail as Executive as well, but when that happens we all will go "Duh, why didn't we see that?".

If you ignore his underhanded, dirty dealing, irresponsible track record. If you ignore his childish fits of anger. If you ignore the fact that he has a dysfuntional relationship with the county council. If you ignore the fact he is owned by unions and special interest groups. If you ignore his empty promises to change his spots.

Ignore all this and continue to wonder why nothing changes at King County.

So yes, this is an intelligence test. Can anyone really be stupid enough to think that anything will change when Dow moves from being chair of the council to being executive? He will cite his election as "validation" for his policies and actions and will continue to do the same thing he has always done.

He made this mess and you all know full well he will do nothing different if elected.

Dow C is part of the system that is part of this problem. Foot Ferry? You're kidding me????

While I may not know exactly what kind of governing to expect from Susan H, I certainly know we cannot take Dow at the helm - more of the Democrat Mafia that has been in power.

Let's get some balance here people.

Paula,

This is an inexcusable, delusional and unfounded attack.

If you don't like Palin, fine, but the attempt to discredit Hutchinson by comparing her to Palin is a desperate attempt to change the topic away from Dow's track record.

It would be intellectually dishonest to attack Dow based on the actions of others and it is just as dishonest to attack Susan for what you don't like about someone else.

Evaluate candidates on THEIR merits not the distorted merits of others.

On that basis Susan is the only choice.

4 votes for Dow from our household.

I'm voting for Dow because the "we need a political outsider" phrase will continue to prove to be hollow. Political rhetoric and campaign slogans won't get the job done - we need someone who knows what they are doing. Hutchison reminds me of Sarah Palin more than anyone. She's someone who spread a good talking point but it's blatantly clear she has no solid understanding of the real issues.

I hope people can realize that we need leadership, not another "outsider" that will prove as ineffective as every other candidate with the same label.

I have voted for DOW CONSTANTINE.
He is (at least) a known quantity.

Hutchinson is all veneer, talk, wacky,
without substantive political experience,
and dogged by endless questions as to her
veracity that are, in fact, of her own
making ... This alone speaks volumes
as to what a boondoggle she would be!

Paula,
You attack a national canidate to support a county representative? Get a clue. Yes Palin wasn't qualified to be VP, but look at her record until then. Sarah came out of no where to fiscally resolve the small community of Wasilla problems, then as Governor of Alaska immediately upon taking office stopped the award of the initial phase of a potential $100 million road construction project because she wanted to verify the project's worthiness. In the process, she pissed off the conservatives who helped her get elected but she did what she thought was fiscally responsible. The project was never rebid. You say she survied because of the oil revenue in her budget, but she renegotiated the State's share of lease revenue and doubled the revenue of such. I see Hutchison in a similar mode, willing to go the route that makes sense regardless of who doesn't like it. If Hutchison does a similar job performance as Palin at the county level versus state governor, I'm confident the county will be in good hands. Let's vote for someone with sense versus ANOTHER lifetime politician!!!!

Paula,
You attack a national canidate to support a county representative? Get a clue. Yes Palin wasn't qualified to be VP, but look at her record until then. Sarah came out of no where to fiscally resolve the small community of Wasilla problems, then as Governor of Alaska immediately upon taking office stopped the award of the initial phase of a potential $100 million road construction project because she wanted to verify the project's worthiness. In the process, she pissed off the conservatives who helped her get elected but she did what she thought was fiscally responsible. The project was never rebid. You say she survied because of the oil revenue in her budget, but she renegotiated the State's share of lease revenue and doubled the revenue of such. I see Hutchison in a similar mode, willing to go the route that makes sense regardless of who doesn't like it. If Hutchison does a similar job performance as Palin at the county level versus state governor, I'm confident the county will be in good hands. Let's vote for someone with sense versus ANOTHER lifetime politician!!!!

Dow has my vote hands Down!! Hutchinson is Grossly Unqualified, and is a Republican. Dow is Right, Hutchinson doesn't represent the values of King County and she'll Destroy King County and destroy the environment. She may say this is suppose to be nonpartisan, but the truth of the matter is she will run it with Republican ideology. And by the way, What's with women candidates these days?! First, dip stick Palin, and now, "I have anchor experience" Hutchinson.

Go Dow!!

I've already submitted my Vote for Dow!

Hutchinson has all the votes in this household (4).

Time for, as Obama says ' hope and CHANGE"

We need fresh eyes and fresh ideas.

Dow Constantine has been part of the problem with the county regarding budget and land issues. Electing him Executive is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.

We need change at the local level too, not just the Federal one.

Our next King County Executive, Dow Constantine, shares the progressive values of King County residents: the environment, civil rights and transportation choices. They are all vitally important values for our King County Executive. As King County Council Chair Dow Constantine is making the tough choices. Our entire nation is in economic crisis - budget crisis are not unique to King County.

Susan's experience is as a fundraiser - does that mean new taxes for the rich or will they make voluntary donations to King County to solve the deficit just like they donated to the Seattle Symphony? She has donated to the republican right including: George Bush, Dino Rossi, GOP Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA), the ultraconservative Building Industry Association of Washington, Mike Huckabee, and failed Patty Murray opponent George Nethercutt. She has not donated to any Democrats. But tries to claim the mantle of non-partisan. Please Susan - show some honesty. Be honest about your political values and your party. Quit hiding behind the claim of non-partisanship.

Two votes in this household for Dow Constantine for King County Executive!

Here's a quote from the Seattle Times about Hutchinson and the Discovery Institute:

"She spent a decade on the board of the Discovery Institute, which studies a range of issues, including transportation. While the institute also is known as a proponent of intelligent design, Hutchison says she's not a creationist and notes that her work at Simonyi Fund supports science related to evolution."

10 years on the board of an organization whose main claim to fame is its ongoing effort to discredit the theory of Evolution and she's not a creationist?

She supported George Bush, Dave Reichert, Dino Rossi, and Mike Huckabee(another non-creationist like her) and she's not a Republican?

How stupid does she think the people of King county are? She is a Right-Wing Republican who is too cowardly to admit it because she knows the Republican brand is toxic.

I vote for competence and honesty. I vote for Dow.

This County, like every other County and State is in a financial mess because tax revenues suddenly dropped off due to the recession that developed under the watch of the Republican party that controlled the House, Senate and Presidency. Blaming any local politician for financial problems directly related to the recession is like blaming your spouse for getting laid off of work. Every County and State is suffering because of the recession, regardless if it was run by Democrats or Republicans. Between the two candidates, Dow Constatine seems much more qualified to run the County and has gone out of his way to seek reform in departments that were not as efficient as they should be. To reform or streamline the County, you not only need to know where it is broken (anyone can see the problems), but you need to understand how it works so you can fix it.

Dow and his supporters bringing up abortion issues in a county race is absolutely despicable and has no bearing whatsoever on whether Susan Hutchinson would make a good County Executive or not. Last I heard Roe v Wade was decided in our nation's Supreme Court. Dow's campaign is clearly grasping at straws and trying to elicit some kind of emotional response from voters he apparently believes are too stupid to look at the issues and facts then cast their votes accordingly. STOP THE DIVERSION AND STICK TO MATTERS THAT AFFECT KING COUNTY!!!

Dear Mr. and Ms. King County Progressive-

Do you read me?? This is planet earth. We lost your signal as you were exiting our galaxy on a steady course for the land of false premises and unintelligent propaganda.

The bottom line is....the bottom line. If you can't run a business it goes out of business. If you can't run a county, it ends up where we are now. It is a very silly idea that you would want to make the masons of our county's structure and foundation into the chief archietect, if the building is already set to collapse.

And one more thing, shamelessly attacking a person's charachter the way that Mr. Constantine has done speaks very highly of the leadership that you want elected, and the type of person that you are.

And another point. If Dow constantine supports the act of a woman murdering an innocent human being growing inside her (lets call it what it please) for what ever reason, thats his decision. How do you try and spin being pro-life into something to be despised? Silly, silly progaganda. At least you know if Ms. Hutchinson was your mother she wouldn't kill you. Dow, I am not so sure.

The most current thing that has been bothering me about Susan Hutchison is her most recent claim that County Road money is not allowed to be spent on seawalls. The seawalls hold up the road! It is part of the road shoulder. Virturally every Puget Sound county in the State of Washington has a road of this kind. You need to maintain them or you lose the road. You didn't hear people saying don't replace the Redondo Seawall when it spectacularly gave out a decade or so ago. I don't live on Vashon, but I think the people that do have just as much right to have their roads maintained as any other part of the County.

As a former journalist I didn't expect her to be so deliberately misleading as a candidate.

Hutchinson, has my vote, We got rid of The other Obamaite, in Ron Sims, Thank God,, I think Kaye will get us back on track.

Friendlt--
Reorient yourself. Kay is in DC (or Texas) and Susan is here. Although they both share the same surname it 's not hte one you spelled: Hutchison.

I have been hearing about King county budget problems, with cuts in departments and elimination of services. In light of this could someone explain how the "QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO REVIEW KING COUNTY INVESTMENT POOL" report shows an increase of approximately 600,000,000 dollars from March 31, 2009 to June 30,2009.
The March 31, 2009 report showed a balance of 3.6 billion dollars and the June 30,2009 report showed a balance of 4.2 billion dollars.
With all of the cost cutting, how does the county council justify this?

Wow.........after seeing the debate Dow came across as another offensive slimy politician with a bunch of excuses for his poor performance. Susan is a breath of fresh air and a change we need.

Susan possible reformer. Dow perpetual conformer.

Riley--

You should probably not cherry-pick data like that. Check out the previous year when the King County portfolio sank -- like everybody else's portfolios -- like a rock. Also, this is not just King County's money. Other local government entities participate in the investment pool because of the pool's good track record. This is tax money that the county draws on to meet its expenses. Unlike a household, where most people are getting paid every two weeks or so, the county gets its money in uneven streams so it invests it until it needs it.

We have corresponded over issues in the past so I know what he is - I either vote for her or no one.

This one is not even close. I will be voting for Dow. It is one thing to go on the attack, it is another thing to lie.

Little Susie - All Smirk and no experiance.
Dow is the only choice.

Susan Hutchinson will get our votes, hands down. I was undecided until I watched the debates tonight. Dow Constitine is a buffoon and seems completely clueless to the poor state of the County, of which he has played a big part. My 12 year old daughter, who had never heard of either candidate, said "that Dow guy has a big head. He's arrogant." Honesty in the eyes of a child...