City-council-by-district primary election is Tuesday

Next Tuesday, Aug. 4, is the deadline to return mail ballots in Seattle’s district-by-district primary election.

Most of Maple Leaf is in Council District 5, with only a small southern toe in District 4.

Over at Crosscut, political consultant Benjamin Anderstone has posted a demographic look at the council districts.

Of District 5, which also includes a big chunk of north Seattle, he says:

“District 5: Anti-establishment voters.

“The truth is that this North End district is the hardest to pin down this year. It was the only district to begin the year without a sitting City Council member, and hasn’t had one for years. It attracted a slew of political newcomers and younger activists…. D5 has actually seen a whopping $377,461 spent already.

“A lot of that feverish spending is precisely because D5 is up for grabs.”

(He characterizes District 4 as Single-family homeowners.)

What else about District 5?

In this free-for-all of relative unknowns, there has been a race to find an issue that builds momentum. In D5, gaining traction often is about taking on the establishment – a feeling that City Hall is not concerned about this end of town.

Besides the oft-cited lack of sidewalks issue, a number of political issues are at play. One is that D5 voters are a bit skeptical of shelling out taxes. Tax votes for amenities like transportation and parks lag behind in D5 relative to its near-north neighbors, D4 and D6. This may reflect longstanding concerns about the far North End not receiving its fair share of city resources.

Read his full post here.