Constantine opened a private law practice in 1990.[4] He served as chair of the 34th District Democrats organization and worked as an aide for King County Council member Greg Nickels. Constantine was elected to the state house of representatives in 1996.[5] He won re-election in 1998.[6] In 2001,he became a Washington state senator. He left the state senate in 2002 after being appointed to the King County Council to replace Nickels,who had been elected Seattle mayor.[5] Constantine was a King County Council member from 2002 to 2009,representing the eighth district,which includes West Seattle,parts of Southeast Seattle,North Highline,Burien,Vashon Island,Maury Island,Normandy Park,and parts of both SeaTac and Tukwila.[6] In 2009,he served as council chair.
Constantine received press attention for stressing the conservative affiliations of Hutchison,pointing to her involvement with the Discovery Institute and contributions to Republican candidates such as President Bush in 2004 and Mike Huckabee in 2008.[13][14][15] Hutchison downplayed any perceived partisanship and criticized Constantine as a political insider with close ties to labor unions.[4]
In October 2009,the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) investigated allegations that the Constantine's campaign illegally coordinated with an independent campaign on anti-Hutchison ads.[16] The PDC concluded there was no coordination and dismissed the complaint.[17] The PDC also investigated complaints regarding Hutchison's campaign on allegations that campaign contributions exceeded single election limits and that expenditures by the campaign were not properly documented.[18] The PDC imposed a $100 fine against Hutchison for exceeding campaign limits and dismissed the failure-to-report allegations.[19]
Constantine acknowledges crowd applause after taking the oath of office as King County Executive.
On election night,November 3,the initial batch of election results had Constantine winning the election over Hutchison,at that time receiving 57% to her 43%.[23] He was expected to replace interim Executive Kurt Triplett on November 24 following the certification of election results by the King County Elections' Canvassing Board.[24] Constantine was ultimately declared the winner,and was inaugurated November 24,2009.
In early 2019, Constantine was mentioned as a possible candidate for governor of Washington in the 2020 election. Two-term incumbent Jay Inslee was constitutionally eligible for to run for a third term but had opted to mount a campaign for president of the United States in the 2020 election instead, leaving the governor's office open.[25][26] Several Democrats expressed interest in running should it be an open election but did not want to challenge Inslee.[27] Facing poor polling numbers, Inslee decided to suspend his presidential campaign on August 21 and announced the next day he would indeed seek a third term as governor. Constantine, along with several other potential candidates, released a statement that he would not be running in 2020 and would instead focus on his own 2021 reelection campaign.[28]
King County Executive
Constantine is the longest-serving county executive in King County history. During his tenure, he was also a member of the Sound Transit Board and chaired the board during the development of the Sound Transit 3 ballot initiative, which passed in 2016.[29] Constantine was re-elected to a fourth term in 2021 with 55% of the vote against general-election opponent Joe Nguyen, a state senator.[30][31] Constantine announced in November 2024 that he would not run for re-election as King County Executive once his term expires in 2025.[29]
Personal life
Constantine married Shirley Carlson on October 31, 2013.[32] The couple met while working at the University of Washington radio station.[13] They live in North Admiral, Seattle.[33][34]
Notes
↑ The office of King County Executive is nonpartisan, but Constantine identifies as a member of the Democratic Party.
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