Thursday Update: Ramiro Valderrama and Jim Wasnick Maintain Leads for Sammamish City Council Position No. 4

Weeks of primary campaigning yielded dividends for the three Sammamish City Council candidates vying for Position No. 4: John Galvin, Ramiro Valderama and Jim Wasnick.

But once the campaign dust clears from Tuesday's primary tally, a new beginning is about to start with the full-fledged general election in November.

In updated results posted Friday around 3 p.m., Valderrama and Wasnick continued leading the three-person race to fill the seat held by City Councilwoman Nancy Whitten. She opted to run for Position No. 2 in this year's race.

Valderrama and Wasnick also led the pack in early results on Tuesday evening. 

As of Friday, Valderrama had 2,856 votes or 46 percent of the counted ballots, according to King County Elections. Wasnick had received 1,748 votes or about 28.1 percent of the counted ballots. Galvin had 1,542 votes. That was 24.8 percent of the counted votes. An unnamed write-in candidate had received 66 votes, or 1.1 percent of the tally as of Friday.

The county reported that 6,679 ballots had been cast and counted as of Friday. In total, election officials reported that there were 27,268 registered voters in Sammamish, as of Aug. 4. The counted ballots as of Friday only accounted for 24.5 percent of the total issued. At least for the county, the primary turnout was expected to be 52 percent.

The three candidates talked about fiscal responsibility and transporation alternatives for the city. In an interview with Sammamish Patch, Galvin, a psychologist, talked about finding new revenue sources for the city. He said that economic development and business support are crucial for Sammamish, given the high number of houses. He also noted that the city can plan but it often lacks the money to implement a policy blueprint.  

On Tuesday evening, Galvin was pragmatic in his outlook. "Let's wait and see what happens," he said.

Valderrama, who has worked extensively on community issues with Citizens for Sammamish, said he would like to bring his international experience in helping companies and governments to the City Council. He also wants to tap residents' expertise in finance and planning, given the education levels in Sammamish, should he be elected in November. He stressed the "smart" management of growth, especially since the city has grown in the past decade and will likely to do so in the coming years.

"Recognizing that it's still the early results, I am honored to be selected by such a large percentage in the primary," he said Tuesday evening. "I want to thank the voters and my supporters for working tirelessly on my behalf."

He also wanted to recognize all the candidates in the city this year for stepping up for a chance to serve the public.

Wasnick, a technology executive, said he entered the race after a positive public policy experience with helping to get traffic improvements in his neighborhood on Southeast 32nd Street. The City Council voted to remove traffic barriers from the street. He and other neighbors campaigned for pedestrian and traffic improvements. He also stressed the importance of revenue for the city and wise spending. If elected, he said he would treat public dollars as if he were looking after his own money.

When reached by phone on Tuesday evening, he also wanted to wait for more returns to be counted. "I like where my numbers are at," he said. "I think I've done fairly well."

The three could often be seen at the Sammamish Farmers Market, talking with residents about key issues that face the city: Whether to build a community aquatic center, figuring out the cost question and at City Council meetings in which elected leaders discussed broad policy goals as well as last-minute details.

Throughout the city, from East Lake Sammamish Parkway near the water to Sammamish's main thoroughfare of 228th Avenue, residents could easily spot red-and-white campaign signs for Valderrama and blue-and-white ones for Wasnick.

Election officials had forecasted that turnout would reach about 52 percent of registered voters countywide. But The Seattle Times, though, reported Tuesday that turnout might be lower than that projection.

Here is the official timeline from King County Elections as to when additional results from the Tuesday primary will be posted.

Editor's note: This story was updated on Friday, Aug. 19 at 5 p.m.