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Dow Constantine

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Dow Constantine
8th Executive of King County
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 24, 2009
Preceded byKurt Triplett (acting)
Chair of the King County Council
In office
January 12, 2009 – November 24, 2009
Preceded byJulia Patterson
Succeeded byBob Ferguson
Member of the King County Council
from the 8th district
In office
January 7, 2002 – November 24, 2009
Preceded byGreg Nickels
Succeeded byJan Drago
Member of the Washington Senate
from the 34th district
In office
November 26, 2000 – January 7, 2002
Preceded byMichael J. Heavey
Succeeded byErik Poulsen
Member of the Washington House of Representatives
from the 34th district
In office
January 13, 1997 – November 26, 2000
Preceded byGeorgette Valle
Succeeded byJoe McDermott
Personal details
Born
James Dow Constantine

(1961-11-15) November 15, 1961 (age 63)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseShirley Carlson
Children1
EducationUniversity of Washington (BA, JD, MUP)
WebsiteCampaign website

James Dow Constantine (born November 15, 1961) is an American lawyer, urban planner, and politician who is the county executive of King County, Washington, since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party,[a] Constantine previously served on the King County Council from 2002 to 2009, and in both houses of the Washington State Legislature between 1997 and 2002.

Early life and education

The son of John and Lois Constantine, he was born and raised in West Seattle. In 1980, he graduated from West Seattle High School, where he was student body president and an Eagle Scout. He attended the University of Washington (UW), receiving a Bachelor of Arts in political science and graduated as a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity.[1] Constantine also served an internship with Washington's 34th Legislative District representative Phil Talmadge.[2] While attending law school, Constantine worked as a disk jockey for the college radio station KCMU.[3] In 1989, Constantine earned a J.D. degree from the University of Washington School of Law.[2] Constantine later returned to obtain a Master's degree in urban planning from UW in 1992.[2]

Career

Constantine opened a private law practice in 1990.[4] He served as chair of the 34th District Democrats organization and worked as an aide for King County Council member Greg Nickels. Constantine was elected to the state house of representatives in 1996.[5] He won re-election in 1998.[6] In 2001, he became a Washington state senator. He left the state senate in 2002 after being appointed to the King County Council to replace Nickels, who had been elected Seattle mayor.[5] Constantine was a King County Council member from 2002 to 2009, representing the eighth district, which includes West Seattle, parts of Southeast Seattle, North Highline, Burien, Vashon Island, Maury Island, Normandy Park, and parts of both SeaTac and Tukwila.[6] In 2009, he served as council chair.

2009 election

Constantine announced his candidacy for King County Executive on February 16, 2009, to replace Ron Sims who was appointed the United States Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.[7] In the primary election, Constantine received 22% of the votes to advance to a run off against candidate Susan Hutchison, who received 37%.[8] Described as "perhaps the most contentious race on the November [2009] ballot" by Seattle NPR outlet KPLU,[9] the campaign was characterized as negative campaigning, including "mudslinging" ads paid for by the candidates' supporters.[10][11][12]

Constantine received press attention for stressing the conservative affiliations of Hutchison, pointing to her involvement with the Discovery Institute and contributions to Republican candidates such as President Bush in 2004 and Mike Huckabee in 2008.[13][14][15] Hutchison downplayed any perceived partisanship and criticized Constantine as a political insider with close ties to labor unions.[4]

In October 2009, the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) investigated allegations that the Constantine's campaign illegally coordinated with an independent campaign on anti-Hutchison ads.[16] The PDC concluded there was no coordination and dismissed the complaint.[17] The PDC also investigated complaints regarding Hutchison's campaign on allegations that campaign contributions exceeded single election limits and that expenditures by the campaign were not properly documented.[18] The PDC imposed a $100 fine against Hutchison for exceeding campaign limits and dismissed the failure-to-report allegations.[19]

Constantine acknowledges crowd applause after taking the oath of office as King County Executive.

Constantine was endorsed by Governor Christine Gregoire,[20] Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, US Senators Patty Murray[21] and Maria Cantwell,[21] Washington State Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown as well as state Senators Ed Murray, Ken Jacobsen, Joe McDermott, and Karen Keiser.[22] Organizations that endorsed Constantine included NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, the Sierra Club, the Cascade Bicycle Club, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the UFCW.

On election night, November 3, the initial batch of election results had Constantine winning the election over Hutchison, at that time receiving 57% to her 43%.[23] He was expected to replace interim Executive Kurt Triplett on November 24 following the certification of election results by the King County Elections' Canvassing Board.[24] Constantine was ultimately declared the winner, and was inaugurated November 24, 2009.

Potential gubernatorial campaign

Further information: 2020 Washington gubernatorial election

In early 2019, Constantine was mentioned as a possible candidate for governor of Washington in the 2020 election. Two-term incumbent Jay Inslee was constitutionally eligible for to run for a third term but had opted to mount a campaign for president of the United States in the 2020 election instead, leaving the governor's office open.[25][26] Several Democrats expressed interest in running should it be an open election but did not want to challenge Inslee.[27] Facing poor polling numbers, Inslee decided to suspend his presidential campaign on August 21 and announced the next day he would indeed seek a third term as governor. Constantine, along with several other potential candidates, released a statement that he would not be running in 2020 and would instead focus on his own 2021 reelection campaign.[28]

King County Executive

Constantine is the longest-serving county executive in King County history. During his tenure, he was also a member of the Sound Transit Board and chaired the board during the development of the Sound Transit 3 ballot initiative, which passed in 2016.[29] Constantine was re-elected to a fourth term in 2021 with 55% of the vote against general-election opponent Joe Nguyen, a state senator.[30][31] Constantine announced in November 2024 that he would not run for re-election as King County Executive once his term expires in 2025.[29]

Personal life

Constantine married his long-time partner Shirley Carlson in a private ceremony on October 31, 2013.[32] The couple met while working at the University of Washington radio station.[13] They live in North Admiral, Seattle.[33][34]

Notes

  1. ^ The office of King County Executive is nonpartisan, but Constantine identifies as a member of the Democratic Party.

References

  1. ^ "Dow Constantine*, D – King County Council Dist. 8", Profile, Seattle Times, September 2, 2003
  2. ^ a b c Yuki Nakajima, "Constantine vs. Phillips", Northwest Asian Weekly, Community News, News, Vol 28 No 31 | 7/25 – 7/31, July 23, 2009
  3. ^ Chris Grygeil, "Constantine: County government broken, needs fixing", Seattle Post-Intellingencer, April 27, 2009
  4. ^ a b Laura Onstot, "Dow, But Not Out", Seattle Weekly, September 22, 2009
  5. ^ a b Keith Ervin, "Constantine trimmed budgets, yet some blame him for rise in spending" Archived October 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Seattle Times, October 18, 2009
  6. ^ a b "Executive Dow Constantine".
  7. ^ "Constantine to run for King County executive". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. February 15, 2009.
  8. ^ "Hutchison, Constantine Advance In King Co. Exec Race". kirotv.com. August 18, 2009. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  9. ^ Davis, Gary (October 23, 2009). "Frying Pan Awaits New King County Executive". National Public Radio KPLU 88.5. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  10. ^ "Mudslinging Abounds In King Co Exec Race". August 18, 2009. Archived from the original on August 25, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2009. (video)
  11. ^ Johnson, Bryan (October 20, 2009). "Mud-slinging starts in King County Exec race". KOMO 4 News. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  12. ^ Sullivan, Chris (October 21, 2009). "Attacks continue in King County executive race". mynorthwest.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  13. ^ a b Keith Ervin, "Constantine runs as 'most progressive' of county-exec hopefuls" Archived July 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Seattle Times, July 27, 2009
  14. ^ Gene Johnson, "Ex-Seattle TV anchor stresses 'nonpartisan' label" Archived August 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Seattle Times, August 15, 2009
  15. ^ Laura Onstot, "Constantine Challenges Hutchison to a Duel" Archived July 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Seattle Weekly, June 10, 2009
  16. ^ Ervin, Keith (October 7, 2009). "State to investigate Constantine campaign". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on October 10, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  17. ^ Dow Constantine[permanent dead link‍], Public Disclosure Commission, March 26, 2010, 8 pp
  18. ^ Mapes, Lynda V. (October 21, 2009). "PDC will investigate campaign finance complaint against Hutchison". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  19. ^ Susan Hutchison, Public Disclosure Commission, April 6, 2010, 6pp
  20. ^ Laura Onstot, "Washington State Dems Are Endorsing Dow, But Where Are the Locals?" Archived July 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Seattle Weekly, August 31, 2009
  21. ^ a b Keith Ervin, "Executive candidates Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison will debate", Seattle Times, August 27, 2009
  22. ^ "Endorsements", Friends of Dow Constantine, Dow Constantine campaign website, Retrieved October 13, 2009
  23. ^ Young, Bob (November 3, 2009). "Constantine defeats Hutchison for King County exec". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  24. ^ Ervin, Keith (November 5, 2009). "County executive-elect Constantine names team". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 8, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  25. ^ "King County Executive Dow Constantine not ruling out run for governor". KING. February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  26. ^ Cornfield, Jerry (June 5, 2019). "When will 2020 race for governor begin? When Inslee says so". The Everett Herald. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  27. ^ Kruse, Brandi (August 20, 2019). "It's decision time for Washington Governor Jay Inslee". Q13 Fox. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  28. ^ Gutman, David (August 22, 2019). "With Inslee running again for governor, leading Washington state Democrats put their ambitions on hold". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  29. ^ a b Gutman, David (November 12, 2024). "Dow Constantine will not seek reelection as King County executive". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 13, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  30. ^ Gutman, David (November 4, 2021). "Dow Constantine wins 4th term as King County executive, defeating Sen. Joe Nguyen". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 13, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  31. ^ "November 2, 2021 Official Final Election Results" (PDF). King County Elections. November 22, 2021. p. 2. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  32. ^ Emily Heffter, "County Executive Dow Constantine marries in private ceremony", Seattle Times, November 14, 2013
  33. ^ Peyton Whitley, "Constantine ready for County Council", The Seattle Times, December 3, 2001
  34. ^ "Home".
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