Sutherland's defeat a product of many political ingredients
GRANITE FALLS — The first sign that Robert Sutherland’s pursuit of a third legislative term would be difficult came a year ago when he lost a valued piece of his political base through redistricting.
Precincts in Arlington, Gold Bar, Sultan and Monroe where the Republican state representative garnered thousands of votes in his 2020 win were gone. To replace them, redistricting commissioners shifted Lake Stevens into the 39th Legislative District, a community he’d never represented.
A second sign came in early January when Sam Low, a Republican and Snohomish County Council member, entered the race. He’s a Lake Stevens resident who had served on the City Council and had been on his neighbors’ ballots just a couple months earlier when he was re-elected to the County Council.
The final sign was the Aug. 2 primary. Sutherland won with 33.2%. Low finished second with 27.1%. He made it in because two Democratic candidates, Claus Joens and Karl de Jong, split 40% of ballots cast. Had only one of them run, they would likely have won the primary and left Low in third.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/sutherlands-defeat-a-product-of-many-political-ingredients/