The King County Executive race between incumbent Dow Constantine and challenger Joe Nguyen is close to concluding as vote counting began Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Here are the most recent vote counts. Updated Nov. 15, 3:38 pm:
Dow Constantine – 54.59% (312,152)
Joe Nguyen – 44.26% (253,085)
With 43.33% (606,733) of registered voters counted.
Joe Nguyen currently serves as a state senator for Washington’s 34th Legislative District representing Burien, White Center, West Seattle, Vashon and Maury Island. Nguyen studied finance, humanities and economics at Seattle University and currently works as a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft.
Some of his stated policy priorities are to increase healthcare access and reduce regional health disparities, which he said were evident through the COVID-19 pandemic during which South King County residents got sick and died from COVID-19 at twice the rate of those in other parts of the county.
As a state legislator, Nguyen has been a leader in sponsoring legislation aimed at mitigating climate change, supporting clean fuel standards, carbon tax, and clean energy.
“The status quo has given us 12 years of unaffordable housing, longer commutes, inaction on climate change, and worsening gun violence in our communities,” he said via written statement. “We need bold solutions implemented with transparency and accountability, and I have the private and public sector experience to get things done.”
His endorsements include State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti, ATU 587, IUPAT DC 5, UAW 4121, a handful of state legislators and local Democratic Party organizations.
Dow Constantine has served as King County Executive through the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted King County before anywhere else in the country. He touts King County’s vaccination rates, which has the highest vaccination rate among large counties nationwide, as a public health victory.
“As we continue battling this stubborn pandemic, I’m bringing that same clarity and resolve to the toughest challenges — homelessness, public safety, climate action, and uniting our region for an economic recovery where everyone can thrive,” Constantine wrote in his statement.
Constantine helped to spearhead the controversial Health Through Housing initiative, which levied a small-percentage sales tax to raise hundreds of millions in funding to purchase hotels in the county that will serve as supportive housing for the chronically homeless.
He is endorsed by Gov. Jay Inslee as well as former governors Chris Gregoire and Gary Locke; 40 Democratic legislators; Planned Parenthood; Washington Conservation Voters; Alliance for Gun Responsibility; MLK Labor; SEIU; UFCW; Nurses, Firefighters, and Building Trades unions.
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