Its the second largest county in the state and as far as the county council is concerned, its a swing county. It includes important parts of the ever important 8th Congressional District, so who ever wins the Pierce County Executive position in a couple of years will be important.
On a side note, it will be the most high profile race yet in Washington State, where Instant Runoff Voting will be used. Pierce County voters passed Amendment 3 last November, instituting IRV for all county wide races.
So far, here are the updates. County councilmember, Democratic Calvin Goings (who was a State Senator in his early 20s) has announced he's in the ring. He has set up a pretty top heavy stearing committee, which includes U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, Democratic state Sen. Rosa Franklin, labor leader Patty Rose and former Tacoma Mayor Harold Moss.
The Moderate Washingtonian has a pretty good update as well.