Our candidates lost in the general election.

We endorsed Mary Alice Heuschel for hospital commission and Robin Jones in the race for an open seat on the Renton City Council. But what mattered most is that the endorsement of the voters carried the day.

We remain firmly committed to the principles and goals that Heuschel espoused in her race against Dr. Paul Joos, who won handily.

The elected hospital commissioners must work together and with their counterparts, the Valley Medical trustees, to nurture the strategic alliance between Valley and UW Medicine. That needs to be their focus, as well as keeping the hospital district strong financially in a competitive environment.

The City Council race pitting Jones and Ed Prince, the winner, gave Renton residents certainly a lot to think about, other than the issues. Prince’s financial and personal life were laid bare in what rightly was described at times as mud-slinging.

Prince handled each issue with honesty, when given the chance to explain some of the realities and the missteps of his life. Two unions, one representing fire crews and the other numerous city employees, saw through the mud and stuck with their endorsements.

The Renton Police Officers Guild felt Prince brought too much baggage to the City Council. The voters disagreed and so do we. Prince continued to extend his hand to the guild membership. We trust the police will grasp it and work with Prince on public-safety issues on the City Council.

It’s hard to divine too much from the timing of the results. But Prince and Jones were in a dead heat after the first tally Tuesday night. Prince’s lead continued to grow as votes were added that were cast close to the deadline. It’s clear to us that negative campaigning was costing Jones some votes late in the game.

But here we are, letting the politics get in the way of what’s important – the issues. It’s easy to do, even within the space of a couple hundred words.

Jones ran as an establishment outsider, which really resonated with voters and with the Renton Reporter Editorial Board. There’s a lesson there for Prince, to speak his own mind, to protect his independence and to listen to his constituents.

In endorsing Jones, the Editorial Board wrote that Prince was a leader for the future. That future is now. He begins his tenure on the council with a slate wiped clean of innuendo, privacy – and mud.