Democrats Will Offer Choice in Pierce County Executive Race

Ranked Choice Voting in Pierce County allows the Democrats and the Republicans to choose which candidates can appear on the general election ballot with their label. As Bob Perez of Vaughn notes in his letter to the editor on December 19, the Pierce County Democrats have decided to allow up to three candidates on the ballot using their label in RCV election.

From a practical perspective, this means that both County Councilmember Calvin Goings and Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy will appear on the general election ballot as Democrats. This allows the voters to make the choices amongst these two strong candidates. This is a victory for the voters. Congratulations to the Democrats!

Party insiders report that Goings and McCarthy will be recommending "the other Democrat" as voters' second choice. In other words, Goings will recommend that voters select him as their first choice and McCarthy as their second choice and vice versa. If the candidates do this and the voters accept their recommendations, then the Democrats should do quite well in the race.

Currently, it appears as if there will be two Democrats (Goings and McCarthy), one Republican (County Councilmember Shawn Bunney) and one Independent (Tacoma City Councilmember Mike Lonergan) on the November ballot. Congratulations to the Democrats for giving the voters more choices.