Groen concedes; Chambers re-elected

OLYMPIA – Attorney John Groen conceded defeat Wednesday in his effort to oust Chief Justice Gerry Alexander from the state Supreme Court.

Groen had been trailing Alexander in votes cast in Tuesday’s primary, but with much of the vote still not tabulated in King County, he had held out in hopes of an upset.

With about 64 percent of the expected vote reported, Alexander beat Groen 55 percent to 45 percent.

“My goal was to bring the court’s track record to the voters,” Groen said in a statement. “I tip my hat to Gerry Alexander for his victory and I wish him the best as he prepares for another term.”

Alexander – who has served on the court 12 years – said he had a good conversation with Groen and looked forward to seeing him argue cases before the court.

“Nothing that went on in this campaign would cause us to have a strained relationship,” Alexander said.

Justice Tom Chambers also held on to his seat Tuesday, beating Jeanette Burrage, a conservative former lawmaker and judge. Chambers had 59 percent to Burrage’s 41 percent. Chambers did not return several calls seeking comment Wednesday.

The seats of Alexander and Chambers were decided in the primary, as the candidate who tops 50 percent in the two-way primaries advances unopposed to the general ballot Nov. 7.

In the third high court race, Justice Susan Owens had 46 percent of the vote compared with Republican state Sen. Stephen Johnson, who had 33 percent, and both appeared headed to a runoff in November.

Also seeking Owens’ seat were attorneys Michael Johnson and Richard Smith and administrative review judge Norman Ericson. None of those three campaigned actively, but collectively received enough of the vote so that no one candidate topped 50 percent as of late Wednesday.

Owens said that if she ultimately faces off against Stephen Johnson, she’s confident voters will keep her on the bench.

“I have always said I’m not running against anybody,” she said. “I’m running on my record and on my experience and that’s what I’m putting out there and that’s what will win the election.”

Stephen Johnson said he’s looking forward to taking on Owens apart from the crowded field he faced in the primary and said he would run a positive campaign.

“I’ve run three Senate campaigns and no one has ever accused me of deception or untruths and I expect to run the same kind of campaign now,” he said.

The campaigns for the three seats broke a state record in money raised, with more than $1.4 million raised by the three incumbents and three of their six opponents. Numerous political action committees spent about $2 million on TV and radio ads, mailings and automated phone calls to influence voters.

The heavy hitters behind Groen included the powerful Building Industry Association of Washington, which also gave strong support to Justice Jim Johnson.