Goldmark declares victory in lands-commissioner race

Capping an election dominated by Democrats, two-term Republican State Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland appears to have lost his re-election bid against rancher and Democrat Peter Goldmark.

Goldmark declared victory Thursday night, shortly after The Associated Press said Goldmark's 2 percentage-point lead was insurmountable as Sutherland fell further behind in King County.

"I am so grateful to the people of Washington for their support in restoring public trust to the management of our public lands," Goldmark said in a news release.

Sutherland, however, said he would not concede because he was gaining ground in some counties, including Spokane and Pierce counties.

"If the trend continues county by county, it's going to end up very close, much closer than it appears right now," said Todd Myers, Sutherland's campaign consultant.

The lands-commissioner race pitted rural against urban, and timber interests against environmentalists, in one of the closest races of the election season.

For Clifford Traisman of the Washington Conservation Voters, Goldmark's apparent victory was the icing on the cake in this election.

He predicted Goldmark would pay more attention to how state lands can contribute to tackling climate change and how logging practices might exacerbate flooding and landslide problems. Goldmark also has advocated for more environmental certification of logging on state forests.

"We are excited in working with him, and more importantly we know he is excited to work with us," Traisman said.

A timber-industry official declined to comment.

But the industry has expressed concerns that Goldmark will lean too heavily toward environmentalists. They financed much of a $600,000 campaign committee to defeat him.

In the end, Sutherland won most of the counties east of the Cascades but trailed in King and Snohomish, two of the most populated and urban counties in the state. He was leading in Pierce County, where he spent the bulk of his political career, including a stint as Pierce County executive.

Goldmark, an Okanogan County cattle rancher, said he did better than other statewide candidates in some Eastern Washington counties. He wasn't surprised to have trailed in the state's more conservative rural areas, he said.

The state lands commissioner is responsible for overseeing 1,400 employees in the state Department of Natural Resources, and 5 million acres of state land and logging on private timberland.

Sutherland, 71, campaigned as an experienced moderate who balanced environmental protection with the need to raise money for schools and support the local timber industry.

Goldmark, 62, mounted a feisty challenge, lobbing accusations that Sutherland was beholden to the timber industry and not committed to environmental protections.