The Political Desk – Winter is Coming.

I suppose I should be relieved by how quiet the political desk is this year. I think we’re due, after everything last year. No president, no senators, no reps, no judges, no governor, no state offices, no statehouse. A lot of positions that are open are either unopposed (King County Sheriff) or blowout (Dow Constantine). Even the “hottest” race in the area, the Mayor of Seattle, has turned into a snooze between a liberal populist mayor and his liberal populist opponent over who is less confrontational. But this is the new Secretary of State’s first big election (stepping into the shoes of Sam Reid), and we should ease her into it. It should be a breeze, right?

Well, there are some things. Two initiatives, a bagful of meaningless referendums, four seats on the port authority, the odd-numbered provinces in King County.  Water and medical districts. And one unholy mess down in Kent, where I now LIVE, and therefore should address (hey, don’t blame me, I didn’t move there – I was adopted).  So there are things to discuss. And as always, I don’t make endorsements in races without opponents, and I encourage people seeking more information to follow links to other peoples’ recommendations as well. The more conservative Seattle Times editorial pages are here (they have yet to gather their endorsements in one spot [UPDATE: Here they are]). The more liberal Stranger recommendations are here (and are about as NSFW as usual). The Muni League is here. I will be disagreeing with some/most of their collective conclusions as we move forward. But I want you guys to have a broad base of opinions.

OK, here goes. If you don't live in the Pacific Northwest, you might want to take a break from the blog for the next week or so. More, as they say, later.