Local News

Ed Murray and Mike McGinn were the only mayoral candidates most Seattle-area voters were concerned about Tuesday.

That wasn’t the case with Steve Wilhelm, of Kirkland, though, who watched his little brother, Bill de Blasio, become the mayor-elect of New York City on Tuesday night.

Wilhelm, a reporter at the Puget Sound Business Journal for the past 25 years, said that although it’s surreal to finally see his brother elected leader of the Big Apple, he wasn’t surprised.

“It’s been building for a long time, but it’s still amazing,” Wilhelm said. “He’s a real mensch, as they say in New York.”

Wilhelm, who is 13 years older than de Blasio, said he never heard his little brother dream of being New York mayor as a long-term ambition. De Blasio, who began using his maternal family’s last name after his parents’ divorce, has served as a school-board member and as a sort of ombudsman  between voters and city government as New York City’s public advocate. 

“He was just trying to do well where he was,” Wilhelm said. “He can be a tremendous consensus builder, and I’ve watched him get better at that over the years.”

Wilhelm watched his brother and his family campaign and celebrate a surprising primary win in person earlier this year, and he plans to go back to New York City for his brother’s inauguration on Jan. 1.

“The primary was totally surprising, but he really communicates with people and listens,” Wilhelm said. “You add that up and New York just got it.”

King County Executive Dow Constantine breezed through Tuesday’s primary election with 76 percent of the vote. Civil engineer Alan Lobdell was leading the challengers with 12 percent of the vote counted Tuesday, while Everett Stewart had 7 percent and Goodspaceguy 4 percent.

The top two vote-getters advance to the November general election.

There were few surprises in the Metropolitan King County Council races.

In the District 9 race, Eastside Councilmember Reagan Dunn and real-estate broker Shari Song are headed to the general election in November. Dunn held a strong lead with 56 percent of the vote while Song tallied 35 percent in results counted Tuesday. The third candidate in the race, Kristina Macomber, had 9 percent.

For District 1, the newest council member, Rod Dembowski, will go up against Naomi Wilson in the fall. Dembowski had 69 percent of the vote, while Wilson had 24 percent and John Fray 6 percent.

King County voters are approving a six-year parks levy that could give the county parks department more funding than the last parks levy. Initial returns showed 69 percent approved of the measure while 31 percent rejected it.

An 18.77-cent tax per $1,000 of property value is expected to bring in $396 million that could be used to maintain and expand trails, recreational facilities and open space. The tax goes into effect in 2014, and could be subject to increases based on percentage changes in the county property index assessment each year after that.