Bryant takes lead in Port race; Tarleton beating Edwards
The race between Alec Fisken and Bill Bryant for Seattle Port Commission took a dramatic turn early Wednesday morning when thousands of poll ballots were counted.
Fisken’s slim lead evaporated, and Bryant pulled ahead by 2,726 votes.
Bryant, the challenger, predicted the race would tighten late Tuesday and said he felt “great” before heading home.
Early returns came heavily from Seattle, where Fisken, a Democrat, fared well. But when 30,000 poll votes were counted from outside Seattle, Bryant, a Republican, pulled ahead in the non-partisan race.
Roughly half of the King County votes remain to be counted today.
Challenger Gael Tarleton led incumbent Bob Edwards in the other Port commission race.
Although Tarleton’s margin was 9,295 votes, Edwards declined to concede Tuesday night, saying many votes still had to be counted Wednesday.
Fisken has agitated for changes in the way the Port conducts business. He wants to phase out the Port’s countywide tax levy, arguing the Port wouldn’t need the levy, about $68 million this year, if it charged shippers more to use Port facilities.
Bryant, an international trade consultant, ran an aggressive campaign, contending that Fisken’s feisty style fractured the commission and wasn’t productive. Bryant raised $277,892 in contributions, almost double Fisken’s total of $152,897.
A late push by Bryant to increase radio ads, brochure mailings, phone calls and e-mails made a difference, said his campaign manager Sally Poliak. “I think a lot of people were making up their minds in the last week. That’s our assumption. Who you target makes a difference in low-turnout races like this,” Poliak said.
Bryant received 61 percent of the last 30,000 ballots counted early Wednesday morning.
With both incumbents trailing in the latest returns, Poliak said voters appeared unhappy with a Port commission they viewed as dysfunctional.
“I think that’s the message. They want better leadership at the Port. That’s what we were talking about the whole time,” she said.
The Port’s reputation has been tarnished by controversies over a proposed $340,000 severance package for former Port chief Mic Dinsmore and over revelations that Port police sent sexually explicit e-mails.
Fisken said he wasn’t sure how to interpret the sudden reversal in results after 1 a.m. Wednesday. “It’s astonishing to my staff. We can’t understand it,” he said.
Tarleton, a first-time candidate, works in the University of Washington’s Office of Global Affairs. Like Fisken, she was supported by major Democratic and environmental organizations. Tarleton raised $231,313 in contributions, while Edwards amassed $198,895, including $113,000 of his own money.
The Port of Seattle is a countywide agency that runs Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and owns the cargo terminals on Elliott Bay. The five Port commissioners serve four-year terms and are paid $6,000 a year to oversee policy and hire a chief executive.
Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com