Hague Holds Lead over Mitchell in King County Council Race

In the early returns for what proved to be a bitter King County Council District 6 fight, incumbent Jane Hague led with nearly 54 percent of the vote late Tuesday, with challenger Richard Mitchell getting 46 percent of the votes counted.

Hague  was shocked and pleased by the large lead. “Whoaaaaaa!” she said after the results were posted, according to the Seattle Times. “I would have been happy with 51 percent.”

Hague, a Bellevue Republican, has served on the council since 1994. Her district includes Bellevue, Mercer Island, Redmond and Kirkland. Mitchell, a Mercer Island defense attorney who represents , is a political newcomer.

Tuesday night she joined supporters at Juanita Bay Pub in Kirkland as King County Elections released the early returns.

Though Hague is a Republican, the King County Council recently was converted to nonpartisan seats by voters. Hague's supporters at the pub came from different sides of the political spectrum, including former Kirkland mayor and current state Rep. Larry Springer.

"I am proud as a Democrat, as is my wife (Kirkland Deputy Mayor Penny Sweet), to support Jane Hague, who used to be a Republican," Springer said to laughs. "We reject the notion that it matters what letter you have behind your name when you're serving at the local level."

Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride also joined the celebrations after results were announced and thanked Hague for her work on Eastside issues.

"Kirkland will be well represented in the coming years," she said.

The campaigns turned out to be contentious. Though neither Hague nor Mitchell have any official negative campaign accounting listed by the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, both have lobbied official and unofficial complaints at each other regarding attack ads.

 that made it appear that initiative author Tim Eyman encouraged Republicans to sit out the Hague-Mitchell race. Mitchell countered with a PDC complaint, saying that expenditures for an ad that attacked his record as an attorney was not reported to the PDC in a timely manner.

Mitchell's campaign tactics cost him an endorsement from the Seattle Times, which switched its endorsement to Jane Hague in the general election after supporting Richard Mitchell in the primary because his ads "were nasty to the point of being offensive."

This story will be updated.

Results

•Metropolitan King County Council District No. 6

Jane Hague 15,878, 53.80 percent

Richard E. Mitchell 13,551, 45.92 percent

Write-in 84, 0.28 percent

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Additional reporting by Venice Buhain