"Constantine, with cash edge, to open Bellevue HQ"

Seattle Times:

Dow Constantine is shopping for office space in Bellevue to open a headquarters for his King County executive campaign.

Constantine, a Seattleite, dominated the Emerald City in the primary. But his opponent Susan Hutchison owned the suburbs and rural county. See this Seattle Times map for details.

With a Bellevue HQ, it looks like Constantine is trying to increase his presence on the Eastside and make inroads into Hutchison territory. "It's important to demonstrate that Dow intends to represent all King County," said Sandeep Kaushik, Constantine's spokesman. "We're going to make a major effort to contact voters on the Eastside and Bellevue is an appropriate location to do it from."

Constantine got through the primary without an HQ. He made calls from space at a law office reported as an in-kind contribution. Staff also met in restaurants, Kaushik said.

Hutchison's campaign office is in Seattle. She doesn't plan to open an Eastside branch, said her spokesman Jordan McCarren. But she does plan to run phone banks from the Eastside, he said.

The most recent campaign-finance reports show that Constantine has a little more cash than Hutchison to throw around. Reports filed Thursday, which cover spending through August, reveal that Constantine has a slight edge in cash balance, with $141,000 to Hutchison's $114,000.

KING-5's first post-primary poll showed Hutchison favored by 47 percent of those surveyed, while 44 percent picked Constantine. The poll by SurveyUSA of 557 likely voters was conducted Sept. 1-3. The margin of error is 4.2 percent.