Big checks have been written to attend a Democratic fundraiser Tuesday headlined by President Obama at the Hunts Point home of former Costco CEO Jim Sinegal. For the privilege, Sinegal may end up writing a big check himself to the City of Medina. The city has decided to charge Sinegal for the full cost of any…

Washington State Rep. Jay Rodne, R-Snoqualmie, an outspoken critic of Gov. Jay Inslee’s recent death-penalty moratorium, ran unopposed in his last election after trouncing two different Democratic candidates in 2010 and 2008. But he won’t go unopposed this November: Democratic challenger Essie Hicks of Issaquah announced today she will run for the Legislative…

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…

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…

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…