Central District resident Bobby Forch has the early lead over other candidates hoping to challenge incumbent City Councilmember Jean Godden in November.

After early returns, Forch had a seven-point lead over Maurice Classen and a ten-point lead over Michael Taylor-Judd, the other two challengers. The campaign for Capitol Hill’s Classen was much better funded than the Forch campaign, and Forch told the Seattle Times he was “pleasantly surprised” to see how large his lead was. Godden leads the primary with 45 percent of the vote. If these percentages hold out, it could lead to a close race in the November election.

Ballots from only 20 percent of county voters are in, but turnout is not expected to reach the 50 percent previously estimated. Updated results will be posted at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on the King County website.