Politics & Government

Municipal League Rates 41st, 48th Legislative District Candidates

The nonpartisan group released its ratings and questionnaires for the candidates in the Legislative District races.

The Municipal League of King County has released its ratings and questionnaires of candidates for the legislative, judicial and sheriff races.

Candidates in the 41st and 48th legislative districts, which cover Bellevue, ranged from "not qualified" to "very good," according to the Municipal League. King County Sheriff's candidate Steve Strachan, who was the interim appointment when Sheriff Sue Rahr left her position, was rated "outstanding," and his challenger, John Urquhart, was rated "good."

According to the nonpartisan Municipal League, the Candidate Evaluation Ratings attempt to answer the question: How well could a candidate do the job? The ratings do not consider a candidate’s political affiliations or standing on specific issues and instead, they assesses a candidate’s potential to be effective in office, according to the organization.

Find out what's happening in Bellevuewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The process is similar to a job interview – with a diverse group of citizens serving as hiring managers. The result has been called a “Better Business Bureau” for voters.

Municipal League volunteers reviewed candidate questionnaires, studied the public record, spoke with references, and conducted interviews with candidates. Committee members then rated each candidate on four criteria: involvement, character, effectiveness and knowledge, according to the league's press release.

Find out what's happening in Bellevuewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The full list of candidate evaluation ratings and the candidates' completed questionnaires are posted on the League’s website at www.munileagueratings.org.

Municipal League Ratings

Legislative District 41

Candidate Rating Website Party Washington State Senate Maureen A Judge Good http://www.maureenjudge.com/ Democrat Washington State Senate Steve Litzow (incumbent) Very Good https://www.votizen.com/wa-senator-steve-litzow/ Republican

Washington State House of Representatives Position 1

Tim Eaves Very Good www.eaves4staterep.com Republican Washington State House of Representatives Position 1 Marcie Maxwell (incumbent) Good http://www.marciemaxwell.org/ Democrat

 

Legislative District 48 Candidate Rating Website Party Washington State House of Representatives, Position 1 Bill Hirt Not Qualified stopeastlinknow.blogspot.com Republican Washington State House of Representatives, Position 1 Ross Hunter (incumbent) Very Good http://www.rosshunter.com/ Democrat

Washington State House of Representatives, Position 2

Cyrus Habib Very Good http://electcyrus.com/ Democrat Washington State House of Representatives, Position 2 Hank Myers Very Good electhankmyers.com Republican

To download the candidate questionnaires, go to the 2012 Washington State Legislature – Candidate Ratings website.

Sheriff Candidate Rating Website King County Sheriff John Urquhart Good www.johnforsheriff.com Non - Partisan Race King County Sheriff Steve Strachan Outstanding www.steveforsheriff.com Non - Partisan Race

To download questionnaires, go to the 2012 King County Sheriff – Candidate Ratings website.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Bellevue