The Political Desk: Last Call

 So, how did things turn out?

Not horribly at all. Not everything went the way I recommended, but that's the nature of having an election - they let all sorts of people have their say. There have been a number of interesting wrinkles, including the fact that the late ballots in the State of Washington have been more Republican, when normally the last-minute surge has been urban and Democrat. Other notes as we will go through.  

Referendum Measure No. 90 - Approved  by healthy amount.

     Right before the election I got a robo-call against the measure that was positively frothing at the mouth about how it was a horrible things because it would do all sorts of thing that the measure specifically said it was not going to do.

Advisory Vote No 32 - All REJECTED by healthy amounts. 

    Which goes to show you that 1) They still don't matter, 2) Their wording is pure scare-tactics, but 3) We really hate taxes, even if it does not affect us directly. But those of you who were running a multi-billion dollar aircraft assembly plant in your basement as a side gig, the voters of Washington State have your back.

Engrossed Senate Joint Resolution No. 8212  - Rejected    

  This one is a surprise. I thought this one, to help fund elder care, was a no brainer. THIS ONE, I believe, has teeth to it, so as a future old person, I'm interested in seeing what happens next. 

harter Amendment No 1 - Inquests - Yes

Charter Amendment No 2 - Disposition of Real Property for Affordable Housing- Yes

Charter Amendment No.3 - References to Citizens - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 4 - Office of Law Enforcement Oversight - Subpoena Authority - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 5 - Making the King County Sheriff an Appointed Position - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 6 - Structure and Duties of the Department of Public Safety - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 7 - Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Family Caregiver, Military, or Veteran Status - Yes

Proposition No. 1

Harborview Medical Center Health and Safety Improvement Bonds - Approved. 

President and Vice President of the United States: Joseph R. Biden and Kamala D. Harris.

    At 9 AM, our neighbor sounded an airhorn, which usually he uses for Seahawk touchdowns. That was the point that the AP declared that PA flipped and declared Mr. Biden the winner (it doesn't work EXACTLY like that, but its the way it has been done all the way along). My Facebook page is filled with co-workers and former colleagues dancing in the streets. Looking at the big picture, it doesn't look as much like a refutation of the GOP as a refutation of the horrible man who has squatted in the White House for the past four years. But that's enough, right now.

.

United States Representative Congressional District No. 9 - Adam Smith.

    I did get a couple robo-calls on this one, encouraging I vote for someone who stood for people, not party (which this year means being a Republican but not wanting to admit it). Problem was that it was for the 8th District, not the 9th (The Democrat won there as well). Way to spend your campaign bucks, folks. 

Governor: Jay Inslee

Lt. Governor: Danny Heck 

    This was a no-lose situation with two Democrats in the running, and the winner had the best yard sign of the season "Give Olympia HECK!". But what is interesting is that there was a 20% write-in, most of it for Joshua Freed, GOP, who ran for Governor in the Primary (and lost), and who is in trouble for funny-money business in his funding (so, you know, GOP). But it is phenomenally tough to run a write-in campaign, even when it is all mail-in. So that's worth noting.

Secretary of State: Kim Wyman. 

    Here's one I can't say I'm sad to be wrong about, even though Ms. Wyman is a Republican. She has done a very good job in a position that a lot of her party hates. The GOP tends to hide behind her pant-suit cuffs when they need to point to an "honest Republican", but she has proved herself capable and competent repeatedly over the years. 

State Treasurer: Mike Pellicciotti

State Auditor: Pat (Patrice) McCarthy

Attourney General : Bob Ferguson

Commissioner of Public Lands: Hilary Franz

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Chris Reykdal

Insurance Commissioner: Mike Kreidler

Legislative District No. 11 State Senator: Bob Hasegawa

Legislative District No. 11 Representative Position No. 1: David Hackney

Legislative District No. 11 Representative Position No. 2: Steve Berquist

State Supreme Court Justice Position No. 3 - Raquel Montoya-Lewis

State Supreme Court Justice Position No. 6 - G. Helen Whitener

Superior Court Judge Position No. 12 - Andrea Robertson

Superior Court Judge Position No. 30 - Doug North

And with that, we slap the Political Desk back into its cryogenic chamber and let it rest until the next set of ballots come out.

More later,

The Political Desk: The Jeff Recommends

So, this has been a marathon. How did we do? 

Well, the pledge of "No Republicans" was pretty easy to adhere to, in that some of the Republican candidates were SO BADSOME that such a choice would be easy even in normal years. But the fact that the state and managed some really choppy times of late and come out mostly whole has shown that the folk in charge at least have a clue. And it would be a good thing that expand that out to the rest of the nation. Here's the summary:

Referendum Measure No/ 90 - Approved

Advisory Vote No 32 - Approved
Advisory Vote No 33 - Approved

Advisory Vote No 34 - Approved

Advisory Vote No 35 - Approved

Engrossed Senate Joint Resolution No. 8212  - Approved 

harter Amendment No 1 - Inquests - Yes

Charter Amendment No 2 - Disposition of Real Property for Affordable Housing- Yes

Charter Amendment No.3 - References to Citizens - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 4 - Office of Law Enforcement Oversight - Subpoena Authority - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 5 - Making the King County Sheriff an Appointed Position - No

Charter Amendment No. 6 - Structure and Duties of the Department of Public Safety - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 7 - Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Family Caregiver, Military, or Veteran Status - Yes

Proposition No. 1

Harborview Medical Center Health and Safety Improvement Bonds - Approved. 

President and Vice President of the United States: Joseph R. Biden and Kamala D. Harris

United States Representative Congressional District No. 9 - Adam Smith

Governor: Jay Inslee

Lt. Governor: Markos Liias

Secretary of State: Gael Tarleton

State Treasurer: Mike Pellicciotti

State Auditor: Pat (Patrice) McCarthy

Attourney General : Bob Ferguson

Commissioner of Public Lands: Hilary Franz

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Chris Reykdal

Insurance Commissioner: Mike Kreidler

Legislative District No. 11 State Senator: Bob Hasegawa

Legislative District No. 11 Representative Postion No. 1: Zack Hudgins

Legislative District No. 11 Representative Postion No. 2: Steve Berquist

State Supreme Court Justice Position No. 3 - Raquel Montoya-Lewis

State Supreme Court Justice Position No. 6 - G. Helen Whitener

Superior Court Judge Position No. 12 - Andrea Robertson

Superior Court Judge Position No. 30 - Doug North

So, if you haven't voted, go vote now. Vote like it matters, because it does. See you after the 3rd.

More later

The Political Desk: State Legislature

Ah, now we are down in the weeds. These are the folks we are sending to Olympia for part of the year to sort things out. Even if you are voting in Washington, you might not know these folks. They are pretty good, and gives me hope for politicians. 

Legislative District No. 11 State Senator: Bob Hasegawa

Legislative District No. 11 Representative Postion No. 1: Zack Hudgins

Legislative District No. 11 Representative Postion No. 2: Steve Berquist

Bob Hasegawa has no opposition this time. Congratulations, Bob Hasegawa!

Zack Hudgins versus newcomer David Hackney. I'll be honest, both are good, and this is one of those races where we will get fine service regardless. I go back and forth on this, but ultimately  I will go with Zack Hudgins - he's been sending out newsletters.

Steve Berquist is a teacher who went to Olympia because they were slack on teachers in the State House. And he's done a good job. Let's keep him.

That's it for our State Legislators, at least the ones I can elect. 

More later, 

The Political Desk: State Level Offices

So the entire state executive branch goes up for re-election every four years. A lot of this we've covered back in the primaries, so this is more of an update.

Governor: Jay Inslee

Lt. Governor: Markos Liias

Secretary of State: Gael Tarleton

State Treasurer: Mike Pellicciotti

State Auditor: Pat (Patrice) McCarthy

Attourney General : Bob Ferguson

Commissioner of Public Lands: Hilary Franz

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Chris Reykdal

Insurance Commissioner: Mike Kreidler

Governor: If we put responsibility of the reacting to the current national crisis upon the President, it only makes sense to put state challenges on the Governor. And Inslee has been up to the task. At the start of the year, we were the epicenter of the pandemic, with minimal help from the Federal Level (there were exceptions, like the Army Corps of Engineers). Inslee went with the science, and we now are not even in the top half of states measuring by per capita. So, good job, there (though the numbers are creeping up again). His opponent is a short-term small town sheriff who doesn't believe in enforcing laws he doesn't like, and has Fox News as a podium for it. Yeah, let's go with the grown-up - Jay Inslee.

Lieutenant Governor is between two Democrats, both with experience and capability. Markos Liias is more activist as opposed to conciliatory, and I'm in for that. A former GOP candidate for Governor is running as a write-in, hope the Dems split the vote neatly enough for him to squeeze in. It is a tough sell, particularly since this Republican is already in trouble for lending personal money for his own campaign, then taking it back after he lost. 

Secretary of State is the one office that I regret my "No Republicans" stance. The incumbent is capable, competent, and no fan of the current administrations' War on Democracy. Her opponent, Gael Tarleton, is actually pretty good as well, writing bills on cyber-security and election protection, so she is a reasonable choice. This is one of those situations where you really have a choice between two good candidates, we will be well served with either. But go with Gael Tarleton.

Fun Trivia Fact: The State GOP gripes about not having a Republican Governor since 1985, but we have not had a Democratic SoS since 1964.

State Treasurer: We currently have a Republican State Treasurer because of a split primary ballot resulting in two GOPs running against each other in the general election four years ago. This time there is a choice. The incumbent Republican has been relatively inert, despite federal threats to deny the state funding because the White House doesn't like our politics. Let's get a little more progressive - Vote for Mike Pellicciotti 

State Auditor: So we DID have a big scandal this year, with crooks ripping off the State Unemployment Bureau in the opening act of the Pandemic. Who spearheaded tracking the money down and getting a good chunk of it back? Incumbent Pat (Patrice) McCarthy. So yeah, let's keep her.

Attorney General: We have a superstar in Bob Ferguson, who has been an activist in resisting the utter stupidity of the Federal Executive Branch of the Federal Government. He's been on his toes working as "the people's lawyer" for everything from Eyeman's poltical scams to credit card fraud to Facebook to being 22-0 (so far) against Trump. Yeah, Let's keep him as well.

Commissioner of Public Lands: Are we still on fire? Not so  much? Let's keep Hilary Franz. She has a strong balance between commercial forestry needs and the environment, and has worked hard to reduce the impact of wildfires. She's done a good job.

Superintendent of Public Instruction: The incumbent is Chris Reykdal. He has had his hands full recently (pandemic, online teaching, you know, the usual), but has been up to the task. And he's carrying the responsibility (and brunt) of Ref 90 to make sure your kids aren't getting all their sexual health education off the Internet. So let's keep him as well.

Insurance Commissioner: I always feel bad about this, because I get down to this level and just say that Mike Kreidler has done a good job for twenty years and you should vote for him. Because he has and you should.

That's the State of the State - More later, 

The Political Desk: King County Measures

Not content with just giving us advisory votes, the ballot has seven Charter Amendments (changes to the King County Charter, our operating system) and a Bond Proposition. These are the nuts and bolts of local government, and while I mock the Advisory Votes, these have real weight. Five of the Amendments are pretty tame (And don't even have people arguing against them in the Voter's Guide), but two are doozies.

Charter Amendment No 1 - Inquests - Yes

Charter Amendment No 2 - Disposition of Real Property for Affordable Housing- Yes

Charter Amendment No.3 - References to Citizens - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 4 - Office of Law Enforcement Oversight - Subpoena Authority - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 5 - Making the King County Sheriff an Appointed Position - No

Charter Amendment No. 6 - Structure and Duties of the Department of Public Safety - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 7 - Prohibiting Descrimination on the Basis of Family Caregiver, Military, or Veteran Status - Yes

Proposition No. 1

Harborview Medical Center Health and Safety Improvement Bonds - Approved. 

Charter Amendment No. 1 - We have to have a inquest if the police are involved in someone's death. We have to make sure the deceased's family has adequate representation. What, we don't have that already? - Yes

Charter Amendment No. 2 - Remove restrictions on letting the county sell real estate for less than fair market value IF the property will be used for affordable housing. - I can see how this might be gamed, and needs proper oversight, but Yes.

Charter Amendment No 3 - Change to replace the word Citizen" in the preamble with "public", "member of the public", or "resident". - OK, that makes sense. Yes.

Charter Amendment No. 4 - Lets the Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO) Subpoena people in investigations - Sure.

Charter Amendment No. 5 - Making the King County Sheriff an Appointed Position - No. Here's where I break with the other amendments. I don't think we are well-served by going back to an appointed position, as an elected position tends to make the position a) local and b) more responsive to the citizens./public/residents than one whose primary task it keep the Council happy. King County has bounced back and forth on this a couple times - Elected until 1968, then appointed until 1996, and now elected again. Both have strengths and weaknesses. One weakness of the current system is when the current Sheriff retires/leaves mid-term, their replacement then runs as an incumbent, which sort of defeats the entire idea of fresh elections (and happens a LOT). But I don't think the appointed position has done us any great favors in the past, so this may not be the solution people are looking for.

Charter Amendment No. 6 - Changes to the Structure and Duties of the Department of Public Safety. On the other hand, I am good with the County Council setting up the structure of the Department of Public Safety. I am not a fan of defunding the police - if anything, they need more training and applicable resources, but a good solid re-org would be to everyone's advantage - sending non-police matters to other agencies, for example, as opposed to piling it on other police responsibilities - So, Yes. 

Charter Amendment No,. 7 Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Family Caregiver, Military or Veteran status. The county can't discriminate against people who are in the above categories, even they were discharged from the military for being gay. Again, we don't have this already? Yeah.

And finally - 

Proposition No. 1 - Harborview Medical Center Health and Safety Improvement Bonds. Yep, we're in a pandemic. Approved.

More later,

The Political Desk: The Jeff Recommends

You got the ballots. You got the links to other recommendations. You aren't doing anything else around the house except re-orging the spice cabinet. Time to vote. Deadline to get them post-marked (or drop them off) is 4 August, next Tuesday.

It is a little odd when the Seattle Times and the Stranger both agree on a lot of recommendations. The Times tends towards the corporate, more centrist candidates, while the Stranger has a love of the more progressive agitators. Yet they agree here on a lot of candidates here, with the Times even endorsing Jay Inslee! (Go read it. They wrap him on the knuckles for stuff they don't like, then do a take-down on his competition).

Here's my summary:

US Representative District 9: Adam Smith

Governor: Jay Inslee. Can't bring yourself to do that? The sanest Republican of the lot is Raul Garcia. You're welcome.

Lt.Governor: Marko Liias

Attorney General: Bob Ferguson

Secretary of State: Gael Tarleton

State Treasurer: Dealer's Choice. Both are going through to November (OK, OK, I'd go with Mike Pellicciotti. Force me into a corner, why don't you).

State Auditor: Pat (Patrice) McCarthy

Commissioner of Public Lands: Hilary Franz

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Chris Reykdal

Insurance Commissioner: Mike Kreider

State Legislative District Number 11 Senator: Bob Hasegawa (only candidate, but a good one)

State Legislative District Number 11 Representative District 1: David Hackney (But yeah, Zack Hudgins has done a good job, too).

State Legislative District Number 11 Representative District 2: Pick 'em.  Both are going through to November. (Fine. Steve Berquist. Go ahead, spoil the surprise).

That's if for my ballot. Now go vote because our Impeached President doesn't want you to!

More later,

The Political Desk: The Fighting 11th

Last one, then we sum up.

The State Legislative District 11 is an oddly-shaped beast. It is kinda dragonish, its upturned head in SoDo, its neck stretching down I-5 past Boeing Field, his forequarters in Tukwilla, its body primarily in Renton, with a wing reaching up 405 to the Renton Highlands and its tale stretching along Maple Valley. My neighborhood, Panther Lake, is somewhere along the back leg.

The legislative districts have three elected officials to Olympia - one senator and two representatives.

For State Senator, 11th district, there is only one candidate. Bob Hasegawa will be re-elected.

For State Representative, Position 2, there are only two candidates, so both are going through. The Democratic incumbent is Steve Berquist.

For State Representative, Position 1, there are three candidates. One has no party preference, is a student of "Austrian Economics", and may or may not be misspelling "intentions" ironically. There are two "Prefers Democratic Party" dudes, and on paper they both look good. Zack Hudgins is the incumbent, has done a good job, and has a lot of endorsements . David Hackney is a strong challenger with great background (former Assistant US Attorney, UN war crimes prosecutor, Harvard Law School) and wants Olympia to do more. This one is a hard call, but I will push David Hackney for primary, at least.

That concludes the (seemingly interminable) slog through the primary ballot. One more, where I sum up, and then you need to go out and vote!

More later,

The Political Desk: Everyone Else

As I mentioned earlier, in Washington State the entire upper tier of the executive branch comes up for re-election every four years. Most of these are positions that do a lot of the executive-level grunt work in the state government, and we have a lot of them. Rather than devote an entire post to each one, I am doing them in one swell foop.

For all of these, I have an incumbent versus a challenger. That makes things pretty easy. Has the incumbent done their job? In doing that job, have they done things I agree with? Have they been swept up in some personal failing, Internet faux pas, or general scandal?.\ If so, let's look at the challenger, and see if they have enough to tip the scales in their favor. That's my system, and it has served me well. 

Let me hit the high points, here:

State Treasurer has two candidates for the office. They will both go onto the November ballot, and we'll talk about them then. In the meantime, vote your heart.

State Auditor has three candidates - two Dems and Rep. The incumbent is Pat (Patrice) McCarthy, and has most recently overseen two major independent audits regarding Unemployment Benefits in the wake of the COVID-19 - one regarding getting payments to those unemployed by shutdowns, and another investigating a fraud scheme that looted the unemployment benefits. She does not oversee unemployment benefits, so I can't go after her for that, but in the later case, fought to get the money back from the fraudsters.. So, OK, she does the job. Her opponents are a Republican who is a "real" CPA (as opposed to just running the state department), and a Democrat who want more "lean business practices," one of those phrases that raise eyebrows from me. Go with Pat (Patrice) McCarthy.

Commissioner of Public Lands  has eight varied candidates, but I really like what incumbent Hilary Franz has done, balancing both the protection of the environment with smart forest development. Her opponents include a guy who wants to rake the forests (and who lists as his community service; "I've never been to jail"), one who wants an investigation of 5G Cell towers, and one recommending organic hemp farming. So, yeah let's go with Hilary Franz.

Superintendent of Public Instruction has its hands full right now with the whole question of whether we open the schools this fall (Spoiler: Not unless things get a LOT better right now). The candidates do not have to declare even a preference of party, so we get a spectrum from a guy who tells you right off he is a conservative to one that thinks we need to reopen the schools because not enough death, to one who wants to scrap everything and  re-institute the Pythagorean academy. Again, let's let the incumbent with experience deal with this particular mess, in particular since Chris Reykdal has an agenda of what he's done and an agenda of what he wants to do. 

Insurance Commissioner :Incumbent Mike Kreider. Has he done the job? Yeah. Well, OK then.

That it? Well, there is ONE more category - the State Legislative District #11. We'll do that next, then wrap up. 

More later,

The Political Desk: Ship of State

Washington Secretary of State primarily oversees the voting, and in the present environment that's a pretty major task. As I mentioned, Washington State is vote-by-mail, so a lot of reponsibility comes down on these shoulders. It is also probably one of the wonkiest offices in the state.

Incumbent Kim Wyman has done a pretty good job, to be honest. There was a major screwup with online voter registration earlier in the year, but they got on top of it and resolved it. And, she has taken a stand by NOT voting in the primary, since to do so would be support the current occupant of the White House, who, by the way, HATES voting-by-mail. In a normal situation, I would expect her to make it through to November. But these are not normal situations. I am saying no Republicans this time out, so I, with the heaviest of hearts, I will pass on her.

Gentry Lange (Progressive) and Ed Minger (Independent) get down into the details in their candidate stations. Lange wants Open Source Software to count the votes, which is interesting. Minger is pushing the idea of approval voting, where you can vote for multiple candidates for the same office, and all those votes count. I think ranked voting is a better idea if you're going to monkey with the system, but that's even more wild than what Minger is proposing. 

The Democrat candidate is Gael Tarleton, who has shown up in various offices over the years. She's big on cyber-security, which is a really good thing in our cyberpunky world. She's actually written the law on some of these things. Moreover, one of her gigs was at the Port of Seattle, which has always been by go-to-spot for reporting on shenanigans. The fact she emerged from that operation relatively unbesmirched is pretty impressive. 

So, yeah, Gael Tarleton.

More later,

The Political Desk: Attorney At Law

Attorney General, the state's law firm. I'm surprised it isn't a mini-series on NetFlix. Let's get Aaron Sorkin on it, pronto!

The AG has been hopping for the past four years, as it (and those of other states) have been dealing the relentless malice and stupidity coming down from the federal level, and the malfeasance of local conmen and corporations (The current AG's office took on Comcast. Won). The current guy in charge, Bob Ferguson, has been active and advocative in his pursuit of the best interests of the people of the state. So, yeah, I'm going to go with him.

He is running against three Republicans (sorry, two "prefers Republican Party" and one "prefers GOP party, which reads as Grand Old Party Party, but nevermind). They are pretty much unified in the opinion that the AG should NOT be doing the AG's job, and that protecting Washingtonians is not as important as creating a climate friendlier to business. Because we don't have enough large, successful corporations in this state.

I'm going with Bob Ferguson, here. 

More later, 

The Political Desk: Second Louie!

Lieutenant Governor in the state of Washington is akin to that on a national level - Runs the State Senate. Steps in when the Governor is out of town. Often just do good works. For many years we had the same guy. He stepped down last election and what replaced with Cyrus Habib, who at the time conservatives declared would be a bomb-throwing lib who would bring the entire system down. Of course that didn't happen, and Mr. Habib proved to be a extremely diligent, detail-oriented, by-the-book parliamentarian . Sadly, he has decided to become a Jesuit priest and is stepping down. Yes, this is the sort of thing that happens in Olympia, our capital.

So the job is open, and there are 11 people running for position. There is a serious wink-wink-nudge-nudge going on here about the idea that, should Biden win, Inslee would go take a position in his administration and his second banana would step into the role. That is not only putting the cart before the horse, that's setting the cart out while the horse is still in the barn having his morning oats. 

On the Democrat side, the two candidates worth taking about are Denny Heck and Markos Liias. Heck has the resume - US Representative, State Legislator, founder of the state's public access channel, and has the money and the endorsements of the mainstream Dems. Lias is more progressive, the senate Democratic floor leader, and a millennial. He also has the endorsement of the guy who currently has the job, Cyrus Habib. 

On the Republican side, the two majors are Ann Davison Sattler and Marty McClendon. McClendon ran against Habib last time and lost, and is a radio talk-show host (his co-host is Doug Basler, who is running against Adam Smith for US Rep in District 9). Stattler is from the real-estate division of the GOP and wants to represent people not parties (which is good, since her party doesn't get the traction it needs).

But I have to say this, looking through the listings in the Voter's Guide - these candidates are at least taking the situation seriously. They are saying the right things, and their candidate statements do not read like fever dreams or reefer night at the Poet's Corner Coffee Shoppe. So good work everyone, even the Libertarians. 

For me, I like Habib's work, and expect the same thing from Markos Liias. And I am not voting for Governor with this vote. At least, not yet.

More later.

The Political Desk: Yes, Guv'nor

There are 36 candidates on the ballot for Governor. Blame COVID-19.

I am serious. In usual times, you have to get so many signatures to get on the ballot. These are not usual times, and since there would be difficulties getting signatures when no one want to come to the door, the governor waved that requirement. As a result, anyone with the desire to run is in.

So, we have the incumbent Democrat, five relatively viable Republicans, and a host of fringe candidates, well-meaning souls and utter nutters. And while I like all of you, I am not going to go into ALL the details, even for comedic purposes - just go to the online Voters' Guide and browse until your eyes water.

And despite this plethora of candidates, it probably going to boil down to Jay Inslee versus one these Five Guys (not to be confused with burger chain of the same name).

Jay Inslee is the current governor, shocking his opposition not only by temporarily running for president, but by running for a third term. How dare he! He's done a very good in an extremely difficult situation with COVID-19, and has helped turn the state from an epicenter for the disease to merely struggling against it. Lot of tough decisions here, particularly, since it is in the state government's advantage to re-open faster, since the state gets its money through things like sales taxes. No stores, no sales tax, no revenue for the state. Still, he has deferred to experts and made the hard choices. So yeah, I am recommending Jay Inslee. What else we got?

"Gadfly" is a good word for Tim Eyman. Other good words include bankrupt, chair thief and under investigation by the state's Attorney General. Eyman has been milking the state's initiative process for decades, skimming off the top the donations he gets from the gullible. His initiatives are of the "magic pony" variety - reduce your car tabs! We don't need road repairs anyway! This is the first time he is actually running for something, and stands an good chance of getting onto the November ballot, because people know who he is. He doesn't stand a good chance of becoming governor because people know who he is.

So if Eyman is the gadfly, Joshua Freeman is the money. He's got the dollar lead on the others, but a good chunk of it comes out of his pocket. Former Mayor of Bothell, he represents the real estate development wing of the party, and has had some ethics investigations (cleared, by the way, but that's one reason he's not running for re-election in Bothell).

Phil Fortunato is the blast from the past, because he's the reason I got into this political blogging in the first place. Way back when I  moved to Washington in the 90's, he had this HUGE signs along the road paid for by the "Friends of Phil".  I seem to remember that he didn't have much of a good opinion of his job at the time, but now can claim to be the only major candidate with actual experience in the state legislature. He's got the best sound bites of the GOP side. So, golden oldie? Smart kid in the room? Snark-master? I dunno. He's Phil. I assume he still has friends.

Loren Culp is a small-town sheriff who got national attention by standing up to the Man and refusing to enforce laws he doesn't agree with. Things like gun safety and not spreading coronavirus. He's standing up to the Man! He's the cause celebre who has been on Fox News talking about freedom and getting a book published with a forward by Ted Nugent, He's also being sued for botching a sexual abuse investigation and intimidating the victim.  Just call him the Fox Candidate. 

And finally we have Raul Garcia, the hope of what is left of the moderate wing of the party. He's actually not insane, which means you can vote against him based on his political stands as opposed to the miasma of sideshow weirdness that surrounds his rivals. He supports masks! He's pro-choice! Says good things about marriage equality! Won't commit to supporting Trump! He has the support of the remaining chunks of "moderate Republicans"like former Secretary of State Sam Reed and former state Attorney General Robert McKenna. So in the present GOP, he's toast. (I really hope I'm wrong on this).

Those are the biggies. Feel free to wander through the Voter's Guide for the candidate who's statement consists of the same chant written twenty-five times and similar gems and the one that think abolishing the minimum wage is the solution to America's problems.. (Note, the state does not edit the candidates' statements, which both is revealing and also shows the need of an editor.)

More later. 

The Political Desk: Repping the Rep

Let's start at the Federal Level: in our case, United States Representative Congressional District Number 9.  My home district.

District 9 runs from Tacoma up to Lake Washington, splitting with one spur heading up I-405 to Bellevue on the eastern side of Lake Washington, the other stretching up I-5 almost to Lake Union. It is small, compared to the other federal districts, but consists of a densely packed corridor.  It has four candidates running for US Representative - a democratic incumbent with two republicans and a libertarian challengers.

Incumbent Adam Smith in a mostly moderate Democrat who is the chair of the House Armed Services committee, and has done a good job over the years. He is usually primaried from the left from someone pushing for more radical activity, but in the present environment has done a lot, including getting parental leave for all government employees. Doesn't move fast ENOUGH for my desires, but I have to be honest, he does move, and for the benefit of all.

His chief opponent is Doug Basler,conservative talk-show host who lost to him last time. A strong supporter of the president regardless of how stupid that sounds right now. More power to him for standing his ground. His hope is that people are so tired of the government trying to do something about Coronavirus that they will put people in charge that won't do anything. Because freedom.

Also on the ticket is Joshua Campbell, who has the single weirdest combination of sentences in his  candidate statement ; "It's time for everyone to pick a side. The quicker we unite under one party, the quicker we can overcome the suffering and rebuild.". So, we pick as side, then all abandon those positions? I am still working my way through this one, and I've been drinking heavily in the hopes of enlightenment.

Liberatarian candidate Jorge Besada tuses his space to try to teach us a bit, with mixed results. He quotes extensively "the great intellecutal slayer of socialism" Ludwig Von Mises, which is a pity because people keep casting Raise Dead Fully on Socialism so it isn't going away. Also, he wants to transform "billions of free people into a global super-computer". So, the Borg, pretty much. Believes that freed of governmental shackles, corporations will inadvertently (his word) work for the common good. Good luck with that.

So, yeah, Adam Smith this time out. Because he sounds like the grown-up.

More later, 

The Political Desk: Washington Primary 2020

Whelp, here we are again.

For people that just stop by for the book reviews, I do local politics here. I got into it many, many years ago, and now fives if not tens of people look to this blog for well-reasoned, rational advice on upcoming elections. 

Hah! I kid. I get as snarky as any Twitter-er, but in a longer format and more links.

But for those who do not live in Washington State, here's how things work:

1) We're only talking about state and local offices here - we had a national primary a while back.The usual suspects won.

2) Washington State is a top-two, open primary state. That means that the top-two vote-getters go on to the main event. It is an open primary, which means you don't have to declare a particular party. While that potentially opens up the possibilities of mischief (Dems voting for a weak GOP candidate in order to have a weaker opponent in the general), I haven't seen it.

3) Washington State is a mail-in ballot state, which is suddenly controversial. Mail-in ballots are pretty good, leave a paper trail, gives the voters the luxury of actually looking up the candidates before they make a decision, and does not require them to deal with long lines at the polls. Downsides? I do miss the small-town feel of going to the local school where retired poll-workers validate my existence for voting. And, worst of all, we often don't get to find out who won at one minute after the polls close. For a lot of races, the results are obvious, but every election, there is one race that hangs fire - so close as that it cannot be called, or where an initiative that loses on the inital count wins as the late results come in. Just get it postmarked before August 4 (you don't event need a stamp). Worried about someone taking you ballot out of the mailbox or intercepting it at the post office? They have drop boxes all over the place to you can hand in your work from the comfort of your car.

4) We also don't have political parties per se on the ballot. No one runs officially as a Democrat or a Republican, but rather as "preferring" a particular party. And it is self-selecting, so you get hardened party operatives running as "Prefers Democratic Party", as if they chose it because it has a cute mascot.  You also end up with people running as "True American Party" or "No, Karen, Your Foxgloves are Overrunning my Tomato Beds Party".

5) For that reason, check out the endorsements. Look who the establishment orgs are pushing, and who gets the nod of interest groups you support/oppose. If someone has the endorsement of the Chamber of Commerce, proceed carefully. If it is someone who wants to "run government like a business", head for the exits.

6)  And I am not recommending Republicans this time out. Sorry, "Prefers Republicans". This should not be a horrible surprise to anyone reading this blog. The fish rots from the head, and while the current occupant of the White House is a Dorian-Grey-level of sun-bleached salmon, the decay goes deep. Our state-wide GOP includes a state senator whose day job is as a lobbyist for a foreign government, a noted on-camera chair thief, and a guy who has been investigated as a supporter of domestic terrorist operations (he's not running for re-election, but is still "active in local politics" and most recently was fined for vandalism of the state capitol building).  So, the Republican brand is not a winner here, and the few moderate/centrist/sane GOP candidates are running on the platform that "ideas,  not parties, are important." Which means they are kinda embarrassed by their party. I understand. I am, too.

7) Washington elects its ENTIRE state executive branch every four years, lining up with the presidential elections. So everyone from Governor to Superintendent of Public Lands is up for re-election. That means that there will be a lot to vote for and lot of voters, since Presidential elections attract a lot of attention. So we have a lot to talk about. i am going to try to blitz through this.

8) That said, I am going to only talk in this round about those races where there are more than two candidates. In a two-person race, both are going through to the main election. Ditto with races that have no opposition (and yeah, that happens). There are no judgeships or initiatives on my ballot, so you a spared that as well.

9) I also tend to just talk about my ballot, which showed up in the mail about a week ago.. That means City of Kent, King County, District 9 for the House of Representatives and the 11th State Legislative district. I may go off on tangents, like recommending Pat Sullivan for the 47 district, since he USED to represent my district before they moved the lines around, but I will keep that to a minimum.

10) AND I will recommend other sources to check out. The Stranger has released their bunches, and the Seattle Times is dribbling their out in bits and pieces, summarizing at the end..  Progressive Voters Guide here. Washington Conservation Voters here. As others show up I will patch them in here.

And with that, stay tuned and I will run through these as painlessly as possible.

More later,

The Political Desk: Prez Prime Pop-up

Wait a minute, didn't I just VOTE a couple weeks ago?

Yes, yes, I did. And for those keeping score, the Levy for the Kent schools passed, and Chris Porter, beekeeper, got the seat. About ten years ago, only about 4000 people voted in the election, which was generally regarded as dismal and a failure. This time, with the addition of phone tech, they had 6000 people, which was ... still dismal, but improving. Here are some details (Nothing on the KCCD's own site, mind you).

Anyway, no sooner has the dust settled on these minor (minor) elections, then we launch into the March 10th presidential election. And the election book has arrived, with a host of Democrats and one short-fingered vulgarian (one of my favorite ancient insults) running for the GOP. Lemme make some notes here.

All the people running for president on the Democratic party side would make damned fine vice-presidents, including the one that was PREVIOUSLY a Vice President.

Because there is only one candidate on the GOP side of ballot, will there be mischief in Reps voting for Democrats? OF COURSE there will be. The Republicans will want the most beatable Democrat to face off with. The only problem is that every Republican has a different idea of who the most beatable Democrat would be. So it will pretty much spread out.

Will the shooting be over by then? Unlikely. Super Tuesday gets lodged in this week, and that may decide it, but that's unlikely as various candidates get a chunk of the proceedings to render the entire proceedings moot. Similarly, the Washington Primary will not likely get a winner.

This is a real presidential primary, and everyone talks about how this year is a real presidential primary that counts. Previously it had been a toothless beauty contest, the delegates the conventions really selected by caucus, a elbow-throwing political affair for those with the time to engage in it. Democracy, red in tooth and claw. This is an real election, but it comes with an added cost. To vote as a Democrat, you have to declare you're a Democrat, at least for this election. That becomes a part of the public record, and can be accessed by others, including the Democratic party. So if you're a Republican, making trouble in the Democratic primary comes with it a price that you will suddenly get Democrat mailers and phone solicitations. Just warning.

That cuts the other direction, too. The Republican Secretary of State is actually NOT VOTING in the primary, because she would have to publicly declare she was a Republican, and the only Rep on the ballot is Trump. And as the highest-ranking member of the GOP in this state, she really, really, doesn't want to tie herself to that particular anchor.

Now, I'm voting Democratic (quelle surprise!), and have to say from the get-go that I quickly came to conclusion (when there were 20+candidates) that any of them would make a damned fine veep. Yes, including the one with the crystals. Yes, including the one that was a Republican a few years back (The Democratic party is so big-tent they will let Republicans in!). And from there it was a simple realization that, despite all the mud that will be churned up, any one of them would be an improvement over the current squatter the Oval Office right now.  So here's a quick run-down for me.

Michael Bennet - Dropped out. Better than Trump.

Joseph R Biden - Still has the keys from the White House he forgot to return four years ago. Played rascally Uncle Joe to Obama. Current administration really, really wants to gin up a case against him. Better than Trump.

Michael Bloomberg - Billionaire. I mean, real billionaire, as opposed to the multiple bankruptcy guy we have. Has the benefit of representing the class that Trump REALLY wants to like him, but will never like him. Better than Trump.

Cory Booker - Dropped out. Better than Trump.

Pete Buttigieg - Conservative in the way Democrats can be conservative. Young, has more governing experience than the current guy. Better than Trump. [Annnndd ... dropped out].

John Delany - Dropped out. Better than Trump.

Tulsi Gabbard - Dropped out. Better than Trump.

Amy Klobuchar - The Seattle Times likes her. That may or may not make up your mind on her. Still better than Trump.

Deval Patrick - Dropped out. Better than Trump.

Bernie Sanders - He has put in the years, walked the walk, stated out the left of the left wing. Has supporters almost as crazy as Trump's. They're better than Trump. So is he. I like him, but he's not my first choice.

Tom Steyer - The forgotten billionaire. He's also been buying ads during football games. Supports progressive causes. I like him, and am kind of disappointed that he didn't get more traction. What is it, you have be a bozo, a billionaire, AND a New Yorker? Needless to say, much better than Trump. {while writing this, he has dropped out. Still better than Trump.)

Elizabeth Warren - This is my blog, so I have to call it for Ms. Warren. I like here message, I like her background,. I like the way she fights. I will be honest, I am at heart an eat-you-vegetables kind of Democrat. I grumble but I recycle. I complain about taxes but want to make things better for everyone,. I honestly like smart people. So that's what I'm doing - you can do as you see fit, and I'll still like you. And she is so, so, so much better than Trump.

Andrew Yang - Liked him as well. Dropped out. Of course, better than Trump.

So, All of these are capable people. They have experience. They have smarts. Whoever gets the nod will come under fire by the vilest parts of the Trump Party (the Republicans have pretty much ceased to exist except as a venue for graft and corruption). So let's pick the fighters. I'm going with Elizabeth Warren.

More later,