Politics & Government

Muni League Rates Kirkland Legislative Candidates

The nonpartisan group rated Roger Goodman as "Outstanding and Larry Springer as "Very Good."

 

The Municipal League of King County has released its 2012 ratings and questionnaires of candidates for legislative, judicial and sheriff races, with Kirkland candidates ranging from "outstanding" to "not qualified."

Candidates were rated in the 45th and 48th legislative districts, which cover most of Kirkland, but not the 1st district, which includes the Finn Hill area of Kirkland but is largely in Snohomish County.

Find out what's happening in Kirklandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Municipal League rated incumbent 45th District Position 1 Rep. Roger Goodman outstanding, but one of his opponents, first-time candidate Jacob Bond, as not qualified. Position 2 incumbent Rep. Larry Spring earned a "very good" rating. All three are Democrats from Kirkland.

King County Sheriff's candidate Steve Strachan, who was the interim appointment when Sheriff Sue Rahr left her position, was rated "outstanding," and his challenger, John Urquhart, was rated "good."

Find out what's happening in Kirklandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Among the judicial candidates, Redmond City Council member Kim Allen received a rating of "very good" in her race to unseat King County Superior Court Judge Douglas North, who was rated "outstanding." Fellow Redmond resident and judicial candidate Marianne Jones, who faces three opponents in a different race, was rated "adequate."

According to the nonpartisan Municipal League, the Candidate Evaluation Ratings attempt to answer the question: How well could a candidate do the job? The ratings do not consider a candidate’s political affiliations or standing on specific issues and instead, they assess a candidate’s potential to be effective in office, according to the organization.

The process is similar to a job interview—with a diverse group of citizens serving as hiring managers. The result has been called a “Better Business Bureau” for voters.

Municipal League volunteers reviewed candidate questionnaires, studied the public record, spoke with references, and conducted interviews with candidates. Committee members then rated each candidate on four criteria: involvement, character, effectiveness and knowledge, according to the league's press release.

The full list of candidate evaluation ratings and the candidates' completed questionnaires are posted on the League’s website at www.munileagueratings.org.

Municipal League Ratings

Legislative District 45

Candidate Rating Website Party Washington State House of Representatives, Position 1 Roger Goodman (incumbent) Outstanding goodmanforcongress.com
Democrat Washington State House of Representatives, Position 1
Jacob Bond Not Qualified vote4bond.com Democrat

Washington State House of Representatives,
Position 1

Joel Hussey Very Good joelhussey.com Republican Washington State House of Representatives, Position 2 Jim Thatcher Very Good ElectJimThatcher.com Republican

Washington State House of Representatives,
Position 2

Lawrence Springer (incumbent) Very Good larryspringer.org Democrat

 

Legislative District 48 Candidate Rating Website Party Washington State House of Representatives, Position 1 Bill Hirt Not Qualified stopeastlinknow.blogspot.com Republican Washington State House of Representatives, Position 1 Ross Hunter (incumbent) Very Good rosshunter.com Democrat

Washington State House of Representatives, Position 2

Cyrus Habib Very Good electcyrus.com Democrat Washington State House of Representatives, Position 2 Hank Myers Very Good electhankmyers.com Republican

To download the candidate questionnaires, go to the 2012 Washington State Legislature—Candidate Ratings website.

Sheriff Candidate Rating Website King County Sheriff John Urquhart Good johnforsheriff.com Non - Partisan Race King County Sheriff Steve Strachan Outstanding steveforsheriff.com Non - Partisan Race

To download questionnaires, go to the 2012 King County Sheriff—Candidate Ratings website.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Kirkland