Written by The Spirit of Washington Pavilion Event Center has probably never been home to more cheering than witnessed tonight. The Event Center was the venue for an election watch party for Denis Law, Marcie Palmer, Greg Taylor, and King Parker, and all of their campaign teams. At a few minutes past 8:00, as the first returns were coming in, it became clear that all four of them were winning, and winning big, in their respective races. For Mayor, Denis Law was easily beating incumbent Kathy Keolker with a 56 percent to 44 percent spread. On city council, Marcie Palmer ran away with her race, with nearly three quarters of the voters choosing to re-elect her. Greg Taylor was ahead in the polling for an open seat almost two-to-one. And King Parker was getting almost 60 percent of the vote in his race for a city council seat. Along with all the other positive results, 17,000 residents of the Benson Hill neighborhood were electing to join the City of Renton in an annexation vote that was prevailing by 67% to 33 %. ( Interestingly, one of Denis Law’s adult daughters lives in this neighborhood….she could not vote for her father for mayor because she currently lives outside city limits, but she was able to vote to annex to the city of Renton which will make her father her mayor. )
The party of hundreds gasped and cheered as each set of fantastic results were shown on a big screen, which was linked to a bank of computers set up by Marcie Maxwell and some well-organized helpers. Along with cheering to raise the roof, glasses clinked, and people hugged, like midnight on new years eve in New York City.
The guests were all extremely well-fed compliments of the campaigns and Eric Temple’s excellent caterers from Spirit of Washington. And we all enjoyed acceptance speeches from the winning candidates, who were honored, humble, enthusiastic, appreciative, and extremely optimistic in their comments.
It was quite a night for everyone. But I can’t help feeling that I am one of the biggest winners of all, even though I was not even on the ballot. I now get to serve with a dream-team of city officials, in a city that is ready to truly bloom culturally and economically. If there was a way to buy stock in Renton, I would suggest you call your broker and purchase some right now…I am very, very bullish on our city’s future.
What a rush. I thank you all, dear readers and fellow Renton citizens, for making this night possible.
I’ll be getting some really nice pictures from Gary Palmer, but here are a few from my own camera to give the idea of the evening. Below the pictures, you can find the latest numbers from the King County Elections office.
CITY OF RENTON
| Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: | 6933 | / | 27552 | 25.16% |
| Poll Precincts Counted/Total Poll Precincts: | 65 | / | 65 | 100.00% |
| City of Renton Mayor |
| Kathy Keolker | NP | 2984 | 45.24% |
| Denis W. Law | NP | 3600 | 54.58% |
| Write-in | 12 | 0.18% |
| City of Renton Council Position No. 3 |
| Marcie Palmer | NP | 4388 | 73.70% |
| Shirley A. Gaunt-Smith | NP | 1545 | 25.95% |
| Write-in | 21 | 0.35% |
| City of Renton Council Position No. 4 |
| Greg Taylor | NP | 3806 | 62.93% |
| Terry Persson | NP | 2227 | 36.82% |
| Write-in | 15 | 0.25% |
| City of Renton Council Position No. 5 |
| King Parker | NP | 3774 | 59.22% |
| Cheryl E. Haskins | NP | 2586 | 40.58% |
| Write-in | 13 | 0.20% |
| City of Renton Council Position No. 7 |
| Don Persson | NP | 4778 | 97.67% |
| Write-in | 114 | 2.33% |
A Great Night
Well said Randy. Now I’m going to bed–a very happy Renton resident.
Hello from Marcie Palmer-
Well done, good and faithful City. What an amazing experience to go through with All of YOU. The caliber of people working to get the right leadership in place for Renton’s Future, is amazing. Each one has done so much to work on this critical 2007 campaign year. What an honor to be a part of this incredible COMMUNITY.
Hugs from me to YOU to each one that reads this. And Thank You for your committment to our Renton.
MP
What a relief!
Hopefully we can have civil debate on issues and move forward.
Principles before personality!
Re: What a relief!
To bad there was no real debate leading to the election its sad that most candidates never even had a fair chance
Congratulations, everyone! It’s truly heartening to know that such thoughtful, intelligent, and forward-thinking people are going to be running our city.
I can now get back to the business of being a private citizen again.
I realize I made a terrible mistake with my mail i when I found out these two things were true.
1 – Dennis said the money wouldn’t be taken from other budgets and stay within the budget set for the police and fire to improve on there jobs, because he has said that the money will be taken out of the parks and recreation devision to increase the police and fire budget.
2- And the man that has been the head of public safety since he was elected to city council was Dennis Law, and he is saying that crime rates are going up so can we put the blame on him
Say hello to higher crime rates and good bye to our great parks and rec
CRIME IS ON RISE IN RENTON!!
It’s unfortunate that after a hard fought campaign some people can’t call it a day and get back to the work of being a community. Denis is going to be an outstanding mayor for this city. Once he is in office all of you Kathy supporters will realize what we have known for quite some time, Denis is a honorable man who has his heart in the right place. CONGRATS Denis!
All i am saying is after i voted for him and sent in my ballot, I felt mislead
When did you start thinking that Denis would take money from parks and recreation to fight crime? It sounds like one of the mayor’s many lies.
Actually it was from someone at his campaign head quarters
So you haven’t felt mis-lead the past 4 years with Kathy? Give me a break. Denis will be the best thing that has happened to this city. He will show RESPECT to the police officers of this great city and will move forward on key agenda items in a fair, calm, law abiding and respectful manner. Way to go DREAM TEAM!
Hi to all you Kathy supporters. You are all acting as I suspected you would. The city will be much better off with her out of the picture. Denis will do a great job, you’ll see. I don’t understand how you can be so bitter. If you don’t like the results, move into the county and then talk about crime. Crime will not go up because of Denis, that’s ridiculous. He is going to work so well with Chief Milosevich. You will see so many changes for the better. So my advice to you is back off and give him a chance. He won this race fair and square.
Re: Denis for Mayor
He never said he was against i just enjoyed his humorous comment
Yes, thank you to the commenter immediately above. This race is over now, and its time to move into the next phase. For everything there is a season.
I think the fact that every single police officer unanimously supported Denis Law says more than enough about Denis’ crime fighting abilities. It’s true that he was Public Safety Chair, but other than allocating funding to fight crime in places like the highlands and transit center, his hands were tied. Separation of powers made him unable to jump in and tell the department how to run on a daily basis. Now, we can count on him to help lead our police department, and really make a difference. And the council will be there to provide the funding he needs.
Lawbreakers, look out! Anyone who steals should stop right now, and get the training they need to get themselves a job. Anyone who beats their loved ones should get counseling and make amends. Drug users should level with their loved ones, and then seek treatment. Growers and dealers should close up shop, and get out of Renton. This city will not tolerate crime with Denis Law in the mayor’s office. Denis believes Renton Citizens deserve to feel safe in their city at all hours of the day and night. That’s why the Police Officers all support him.
So this city tolerated crime in its one hundred plus year history until Dennis arrived?
I think this nasty race including mud slinging from both sides (including this blog). Dennis is a good choice, but you would think by reading all this, is is a step away from Sainthood, and Kathy is going straight to Hell. I am sick and tired of politicians congradulating themselves on good things that happen, and assiging blame to their political enemies, when nothing is ever that straight forward. I agree he should be given a chance to lead, but lets stop with the corination of him, and the condemnation of his opponent.
Remember, I fought the Law and THE LAW WON!
Yay! Congratulations to everyone! That was a wonderful party last night, and it was fun seeing a lot of the community that I haven’t seen in a while. It makes me glad that I grew up in Renton. Now I’ll have more incentive to stay here when I’m looking for a house in the future. 🙂
-Katie
A new day indeed!
Last night was testimony to good things happening to GREAT people. Congratulations to Denis- you will be an outstanding mayor for all of us. Congrats to Greg, King, Marcie P, and Don all of you worked hard and the citizens rewarded you with their votes.
Many thanks also go to you Randy, you been a constant voice for the citizens and have been on the receiving end of unneeded abuse (even on this blog). Thanks to my new friend Kevin Poole for coming forward and speaking your truth, I hope last night was satisfying for you.
Lastly but definitely not least, thanks to Ryan and Barbara. Campaign managers and consultants don’t get enough credit when candidates win and get too much blame when candidates lose but you two worked HARD. I hope you have a chance to sit back and enjoy last night.
It was a pleasure to work with all of you and I look forward to working with you for the community we love!
Ed Prince
Re: A new day indeed!
Unneeded abuse?!! Give me a break, much of this blog is abuse heaped on perceived political enemies. The message might as well be, do not oppose Randy’s choices, or be prepared to be have you and your family attacked.
Re: A new day indeed!
Thanks, Ed. I feel incredibly honored to have received four invitations (!) to the party last night, and I had a chance to talk personally with each of the candidates and many of their supporters. What an amazing group of people. What I found most telling is that folks from all across the political, cultural, and socio-economic spectrum were represented at the event, from fiscally conservative African-Americans, to socially progressive Jews, to middle-of-the-road factory workers. It was truly a melting pot, and very much representative of our city’s diversity. Denis Law, with his unimpeachable personal integrity, outstanding leadership skills, and positive energy, is ideally suited to guide our community on its continued journey of success.
Kevin Poole
P.S.: Welcome to Renton, Benson Hill neighborhoods!
Re: A new day indeed!
How unfortunate that one of the most thoughtful, intelligent, and forward-thinking residents in Renton is going back to being a private citizen just when the campaign for Dan Clawson’s seat should be starting up…
Re: A new day indeed!
That’s such a nice compliment, but I have NO desire to hold public office. However, I’m eager to help advance the political careers of talented people such as Ed Prince, that’s for darn sure!
Congratulations to Denis, Marcie, Greg, King and Don !
It’s a real pleasure and privilege to live in Renton with such quality people as you (and Randy, and many others) who are so involved in their community, and work so hard to do the right thing for Renton’s citizens, businesses, and our collective future.
Way to go!
Mark Hancock
Kennydale
Congratulations to Renton
First, I want to thank Randy for putting together this blog. I’ll bet that it’s worth at least 5% of the vote that Denis got. Second, I’m so happy that it’s over. I’m really tired of the bickering in this relatively small city. Let’s get to work. Third, who’s going to run against dirty Dan and Terri next time around. We need to complete the sweep. Last, to all of Kathy’s supporters, the water is way under the bridge now. So, let go and rejoice that Kathy can now retire. The City is now going to run like clockwork and I firmly believe that we have a leader that has a great vision (beyond shopping malls & ribbon cutting ceremonies) and will take us to there. I Denis I trust.
Denis, don’t let us down. Be a strong leader. Engage with the Citizenry, the Council, the City Staff and build on what we have.
Thanks for winning!
Re: Congratulations to Renton
Yeah! “Clean Sweep” 2009!
Let’s start the campaign now- RU in?
Coffeedogs Cafe (campaign headquarters)
BRAVO DREAM TEAM!!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE DREAM TEAM! I had a wonderful time at the celebration last night and share in the joy we all feel with having a fresh new era in Renton. We live in a great City. Treasure it, embrace public input and involvement, and lead well. I’m happy to be on board to help in any way possible.
Best always,
Elizabeth Stevens