With 40 percent of mail-in ballots received for King County executive, Dow Constantine declared victory last night with his lead by 35,000 votes with 300,000 not yet counted. Despite Gov. Christine Gregoire having already congratulated Constantine, Susan Hutchison plans to stay in the race through the end of the week for the final result.

Constantine said King County acknowledges the real challenges that will be faced with real leadership. Last night, he said, marked a new beginning for King County.

For Hutchison, the wait begins as the final ballots are counted. Most votes were cast before last Thursday.

“I commend my opponent for the votes that are in his favor. I want to remind you that this is a democracy, and in democracies, we have opponents,” Hutchison said. “We can be proud that in our country, when people run for office, they have real opponents, and the voters get to make a choice. And that is the case in this race.”

This election fills the two most influential posts in Washington next to the governor only: the King County executive and the mayor.

The next executive will take on a deficit of $56 million and will replace current executive Kurt Triplett. Triplett was chief of staff under former King County executive Ron Sims, who resigned earlier this year to assume the post of deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The King County executive “is a very complex job, and what it is now is very different than it was 40 years ago,” said Natasha Jones, deputy communications director for the King County executive. As King County has grown, so have the roles of the executive. The King County executive oversees all executive departments, services from Metro transit to courts and public health.

As the chief executive officer of the county, the executive is also the regional lead in emergencies, which takes on greater significance heading into this flood season with the added risks associated with the Howard Hanson Dam in the Green River Valley this year, Jones said.

Although local politics in King County and Seattle may seem a world away from the University of Washington, the current executive would encourage students to think again.

“All of those things contribute to the quality of life around here and presumably is part of what drew [students] here in the first place and may keep them here after graduation to begin their careers, start families, and contribute their own skills to what makes this a great place to live.” Triplett said. “So if they care about this region and its quality of life, the King County executive position has a big impact on that.”

The county executive also oversees 1.9 million people, a population larger than 14 states, and a budget of about $4 billion, which is larger than the budgets of five states, Jones said.

This is the first year King County has conducted a mail-in ballot-only election. Election officials have been surprised by low voter turnout, which may not even reach 50 percent. Turnout was predicted to be 56 percent. As of Saturday, only 20 percent of the 1.08 million ballots mailed to voters had been returned, according to The Seattle Times. A drop is to be expected from the record 85-percent voter turnout in last year’s presidential election.

Results will continue to be posted throughout the week as the remaining mail-in ballots are counted.

Reach contributing writer Kaetlyn Cordingley at news@dailyuw.com.