The votes are all in now, and next week we’ll take a look at the impact of voters’ decisions.

But for a moment, let’s look at the lighter side of some of the campaigns.

In Enumclaw, incumbent Mayor John Wise was being challenged by Liz Reynolds, who billed herself as the “wiser” choice for mayor. Catchy.

Over in Poulsbo, incumbent Mayor Kathryn Quade proposed a location for a new city hall, which the city council adopted. However, she then distanced herself from the costly project by referring angered voters to the council, raising questions about her leadership. Her opponent, council member Becky Erickson, apparently didn’t impress the North Kitsap Herald editorial board any more than Quade. Not only couldn’t they get agreement on which candidate to endorse, but they decided that “with either Quade or Erickson, Poulsbo voters will not get the best of all worlds.” Tough board!

In Auburn, incumbent Mayor Pete Lewis has had council member and mayoral candidate Virginia Haugen nipping at his heels for two years, and it has caused some strained relations. The mayor’s newsletter has occasionally thanked six council members for their hard work. Since there are seven, you wonder which one he was excluding? On one occasion, Haugen did try to say something nice about Lewis by giving him credit for starting the city’s annual cleanup program, “Clean Sweep.” However, since the program pre-dates Lewis’s time as mayor by at least 15 years, some wondered about her choice of compliments.

In Federal Way, school board candidate Bill Pirkle had many issues he was upset about, but he was particularly concerned that teachers not wear Mickey Mouse T-shirts in the classroom. Some voters were confused as to whether Pirkle felt the shirts were a fashion faux pas or a reflection of education policy. Pirkle did provide a creative way of getting to Federal Way’s diverse voters by having his name printed in three different languages on his campaign signs.

Incumbent Federal Way Judge Michael Morgan, who had more than his fair share of controversy, showed a lighter side at a campaign forum. When it came his turn to speak, he taped a target to the front of the table where he was sitting. It was both humorous and disarming.

Also in Federal Way, one of the candidates for city council kicked off her campaign to a full house with a speech laced with public safety issues and crime statistics about why Federal Way was safer than surrounding cities. Unfortunately, one of her supporters claimed his truck was stolen from the adjoining parking lot while he was attending the campaign event. If we’re going to have thieves, maybe they could be a little more politically sensitive.

And lastly, in an attempt to make a political point, a candidate for King County Executive jumped into Elliott Bay. After six months of campaign rhetoric, one cynic thought voters should make a list of those who should join him.

Back to reality next week.