It's Kartak, Redmon, King, Franklin, Oss, Wittock and more
AROUND SNOHOMISH COUNTY — New faces, old names and a few duels will punctuate 2021’s election season.
Candidate filing week concluded Friday, May 21. Here’s who’s running:
Snohomish
Two known quantities and one newcomer seek the mayor’s seat.
Incumbent John Kartak is diving into a re-election bid after keeping a low profile on the matter for months.
City Council President Linda Redmon, meanwhile, announced months ago she’s running for mayor.
Newcomer Samuel King is also in the fray. King said his main platform is to turn Snohomish into the first city run as a direct democracy, where the public at-large decides city policies through polls and ballots instead of elected representatives making the decisions; he also runs a startup called the World Peace Movement.
Redmon bet her council seat to make the run for mayor, leaving a vacancy with three running.
On the City Council, there are few recognizable names.
A hot seat has emerged as incumbent Steve Dana will be up against Karen Guzak and Tabitha Baty of the group Snohomish for Equity. This battle
has two former heads of council under the old “weak mayor” system. Both Dana and Guzak are seeking a fourth term in office; Guzak exited the council in 2019 after three terms and endorsed Judith Kuleta to take her place.
David Flynn, a small business owner, Becky Perkins and Realtor Kari Zimmerman all seek Redmon’s seat on council.
Incumbent Larry Countryman will face Lea Anne Burke, who nearly made it onto council months ago. When a vacant council seat became available in October, in a tie-breaker vote Kartak selected Felix Neals over Burke for the appointment.
Incumbent Tom Merrill drew Brian Mills as a challenger.
Neals is the only council member running unopposed. Guzak initially filed for the seat, but switched to challenge Dana.
Snohomish school board
Longtime board members Jay Hagen and Josh Seek are guaranteed another four years each. Nobody challenged them. Incumbent Shaunna Ballas drew Christina Ridges as a challenger.
Everett
Steve Oss, the president of Everett Transit’s union, lodged an entry to challenge incumbent mayor Cassie Franklin as did newcomer Ron Wittock. It might be an uphill battle for either challenger: Franklin has so far raised more than $68,000 for her campaign.
On council, a plethora of new faces are running. This is the first year of Everett changing its City Council to the districts format.
District 1, covering north Everett, has former Delta Neighborhood chair Mary Fosse campaigning against incumbent Paul Roberts. The two are almost even on their fundraising so far.
Two incumbent councilmen who live in this district are exiting: Councilman Scott Bader chose to not run this time around, and Councilman Scott Murphy closed his council campaign to instead challenge for a seat on the Port of Everett commission against David Simpson.
In District 2, covering the eastern part of central Everett, Greg Lineberry and Paula Rhyne are both making their first runs. Lineberry is a captain in the Everett Police Department; Rhyne works as a legislative aide for County Councilwoman Megan Dunn.
District 3, covering the western part of central Everett, will be a three-way primary between Jacob Vail, Lacey Sauvageau and Don Schwab.
In District 4, covering south-central Everett, Tommie Rubatino is challenging incumbent Liz Vogeli. Rubatino carries the endorsements of former Mayor Ray Stephanson and former Councilwoman Ethel McNeal, whom Vogeli ousted in a council primary in 2018.
In District 5, covering southeast Everett, newcomers Kelly M. Fox, Ben Zarlingo and Demi Chatters want the seat being vacated by retiring Councilman Jeff Moore. Zarlingo lives in the Silver Lake Neighborhood and Chatters lives in the Pinehurst-Beverly Park Neighborhood.
Everett school board
Two school district seats up for election are going to be races.
Incumbent Caroline Mason has Jeannie Magdua of Mill Creek as a challenger.
Incumbent Traci Mitchell has Janelle Burke and Charles Mister, Jr. challenging for the seat.
Everett municipal judges
Judges Laura Van Slyck and Amy Kaestner did not receive any challengers.
Monroe
Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas has sealed a third term. Nobody is running against him.
Incumbent Kevin Hanford is being challenged by Amber Mehta.
Incumbent Kirk Scarboro is being challenged by Jacob Walker, who ran for council previously.
Newcomer Tami Kinney of the Monroe Historical Society is heir apparent for the seat held by Patsy Cudaback. Kyle Fisher will take the seat held by Jeff Rasmussen. Neither Cudaback nor Rasmussen are running for re-election, and Kinney and Fisher have no challengers.
Monroe school board
Challengers are abundant among the four seats up for election on the Monroe school board. Two board members are concluding their terms. The school board is divided by geographic districts.
Recently appointed board member Jeremiah Campbell will face Brian Saulsman to win a two-year seat in north Monroe.
Two residents south of Monroe, Mary Reule and Molly Barnes, seek the seat being left vacant by Darcy Cheesman. Two others, Janine Burkhardt and Sarah Johnson, seek the seat being left vacant by Jim Langston.
Board member Jennifer Bumpus has a free pass.
