City Council race: Bader vs Robinson EVERETT - The match up between City Council candidates Scott Bader and June Robinson has brought out some big names.
Both are vying to win a special election in November to fill late Councilman Drew Nielsen’s seat through 2015. Appointed Councilwoman Gigi Burke currently fills the spot in the interim; the winner of this election would take over once the election is certified.
Bader and Robinson have a wide net of endorsements.
Councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher and Councilman Paul Roberts are endorsing Robinson. The rest of the council — Burke, and Councilmen Ron Gipson, Arlan Hatloe, Shannon Affholter and Jeff Moore — has endorsed Bader.
Robinson has the endorsements of numerous neighborhood chairs, state Sen. Nick Harper, state Reps. Marko Liias and John McCoy and both the Snohomish County Democrats and 38th Legislative District Democrats.
Bader, meanwhile, has numerous business leaders, city labor unions and public safety groups on his side.
Bader has the endorsements of Everett’s firefighters union, the Police Department officer’s union, the city’s largest general employee union and Everett Transit’s union. Everett Transit’s union backed primary candidate Pete Kinch in the primary.
Bader also has the endorsements of Fire Chief Murray Gordon, port commissioner Tom Stiger and former police chief Jim Scharf. He’s received a combined $1,500 in donations from four members of the Skotdal real estate family.
Bader is most proud of his endorsement by former Mayor Ed Hansen, he said last week.
Robinson secured the endorsement of Progressive Majority, a Washington D.C.-based organization, early in her campaign. The group acted as consultants to her campaign during the primary, including reviewing her campaign plans and creating mailing lists, Progressive Majority executive director Crystal Platt said last week
The group endorsed Robinson during her run against Gipson last fall and Robinson was the first person they called after Nielsen’s passing, Platt said.
In the money race, Bader has eked out a small lead.
Bader has $19,325; Robinson has $17,548, Public Disclosure Commission records showed early last week.
Robinson is running on a campaign platform that reflects Nielsen’s main issues: strengthening neighborhoods, bringing in living wage jobs and building communities.
Bader is running on a campaign of fiscal responsibility, public safety and encouraging job growth.
Both are familiar names. Last fall, Robinson tried to unseat Gipson and Bader tried to unseat Stonecipher.
Kinch, who came in third in the primary, raised a big money chest during the primary. Kinch’s PDC records show he raised about $17,916, which as of last week is more than Robinson’s campaign total by a few hundred dollars.
In the five-person August primary, Bader narrowly led Robinson 4,612 votes to 4,505 votes. Kinch received 2,828 votes
