King County’s Election Shift Backfires | Seattle News

Seattle News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jul 17, 2026 · 1m

King County’s move to hold local elections in even-numbered years, aimed at boosting turnout by aligning with big national races, has backfired—thanks to a shocking lack of candidates. With four Council seats up and only one competitive race, two incumbents and even the elections director are running unopposed. Councilmember Claudia Balducci admits it’s a democracy bummer, even if she’s glad to skip the campaign chaos. While even-year elections bring more diverse voters, local issues get drowned out by national headlines—making it feel like the federal government’s hogging all the attention…