My Election Recommendations

A number of people have asked me to weigh in on this year’s elections in the Seattle area and, because it’s always a fun article to write, here we go.  Disclaimer:  I’m a long-time progressive Seattle resident (since 1983), born and raised in rural Pierce County.  If you’re looking for recommendations on Republican candidates, this is the wrong place to look.  As always, do your own research and make your own decisions.  For a starter, you can check out my list of sources at the end of this article.

U.S. Senate:

Given that the U.S. Senate is meant to be our equivalent of the British House of Lords, you’re going to have trouble finding a true progressive in this race (although our two Senate seats usually go to a Democrat).  This year, the incumbent Maria Cantwell is running against 10 other candidates in this race, only 4 of whom openly identify as Republicans.  And the only other Democrat in the race is Paul Lawrence Giesick, who’s using his campaign as a platform for preaching the gospel (literally).  Hold your nose and vote Cantwell.

U.S. House of Representatives:

District 1 (Arlington and southward to Redmond) – Incumbent Democrat Suzan DelBene is running unopposed on the Democratic Party ticket, with 5 Republicans (one who identifies as a Trump Republican, one who calls himself a member of the “Calm Rational GOP Party,” and three of Washington’s garden-variety loony Republicans).  Vote DelBene.

District 7 (North Seattle, West Seattle, & Vashon Island) – Incumbent Pramila Jayapal (Democrat) is running against Democrat Liz Hallock, who has no prior political experience.  Hallock insists she’s “pro-peace” but claims that the best way to ensure peace is to “secure our supply chains, and yes, secure our borders.”  In other words, she’s a conservative, hawkish Democrat who would’ve been comfortable in your grandfather’s Republican Party.  Vote Jayapal.

District 8 (rural Snohomish, King & Pierce Counties, Chelan County, Wenatchee, and Ellensburg) – Democrat Kim Schrier won this district in a close race in 2019, and the Republicans are fielding a woman of color, Carmen Goers, against her.  The other 2 Democrats in the race are Imraan Siddiqi, an Executive Director at the Washington Chapter of the Council for American-Islamic Relations, and Keith Arnold, who is running to support ranked choice voting.  Siddiqi is the more serious challenger from the left, with a strong history of supporting immigrant rights, but he’s had trouble getting endorsements from the usual Democratic Party supporters, who’ve lined up in lock step behind Schrier. Goers, who ran for the State House in 2022 (and lost to Democrat Chris Stearns), is vulnerable to losing the second spot in our Top-Two primary, if enough people decide to vote for Siddiqi in August.  In which case 2 Democrats might be on the ballot in D8 in November, and what a humiliation for the State Republican Party that would be.  It’s your choice to either vote for Schrier, the safe choice, or vote for Siddiqi, if you think he has a chance to knock Goers out of the running.

District 9 (Olympia, Lacey & Tumwater northeast to Lakewood, South Tacoma, & Puyallup) – Incumbent Democrat Adam Smith is facing a challenger from the left, Melissa Chaudry.  Chaudry is proudly pro-peace and against the military industrial complex; however, she’s running in a district that includes the Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the largest military base in the Western United States.  So she faces an ice cube’s chance in hell of winning against Smith, who sits on the House’s Armed Services Committee.  But if you want to register a protest against the Democratic Party status quo (which, yes, includes immense military spending), then vote Chaudry.

State Government:

Governor

I count 28 candidates on the ballot for governor this year, including 9 Democrats.  If Washington residents needed any reason to give up on voting altogether, this would be the main one.  Current WA State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is the outstanding front runner among the Democrats, and Dave Reichert is the front runner among the Republicans.  Ferguson has raised around $7.6 million to Reichert’s $3.8 million, and they’ve both spent around $2.2 million, which means Ferguson will have the money to run numerous campaign ads in the run-up to November.  If anyone is worried about whether Ferguson will win, then rest easy.  He’s also the progressive pick in this race, with his main challenger being the conservative Democrat Mark Mullet, who’s pro-police, voted against the state’s long-term care plan, and is very much against harm reduction, while being a huge booster for forced drug treatment in locked wards.  No Thank You.  Vote Ferguson.

Lt. Governor – In this race that would determine who would run the state government if something happened to the governor, you’d want someone with at least a little bit of political experience.  Vote for Denny Heck.

Secretary of State – There are 2 Democrats running in this race, Incumbent Democrat Steve Hobbs and challenger Marquez Tiggs.  After decades of Republicans serving in this office, Gov. Inslee appointed Dem. Steve Hobbs in 2021.  Hobbs went on to win confirmation by voters in 2022, and he’s now up for reelection.  He’s done a fine job so far, and he’s committed to upholding new laws to expand voter registration in WA State.  Vote Hobbs.

State Treasurer – Incumbent Democrat Mike Pellicciotti is running unopposed on the Democratic ticket.  Vote Pellicciotti.

State Auditor – Incumbent Democrat Pat McCarthy is running unopposed on the Democratic ticket.  Vote McCarthy.

State Attorney General – Outgoing AG Bob Ferguson proved how important this office could be, with his many lawsuits against the Trump Administration’s civil rights violations and other depredations.  Two great Democratic candidates are facing off to fill Ferguson’s shoes:  Manka Dhingra and Nick Brown.  Dhingra has many endorsements from her colleagues in the State Legislature (she’s a State Senator and the Deputy Majority Leader), while Nick Brown has endorsements from a wide range of Democrats, including Gov. Inslee (he was Inslee’s General Counsel).  While Dhingra would do a good job, Brown seems to be much more familiar with what the job entails and has a plan for how to continue Ferguson’s work.  I’m impressed by his knowledge of the issues.  Vote Brown.

Commissioner of Public Lands – There are five Democrats running in this race and whoever survives the primary will be up against Republican powerhouse Jamie Herrera Beutler in November.  In fundraising order, the three main contenders are King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove ($448,000), State Senator Kevin Van De Wege ($288,000), and Department of Natural Resources employee Patrick DePoe ($147,000).

Kevin Van De Wege serves as Chair of the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources, and Parks Committee and is mostly running on a wildfire suppression platform; he’s taken donations from the Timber industry, so you know what his wildfire suppression policies will be.  Don’t vote for him.

Patrick DePoe is also running primarily on a wildfire suppression campaign.  Importantly, he cites no other issues on his campaign website – nothing about water quality, salmon habitat restoration, fish farming, parks & public lands, land conservation, or even tribal issues (he’s a member of the Makah Tribal Council, for cryin’ out loud).  That’s probably because he has also accepted large contributions from the Timber industry.  Don’t vote for him.

That leaves Dave Upthegrove, a middle-of-the-road Democrat.  Happily, he’s at least declined to take any contributions from the Timber industry, and one of his key priorities is “preservation of mature legacy forests.”  He’s also hustled up a ton of endorsements from state Democrats and is the leading fundraiser in this race – a good sign that he can put up a fierce challenge to Jaime Herrera Beutler in November.  Vote Upthegrove.

Superintendent of Public Instruction – In this nonpartisan office, incumbent Chris Reykdal is facing a stiff challenge from Reid Saaris, who’s raised almost double the amount that Reykdal has ($286,000 to Reykdal’s $152,000).  Saaris’ main contributors include the largest consulting company in the world, McKinsey & Company [shudder], which has been behind a push to gradually privatize public schools worldwide.  Saaris’ background running a nonprofit that consults with schools on how to expand student diversity can’t compare with the hard work that Reykdal has done to bring the Washington public school system back from the Covid 19 lockdown.  Vote Reykdal.

Insurance Commissioner – The leading Democrat in this race is State Senator Patty Kuderer.  She’s committed to protecting women’s access to reproductive care, including abortion, in Washington State, and ensuring that insurance companies won’t restrict access.  Vote Kuderer.

State Legislature:

Most Democrats are running unopposed in Seattle, but there are a couple of contested races:

District 43, House Pos. 2 (Belltown, Capitol Hill, Fremont, UD & Laurelhurst) – Four Democrats are running in this race, and the two most viable candidates are Andrea Suarez and Shaun Scott.

Suarez has accepted contributions from a number of real estate developers and construction executives.  That’s not surprising, given that Suarez appears to be a neighborhood NIMBY who set up her own nonprofit to pick up trash and needles from public spaces and harass homeless people to “get treatment.”  She does not appear to have a campaign website (yet), so you can’t read about her positions (if she has any), but the people who are supporting her campaign are a who’s who of rabid conservatives.  Don’t make the mistake of voting for her.

Scott, who works as the Policy Lead at the Statewide Poverty Action Network, has previously run for Seattle City Council.  This time around he’s gotten endorsements from a bunch of progressive Democrats, including Girmay Zahilay, Teresa Mosqueda, Nicole Macri, and the Washington State Labor Council.  Vote Scott.

District 46, House Pos. 1 (Northeast Seattle) – Incumbent Democrat Gerry Pollet deserves a challenge from left field, but unfortunately his opponent is the right-wing neighborhood NIMBY Ahndylyn Kinney.  Vote Pollet.

State Supreme Court:

There’s one spot open on the State Supreme Court, after the retirement of Justice Susan Owens from Position 2.  The front runner in fundraising is Sal Mungia, who’s raised $264,000 compared to Dave Larson, his closest challenger, who’s raised $31,000.  Larson appears to be running on a law-and-order platform, with support from Republicans; he recently appeared at a campaign event for Republican Dave Reichert (who’s running for governor).  Mungia, on the other hand, is very qualified for this position, having been president of the Washington State Bar Association, president of the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association, and a law clerk for the State Supreme Court.  He’s also been endorsed by most of the current WA Supreme Court Justices.  Vote Mungia.

Local:

Seattle City Council, Pos. 8 – Progressives are doing their best to think of the current Seattle City Council as the Interregnum.  So it’s not surprising that Alexis Mercedes Rinck is backed by a ton of progressives, including former Councilmembers Tammy Morales, Lisa Herbold, and Andrew Lewis, and a former progressive contender for Seattle Mayor, Cary Moon.  Rinck is also way ahead in fundraising, having over $100,000 in her campaign coffers vs. incumbent Tanya Woo’s $20,000.  Woo was appointed by the current city council in January and, although it’s only been a few months, that’s been a half-year of unremarkable (if not outright cringe-worthy) work by Woo.  Vote Rinck.  Please.

Sources:

The candidates’ campaign websites (if they have one).

WA State Public Disclosure Commission’s Contribution Lookup Page:  Political Disclosure Data | Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data

King County Elections Candidates page:  Candidates - King County, https://info.kingcounty.gov/kcelections/Vote/contests/candidates.aspx?eid=44

Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission page:  Seattle Elections, https://web6.seattle