City of Mercer Island

King County Assessor John Wilson is running unopposed for re-election. He worked as the chief deputy assessor for four years before being elected by the public to lead the office in 2015. Wilson has also worked in the county’s Department of Information Technology and in public affairs consulting. 

In office, Wilson has focused on housing affordability, making sure our tax code is balanced, and improving the efficiency of assessor services. One of his top priorities has been to ensure that property taxes don’t push our senior neighbors out of their homes. Wilson also revamped the office’s web services and instituted the Taxpayer Transparency Tool so county residents can easily calculate how policy changes impact their upcoming taxes. In this race, Wilson’s platform emphasizes similar values of accessibility, innovation, and efficiency in the office while working on community issues like housing and immigration.

With his years of experience and strong community focus, John Wilson deserves your vote to serve another term as King County Auditor. 

Incumbent Julie Wise is running for her third term serving as King County Director of Elections. Wise has worked in elections since 2000 and as the county’s director since 2015. During her two terms, she has brought innovative community services to the offices that have advanced civic education and voter participation.

Wise has led progress in the county elections office, instituting the Voter Education Fund (a public-philanthropic partnership), providing prepaid postage on ballots, introducing new language options, and adding 65 new ballot drop-off locations. Her past term included successfully navigating the storm of election misinformation and conspiracy theories about the democratic process. Wise has won numerous awards for her leadership in the office.

Wise’s campaign reflects her continued commitment to reducing barriers to voting, protecting elections from infringement, building community trust in the accuracy of election results, and making sure every vote is counted. Her biggest priorities for a third term are continuing progressive efforts to increase accessibility while investing in security to protect voters and elections offices from intimidation.

Republican Doug Basler is challenging Wise in this race. Basler runs a digital video and marketing services company, and he has previously run for office. His campaign platform dangerously promotes far-right fictions of election fraud that fueled the 2020 criminal conspiracy to overthrow the will of the people. Basler has also previously questioned the integrity of county elections, and even participated in lawsuits aimed at overturning the function of our democratic institutions. 

King County voters deserve an elections director who is focused on delivering quality and accurate services rather than someone who wants to overturn our votes and stoke chaos in order to elevate their position and that of their party. Julie Wise deserves re-election for another term as King County Director of Elections to continue bringing strong leadership to the office. 

Claudia Balducci is running unopposed for re-election to the King County Council from District 6. 

First elected in 2015, Balducci previously served as the mayor of Bellevue during her 12 years on the Bellevue City Council. She is also the founder and chair of the Regional Affordable Housing Committee and a board member of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. 

Balducci is running on a platform of affordable housing, updating transportation options, and ensuring climate justice. A few of the policies that she and the council worked on this term include putting a fully serviced shelter on the Eastside for people experiencing homelessness, improving and electrifying buses, and passing gun violence prevention policies. Balducci spearheaded a successful effort to create a Sound Transit "starter line" to connect Bellevue and Redmond while work continues on the East Link Extension to Seattle.

Balducci is one of the brightest and most effective progressive leaders in our region. She has earned your vote for re-election to the King County Council.  

Sam Cho is running unopposed for re-election for Seattle Port Commissioner, Position 2. Before his election in 2019, he served on Gov. Jay Inslee’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs and previously worked on trade issues for a member of Congress. Aside from his work on the commission, Cho also serves on the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce and the Washington Council on International Trade.

Cho has been a standout on the commission in his first term. When Cho became commission president in 2022, he was the first Asian American to serve in the role in port history. As the son of South Korean immigrants and a fluent Korean speaker, Cho has led several international trade efforts with Korea, including creating a green trade corridor with the Port of Busan and working with Hyundai and KIA to make the Port of Seattle the exclusive importer of their cars.

Cho deserves your vote for Position 2 on the Seattle Port Commission. 

Incumbent Fred Felleman is an environmental consultant and marine biologist. He is running for re-election to the Seattle Port Commission, Position 5, as the senior member of the commission, having served since 2016. With his science background, Felleman has pledged to continue supporting environmentally friendly reforms at the port.

As commissioner, Felleman has focused on fighting climate change and increasing the port's green energy jobs. He has been a leader on the commission when it comes to protecting orcas, publicly opposing the dangerous Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, and advocating for well-paying jobs. Elected commission president in 2021, he has recently supported more efficient and greener policies at the port to reduce pollution, including adding solar panels to the Fishermen's Terminal's net shed and powering new docks so ships don't have to idle and burn additional fuel. Felleman often supports social causes as well, including condemning Trump's Muslim ban and government agencies’ response at the airport, as well as welcoming Ukrainian refugees, with Washington hosting 16,000 refugees, the third most among U.S. states.

Challenging Felleman is Jesse Tam, the managing director for Mega Pacific Investments, a strategic development consulting firm. He is a former parks commissioner for the city of Newcastle, as well as past president and current board director for the Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce, among other roles. 

Tam states that he's running to use his business experience to source well-paying union jobs, negotiate business deals, and lead on climate change. While we agree with Tam's listed priorities, Felleman has been an excellent environmental advocate and scientific mind on the board, and we don't see a strong case for how Tam would bring progressive change to the port. 

Felleman has earned your vote for re-election to the Port of Seattle, Position #5. 

Moderate Wendy Weiker is running unopposed for re-election to Mercer Island City Council, Position 3. She has served in a multitude of community leadership roles, including as a board member of EarthShare, an active member of three PTAs on the island, and as a liaison to the Sound Cities Association. If re-elected, she will maintain her focus on public safety, protecting the community from gun violence, investing in infrastructure, and ensuring Mercer Island remains a great place to live and raise a family.

Moderate Craig Reynolds is running for re-election to the Mercer Island City Council, Position 5. Reynolds works as an actuary and believes his financial planning skills translate well to his work on the Mercer Island City Council. 

During his last term, Reynolds was proud to support the city's first climate action plan and worked to protect Mercer Island's parks and open spaces. He is running once again to focus on the city’s financial challenges as well as transportation, growth, and land use. 

Reynolds faces a challenge from planning commissioner Michael D. Curry. He is also focused on maintaining local parks but places a greater emphasis on crime in his campaign materials. Curry has not earned broad community endorsements, though he is supported by the King County Republican Party. 

We believe Craig Reynolds deserves your vote once again for Mercer Island City Council, Position 5, based on endorsements from our progressive partners and trusted community leaders.
 

Andrew Friedman is challenging council member Jacobsen for Mercer Island City Council, Position 7. Friedman owns a local bar and is a parent to three children in the school district.

Friedman loves the quality of life on Mercer Island, including local businesses, community events, and parks and greenspaces. He has a optimistic vision of progress in Mercer Island to improve on what makes the city great. If elected, Friedman wants to invest in infrastructure and public space. He also believes that the city can create affordable housing to ensure residents of all income levels have a place on Mercer Island.

Moderate incumbent Jake Jacobsen is running for a second term on the council after first joining in 2020. Jacobsen is the director and executive vice president of Osborne Construction Company where he has worked for nearly three decades. In this race, he is emphasizing the need to make Mercer Island resilient. He also wants to enhance public utilities, create a sustainability plan, and restrict funding for public services while providing more funding for law enforcement equipment. Jacobsen is not a progressive choice.

We recommend Andrew Friedman for Mercer Island City Council, Position 7 to bring community leadership to the council.

We believe Cristina Martinez is the best choice for Mercer Island School District Director, Position 1 based on endorsements from our partners and trusted community leaders. Martinez is active in local schools through the PTA Council and the superintendent's advisory groups. She is running to ensure that every student has access to equitable and inclusive learning opportunities in Mercer Island schools.

Martinez faces Ananta Gudipaty, who has many years of experience working in tech at Microsoft and Amazon. He has not released a detailed campaign platform but is motivated to use technology to achieve "global educational transportation." He has been endorsed by the King County Republican Party and some other local conservatives.

While we have not been able to conduct our standard independent research on this race, we encourage you to visit their website, social media, or voters’ pamphlet statement to learn more. Based on her strong local support, we recommend Christina Martinez for Position 1.

We believe Jody Lee is the best choice for Mercer Island School Board Director, District 5 based on endorsements from our partners and trusted community leaders. She is a longtime volunteer with the local PTSA and serves on the board of the Mercer Island Youth & Family Services Foundation. Her opponent, Todd White, has not been as involved with our local schools and has received the endorsement of the King County Republican Party.

While we have not been able to conduct our standard independent research on this race, we encourage you to visit their website, social media, or voters’ pamphlet statement to learn more.