JIM BATES / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Metropolitan King County Councilman Bob Ferguson chats with his mother about the close race with colleague Carolyn Edmonds in the Democratic primary for the new 1st Council District. It will be days before the final results are known.

It could be days before Metropolitan King County Council members Carolyn Edmonds and Bob Ferguson know who won Tuesday's Democratic primary in the new 1st Council District.

Ferguson, D-Seattle, held just a 25-vote lead over Edmonds — down from a 308-vote margin election night — after King County elections officials tabulated 5,600 more absentee ballots yesterday.

If turnout forecasts were accurate, up to one-third of the votes in the Northeast Seattle-Shoreline-Northshore district may remain to be counted.

"I've been here before," Edmonds, D-Shoreline, said yesterday. She won the primary in her first race for the Legislature in 1998 by 14 votes. That election's outcome remained in doubt for two weeks.

Ferguson, too, is no stranger to close contests. He edged longtime Councilwoman Cynthia Sullivan in the primary two years ago with less than 51 percent of the total vote. Sullivan didn't concede until three days after the polls closed.

The other contested primary race for a seat on the downsized County Council wasn't nearly as close. Late returns solidified Reagan Dunn's victory over fellow Republican Steve Hammond in the sprawling new 9th District.

Hammond, R-Enumclaw, conceded late yesterday afternoon, saying he had phoned Dunn, R-Bellevue, to offer his congratulations and endorsement.

Hammond, Dunn, Ferguson and Edmonds, incumbents all, were victims of redistricting, pushed into primary battles after voters last fall approved an initiative shrinking the council from 13 members to nine.

Hammond and Dunn both are conservative Republicans, Ferguson and Edmonds liberal Democrats. Still, the two intraparty battles were hard-fought, the Edmonds-Ferguson contest particularly bitter.

Edmonds, 51, had several advantages. Her old council district was two-thirds of the new district. She had the backing of such big-name Democrats as Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and King County Executive Ron Sims. And she had more money.

But Ferguson, 40, a lawyer whose 2003 upset of Sullivan gained him both a reputation as a giant-killer and the enmity of some powerful Democrats, picked up more support from grass-roots party activists.

Each hit the other hard in mailings to voters. And each accused the other of fighting dirty.

Edmonds had 54 percent of the vote when the first results — absentee ballots returned by voters early — were posted on election night. Ferguson overtook her by winning 57 percent of the votes cast at polling places Tuesday.

Edmonds narrowed the gap by again taking 54 percent of the absentee ballots counted yesterday. "Obviously, the absentees are trending my way, and I really like this trend," Edmonds said.

But Ferguson adviser Steve Finley had predicted Edmonds would gain ground yesterday. Late-returning absentees should break Ferguson's way, more like the polling-place votes, he said.

Ferguson was making no predictions. "I know you're supposed to spin these numbers, but anything I say would be a guess," he said.

But he and Edmonds both said voters who returned absentee ballots early had received several pieces of campaign literature in the mail from her, while his didn't arrive until later.

The winner in the heavily Democratic district will face Republican Steve Pyeatt in November.

Mail — and money to buy it — also may have influenced the outcome in the 9th District, which includes parts of Bellevue, Renton and Kent as well as such smaller cities as Maple Valley, Covington, Black Diamond and Enumclaw.

Dunn, 34, a former Justice Department lawyer whose mother is former U.S. Rep. Jennifer Dunn, enjoyed the backing of many prominent Republicans. Hammond, a former evangelical minister, complained Dunn was being treated as the GOP's anointed, even though he was appointed to the council to fill a vacancy just seven months ago.

Hammond had support from property-rights, anti-abortion and gun-rights activists, as well as many grass-roots GOP organizations.

On election night Dunn jumped to a huge lead when the first returns — all absentee ballots — were posted. Hammond actually got slightly more votes the rest of the night as ballots cast at polling places Tuesday were added to the totals.

Dunn said Tuesday night that his campaign had mailed literature to absentee voters early, while Hammond's had not. Hammond said he couldn't compete with Dunn's resources.

"I don't think you can discount the influence of money," he said. "What were we outspent by, 5 to 1?"

According to state campaign-finance-disclosure reports, Dunn raised more than $275,000, Hammond just $53,000.

Dunn's victory means the new council will have no rural resident as a member, something Hammond warned against during his campaign. His advice to Dunn: "Make sure those unincorporated areas are taken care of," he said yesterday.

During the campaign both Republicans vowed to work to overturn the county's controversial Critical Areas Ordinance, which restricts development in rural areas, but some Hammond supporters had questioned Dunn's commitment.

Dunn will face Shirley Gaunt-Smith, D-Renton, in the general election. The district leans Republican.