Sheriff’s race attracts voters to the polls

There was little doubt that Tuesday’s primary election would be a hot one.

Fifty-five percent of registered voters are expected to vote by absentee, yet some poll workers were reporting steady streams of voters all day.

“We haven’t had time to do a crossword puzzle,” said Elaine Fleming, a poll worker at Friday Harbor High School’s Hall Gym. “It’s been busy all day.”

Upstairs at the courthouse at 6:15 p.m., election overseers were counting absentee ballots. Of 9,632 voters, 5,468 received absentee ballots. As of 6:15 p.m., 3,711 had submitted their ballots. Some 1,757 will be counted when received after Election Day; they must be postmarked today to be counted.

Several voters exiting their polling places had one thing in common — they were drawn to the polls by the sheriff’s race.

Sheriff Bill Cumming is seeking a fifth term; his lead detective, Jeff Asher hopes to take his place. Because both are Democrats and there are no candidates from other parties, the race will be settled tonight.

Actually, the race will be settled Monday in Superior Court, when a judge considers Asher’s accusation that Cumming is not an American citizen.

Cumming, who was born in Canada, produced for The Journal a U.S. passport. Congressman Rick Larsen's office asked for information from the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Passport Service; their response: Cumming would not have been issued a passport if he was not a citizen.

“There has been a whisper campaign in our small town over the sheriff’s campaign and I feel bad about that,” Mark Anderson of Orca Network said. “Campaigns should be above-board. If an accusation can’t be proved, those who brought it should either prove or drop it.”

Lori Guard said, “The sheriff race has been a tough one this year, but very important — we made our decision on the last day.”

Her husband, Doug, added, “I made mine in the last five minutes.”

“I voted for sheriff and that’s about it,” one anonymous voter said.

Skip St. Pierre, who ran for Friday Harbor Port Commission in 2001, said, “More dollars were spent on the sheriff’s race than any other in my memory. It was a real professional operation by both sides.”

Gary Smith said, “I voted for Bill Cumming.”

Two couples and a single guy made similar comments but declined to give their names, didn’t want to be quoted. All agreed they were out voting mainly because of the sheriff’s race.

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