Lol holy shit, final night time was wild, gossipy, and filled with surprises and celestial spectacle.
Although the state nonetheless must tally half the votes forged within the 2024 major elections, we ask you: when has working with partial info ever stopped us from delivering screaming sizzling takes? By no means. It has by no means stopped us, and it received’t cease us now. So let’s discuss what you ought to be speaking about with your folks on the water cooler, or on Slack, or within the native politics group chat, which you completely have. Proper? Proper.
A Backlash to the Backlash Is Brewing in Seattle. Despite the fact that voters solely noticed one Seattle Metropolis Council seat on their ballots this cycle, final night time didn’t bode properly for the conservatives who simply took workplace this 12 months.
In case you haven’t been studying the weblog, simply know that these new, conservative council members have accomplished little or no besides piss off even probably the most delicate of progressives with assaults on minimal wage legal guidelines, threats to renters’ rights, and a quest to jail as many poor individuals as humanly doable. In the event that they’re the backlash council to the final council, then there simply is likely to be a backlash to the backlash brewing.
Tanya Woo, who the council appointed to the vacant citywide place earlier this 12 months, at present trails her progressive challenger, Alexis Mercedes Rinck by 5 factors, 41.5% to 46.5%. Rinck’s lead will seemingly enhance because the remaining ballots trickle in, and it’s fairly protected to say that the mixed 8% of voters who crammed within the bubbles for lefties Tariq Yusuf and Saunatina Sanchez will vote for Rinck within the normal. Woo is in a nasty place for an incumbent, and meaning hassle for her friends on the council who endorsed her.
A number of council members, together with Sara Nelson, Pleasure Hollingsworth, and Bob Kettle, additionally appeared to help candidate Andrea Suarez for the State Home within the forty third Legislative District. She solely secured 23% of the vote, trailing first-place Shaun Scott’s commanding 54%.
This outcome could possibly be particularly regarding for Council President Nelson, who’s up for reelection subsequent 12 months. In keeping with latest polling from Northwest Progressive Institute, solely 22% of surveyed voters stated they permitted of Nelson’s efficiency on council; 32% stated they disapproved, and 46% stated they weren’t certain. She’s susceptible, so the left should rally round a powerful, progressive challenger subsequent 12 months.
The Stranger Nonetheless Reigns Supreme. Some whiny reporters at The Stranger have been apprehensive that our endorsements wouldn’t imply as a lot after we acquired purchased by a normie Democrat. Possibly it is too quickly to say, since we wrote and reported our endorsement bundle earlier than we met our new stepdad, however to this point it seems like we’ve maintained our affect. Aside from two Congressional challengers and the Commissioner of Public Lands, all the individuals we endorsed received their races. Not simply made it via the first. They fucking received.
Compared with the opposite main endorsing outlet on the town, the Seattle Occasions, we whooped ass. To be truthful, each The Stranger and the Seattle Occasions endorsed Bob Furgeson for Governor and Nick Brown for Legal professional Basic, and a number of other others. However once we disagreed, as we so typically do, The Stranger got here out on prime.
Our candidates beat Seattle Occasions candidates in races for Public Lands Commissioner, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Insurance coverage Commissioner, the open seat within the forty third Legislative District, the open seat within the fifth Legislative District, and within the citywide Seattle Metropolis Council seat. So subsequent time some crank writes on Submit Alley about how washed The Stranger is as an endorsing physique, do not forget that they know nothing and that their grownup youngsters most likely don’t name them. Seattle’s Solely Newspaper nonetheless has it, and we hope you proceed to bestow that sacred belief upon us. We’ll endeavor to proceed incomes it.
One other Method to Take a look at a Few of the Occasions-endorsed Flunkies. Candidates who introduced themselves as affordable and pragmatic centrists didn’t achieve this sizzling, even when conservative editorial boards the world over love their sort.
Take Reid Saaris, the I-don’t-like-charters-but-charters-like-me candidate operating for Superintendent of Public Instruction. He was outdone on the left by Incumbent Chris Reykdal, and on the precise by David Olson, the peninsula faculty board member who mentioned “important race idea” on conservative speak radio.
Within the forty third Legislative District, the politically unknown tech worker Daniel Carusello is useless final behind Shaun Scott, the progressive lobbyist main the race, and Andrea Suarez of We Coronary heart Seattle.
Within the race for Washington’s Insurance coverage Commissioner, longtime OIC challenge supervisor John Pestinger, a self-described liberal listed as a “sturdy Republican voter” in a Democratic voter database, fell far behind our choose, Patty Kruderer, and likewise Phil Fortunato, some of the conservative Republicans within the galaxy. Does this imply our politics are extra divided? Or are individuals sick of politicians they will’t belief to take a aspect on fundamental points?
Dems Dominate Statewide Government Races. In an unsurprising flip of occasions, Democratic candidates swept Washington’s statewide government seats, barring one somewhat massive exception we’ll focus on later.
Legal professional Basic and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Ferguson at present leads with 45.5% of the vote to Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert, who managed to simply barely end rather less than 20 factors behind Ferguson with 28% of the vote. Ferguson’s election-night tally runs 3.5 factors forward of a July ballot from the Seattle Occasions/SurveyUSA, and runs simply 1.5 factors behind the quantity present three-term Governor Jay Inlsee put in up his 2012 major race, all of which should make Ferguson’s group really feel good.
In the meantime, Lt. Governor Denny Heck trounced the competitors with about 49% of the vote, greater than double Republican challenger Dan Matthews. Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Steve Hobbs earned 49%, a strong lead forward of his Republican challenger, Dale Whitaker, who completed greater than 10 factors behind. Within the race for Insurance coverage Commissioner, Democratic state Sen. Patty Kurderer holds a cushty lead with about 45% of the vote to Republican Phil Fortunato’s 28%. Within the Legal professional Basic’s race, Republican Pete Serrano technically leads the sector with 42%, properly forward of Stranger-endorsed candidate Nick Brown, who secured 36%. However when you add Democratic state Senator Manka Dhingra’s tally to Brown’s, then the Democrats dominate that race with 58% of the vote. In a time with conservative judicial fuckery in Washington DC and a terrifying 2024 Basic Election looming, swimming in an ocean of blue executives soothes the soul a little bit. After all, the Lands Commissioner race needed to be the exception that proves the rule.
The Lorax Is Shook: We might wind up with two Republicans to select from within the normal election contest for the Commissioner of Public Lands, because of a crowded Democratic discipline that didn’t actually should be so crowded, when you ask us! The race to exchange Hilary Franz featured one progressive Democrat (King County Council Member Dave Upthegrove) and 4 extra conservative Democrats (Division of Pure Sources Tribal Liaison Patrick DePoe, state Sen Kevin Van De Wege, Allen Lebovitz, and Redmond Metropolis Council Member Jaralee Anderson) squaring off in opposition to two Republicans (a really Trumpy Sue Pederson and a former Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Buetler).
Huge Timber dumped a shit-ton of cash into Kevin Van De Wege’s coffers, incomes him a whopping 8.2% of the vote. Tribes spent chunk of change on the marketing campaign for DePoe, who garnered 13% of the vote. And a few political neophytes–Anderson and Lebovitz–took residence 15% of the vote between them, leaving the one one who really needs to save lots of the bushes in shut third with 19.9% of the vote. Upthegrove’s camp seems like they may juuuust squeak previous Pederson, who at present has 20.3% of the vote, but it surely’s arduous to say. If he doesn’t, then a lot for the Evergreen State.
Washington State Supreme Courtroom Appears to be like Weirdly Tight. Preliminary leads to the race for a seat on the best court docket within the state present an in depth contest between civil litigation legal professional Sal Mungia, who leads with about 42% of the vote, and Federal Approach Municipal Courtroom Decide Dave Larson, who earned 37%. These numbers appear shocking contemplating Mungia’s endorsements from each The Stranger and the Seattle Occasions, however we’re simply now getting phrase that different locations in Washington exist outdoors of the Puget Sound area.
Mungia’s spokesperson cautioned that with loads of ballots left to rely in King County, the hole between these candidates might proceed to develop. Nevertheless, with conservative-coded Todd Bloom taking in about 17% of the vote, and with Larson operating a marketing campaign that at the very least seems right-leaning, Mungia could also be in hassle relying on how Bloom supporters cut up. Over the cellphone, Mungia acknowledged feeling involved, however he stated he’s felt involved since day one, and he simply needs to maintain placing out his message of equity as he continues to marketing campaign.
Gaza Isn’t Driving Votes. We’ve marched, we’ve shut down visitors, we’ve written numerous emails to our native, state, and nationwide representatives demanding an finish to US help for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and we should proceed doing all that work within the title of all that’s proper and true and good. However in the case of the citizens, single-issue Palestine voters aren’t a dominant power in Washington State.
Council on American-Islamic Relations Government Director Imraan Siddiqi is not going to advance via the first, coming in with solely 3% of the vote share within the eighth Congressional District. Three-term Congresswoman Kim Schrier at present leads that race in opposition to Republican banker Carmen Goers, 51.5% to 44%. Cracking 50% and operating 7.5 factors forward of the Republican is an efficient place for Schrier to seek out herself, however she’ll need to hold working arduous to maintain that seat.
Nearer to residence, within the ninth Congressional District Melissa Chaudhry pulled in 18%, which could enable her to squeeze previous Republican Paul Martin (who?) if the last-minute progressive votes go her manner, which they are going to. Besides, she’d be a distant second to Congressman Adam Smith, who leads the sector with an unassailable 58%. Furthermore, Chaudhry is at present operating about 9 factors behind Sarah Smith, who earned 27% of the vote share on the top of the latest progressive motion in 2018, which doesn’t bode properly for any type of foreign-policy primarily based campaigns within the state.
