Chalk it up to a low voter turn out.
with about 4,400 left to count this 62 vote margin will not stand.

Ha,ha! Let’s hear it for self-described “progressive liberals.” 

And how long can they fool themselves in the belief their support for Linville was “not based on emotion but a simple desire for good city government.”

Didn’t it give you pause to find yourself celebrating at the same party with Pete Kremen, John?  Do you seriously believe, when the campaigning’s done, you’ll be invited back?

You’ve really got to wonder about these “progressive liberals” who bought into the Kremen/Linville campaign for Louws and threw David Stalheim under the bus.

That’s the Whatcom county Democrats I’ve come to love.  Endorse a man, but don’t support him.  Who’s surprised?  Kremen’s been doing it for years.  Why would you expect anything different from Linville.

Hey, they’re all representatives of the landed gentry who bought the county council.  The local Dems are anything but progressive.

Only in Whatcom, the land of political relativism, could liberals be fooled into believing Linville/Louws was progress.

Won’t they be surprised, when the game’s over, they hit the showers, and find out there’s no soap!

I was right . It has already flipped Dan Pike is ahead today by 76 votes.

I’ve been checking around and Mayor Daniel V. Pike is in the unprecedented situation of possibly being the first Bellingham mayor to lose a re-election bid.  The shifting lead in the mayoral race between Pike and Kelly Linville is too narrow to call.  As of 5pm today, Pike leads by 14 votes.  A finish by a nose at 39% each is a loss by Pike, even if he ends up a handful of votes ahead.  Incumbents who can’t get a clear plurality in a primary are candidates in trouble.  And that trouble is usually of their own making.

Pikes explanations of the results don’t hold water:  1) Kelly did more TV advertising—unlikely that pulled Pike below the red line of 50%;  2) Pike is employed full time and Linville is not—that would imply that none of the other incumbents in the primary should have done much better than Hizzoner;  3) it’s a low turnout election and voters are more motivated to vote against incumbents in that situation—see #2 above.  The more likely explanation is that Pike’s performance in office has turned former supporters against him.  It also appears that he misread the situation and didn’t run hard enough.

It’s also possible voters are conditioned to Linville as an incumbent and see Pike as a newcomer with a fluid base.  That’s only a hunch based on a handful of disinterested conversations, but it would explain how the iron rule of incumbent supremacy seems badly bent in this race alone. 

Incumbency is only an advantage if you haven’t been pissing people off.  The mistake of taking support for granted can be fatal, particularly if the people end up feeling used or caught in a squeeze.

Of ten Northwest Citizen political wonks polled at the start of the campaign, only one picked Linville as the winner in the primary.  All the others figured the usual iron rule of incumbents rarely losing would apply as usual.  The one perspicacious prescient pundit (who will be buying everybody else drinks if Kelly finishes in the lead) explained his pick as simply a comparison of campaign staffs:  Kelly was going to run serious campaign.

With both the Bellingham mayoral race and possibly the County Exec race results still up in the air, a potentially interesting dynamic could emerge after all the dust, fur and feathers have subsided.

Assuming (as appears likely) that David Stalheim runs third in the County Exec race, there is a unprecedented opportunity to forge a new consensus in local politics.  If Doug Ericksen and Jack Louws face off in the general election, Bellingham will hold the key to that race.

Jack Louws, Pete Kremen and Kelly Linville all share the character of building consensus and maintaining cordial relations across the aisle.  If Bellingham was to elect Jack Louws to the County Executive, he would be able to draw on his past experience of building cooperative working relationships between the cities of the north county and end the division between city and county that has stifled job creation and sensible economic growth.

There are essentially two ways to conduct politics:  building a majority around a consensus and exploiting divisions in attempts to dominate.  We’ve had enough posturing around inflammatory issues and attempting to suppress opposition.  That’s a game played by narrow interests.  It’s pretty much wrecked both parties as vehicles for citizens’ aspirations.

Whatcom county needs to address the issue of employment.  We need job creation that employs local skills and talents.  We need businesses that do business with other local businesses.  It will require a mixture of public and private investment.  And it will also need to be structured so that business contributes to government revenues more than they draw in service costs.

And the way to get that started is for candidates to make a commitment to working across jurisdictions to make that happen.  Sometimes supporting others is the best way to advance yourself.