Comments

1

Hmmm. Your reasoning for endorsing Rittereiser doesn't really hold water. SECB is the type of endorser who I expect to not look at a single poll and make a decision on that basis (or on the basis of any poll), and since the race will be won or lost by whether young voters in Auburn and Issaquah show up, it doesn't matter that Rittereiser comes from east of the mountains. But then Schrier and Hader are also weak candidates so I guess you're off the hook here, SECB.

And wow, Maralyn Chase really flubbed her interview. She's good on a lot of issues but maybe it's time she handed the seat to her much smarter and more capable daughter.

Very disappointed - like, extremely - in Chris Roberts' moronic answer on taxes. Like, WTF. He's off his rocker there.

2

Frank Chopp? Again? headdesk

Why, 43rd District? Why? Frank is among the most milquetoast, centrist, appeasing democrats in the state. He is a TERRIBLE Speaker of the House. He blocks most really liberal legislation from ever seeing the light of day. He vehemently opposes any income tax.

Surely the 43rd can find one truely liberal progressive somewhere in the district to knock this tired old blowhard out of his seat. I cannot believe he's basically running unopposed. Frank Chopp should be hugely vulnerable to anyone even slightly to the left of him.

sigh Maybe next time.

3

Joe Nguyen is going to be a phenomenal State Senator. He would be the first person of color elected to state office from the 34th as well as the first Vietnamese legislator in Washington state history. The fact that he’s also the only candidate in the race who hasn’t taken PAC money or self financed is admirable as well.

4

"The SECB is Christopher Frizzelle, Heidi Groover, Katie Herzog, Tim Keck, Charles Mudede, Eli Sanders, Dan Savage, Rich Smith, and Saul Spady."

Saul Spady? This had better be a joke.

5

In the primary, vote for the one you actually believe in. Vote with your heart. Then, in the general, turn on a dime and hold your nose and vote against the Republicans. With your mouth shut. Last day to bitch and moan and talk about corporate money influence in the Democratic old boys network and all that shit is primary day. After that, close ranks.

This means you get to vote for Schrier. You don't have to vote for that white dude lawyer just because of some poll. But if he wins the primary anyway, you have to work your ass off to help the little prick win.

6

So wrong on the 8th. Progressive conviction wanes.

7

Not surprising that the Stranger endorsed a bunch of candidates that want to expand government with no plan to pay for it.

What IS Surprising (and Disturbing) is that the Stranger would tout "Ricky's law" as a good thing. This law threatens to undermine decades of work that real activists have done in terms of moving away from institutionalization.

The idea that the State should be allowed to lock you away, without guaranteed access to council is hardly "progressive".

8

So overall good job and a big thanks for the heads up on the County’s fingerprint levy.

I thought about running against Chopp when some people asked me to. Frank is competent as a Speaker but not much else.

And Rodney Tom has made some mighty big enemies in the public ed sphere so look for that to come at him like a freight train.

9

Rittereiser's not a bad guy, but this is Schrier's year. A Democratic doctor in Congress would be awesome. A smart woman Democratic doctor in Congress would be even more awesome.

Also: who cares if Rittereiser is from Ellensburg? The whole dry side of the district is only 70k voters out of 400k total. A small nudge in King Co is worth a landslide in Kittitas.

10

We get it, you like weed and the word "fuck".

All the criticism of candidates for not being Bernie Sanders is stupid. What the hell is Karen Keiser supposed to do to make single payer happen? Why would any sane person want an Ocasio-Cortez clone (Sarah Smith) when Ocasio-Cortez is already spending most of her time making up fake conspiracy theories about her defeated opponent and attacking Democrats with "both sides are the same" tweets?

Also Joe Nguyen sounds so bad. So so so so bad. I'll be telling everyone to make sure they vote for his opponent.

11

Kuderer did not take out Tom in 2014. McBride was lined up to do that when Tom decided not to run, at which point Cyrus Habib jumped in and McBride went for a house seat instead. Kuderer got anointed to the seat when Cyrus became lieutenant governor, then got elected to the seat in 2017.

12

"Though Chase exhibited the most BDE of anyone we interviewed this season by far…"

BDE? I've found several possible meanings for the abbreviation, none of which seem to fit the context here. (Betty Davis Eyes, maybe? That'd be pretty head scratchingly out of blue sky, but less nonsensical than other possibilities, I suppose.)

13

"What the hell is Karen Keiser supposed to do to make single payer happen?"

Support the damn bill and get it through the legislature. It shouldn't be that difficult.

14

I'm all for single payer/medicare for all/universal health care but unless we change the views on taxes ain't going to happen anytime soon. Sure polls will until you ask the next question about raising taxes to pay for it then support drops by about a quarter. I am not saying don't fight for it but know might take time, in meantime expand the ACA move to public option and know Single Payer is endgame.

15

Chase's first priority is her ego, next is securing her spot for her daughter, then people can suck it as you can see. I get how Jesse Salomon gives off the wrong impression for a politician because he is not very charismatic. He comes across to me as a political nerd, very systematic and logical rather than emotionally driven. Lauren Davis is a straight-up badass!

16

Spady? Son and grandson of the pro-charter school Spadys? That explains a lot. That's why the Stranger election board is suddenly rabidly attacking one of the most tireless progressives in the legislature. Chase has always been a strong supporter of public education, and has been instrumental in the fight against charter schools. Saul Spady supports charter schools and also helped lead the petition drive to stop the Amazon tax. The Stranger appears to have a new agenda, and it's not progressive.

17

The Stranger's horrible review of Senator Maralyn Chase needs to be called out.
Senator Maralyn Chase — Washington State Senator for District 32 voting history. https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/51683/maralyn-chase#.Ws-_vpdOnIU
There is hope in Washington State to make lives better and communities stronger. http://www.thestand.org/2018/05/2018-a-down-payment-on-hope/

18

The Stranger's review of Senator Maria Cantwell is just lazy, assuming her only competition is a women Republican Susan Hutchison already thrown out of Republican leadership for being a loudmouth. https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/01/03/25672460/state-gop-chair-steps-down-after-history-of-embarrassing-gaffes
In the year of the women and the year of people of color the Stranger totally ignores Gigi Ferguson, a black women, who's platforms would correspond to Sanders including Medicare for All S1804 the top issue of the election. Washington State went for Sanders in 2016 because of his issues, but Senator Maria Cantwell has continually supported the corporate Democratic agenda over the needs of the people. Over the last 17 years she has voted against the Washington State Democratic Platform. It is time to get rid of her.
SENATE CANDIDATE JENNIFER GIGI FERGUSON
http://www.votejennifergigiferguson.com/health_and_safety and https://www.bentonauditor.com/Voters-Guide-Candidate.php?id=53757 and https://www.facebook.com/GigiForSenate/

19

Most useless SECB endorsements evah!

20

Apparently the criteria used by the SEBC to endorse Salomon over Senator Chase is that he "backs Frockt’s [Single Payer] bill and he supports pot cafes.”
For the record, Senator Chase not only did back Frockt’s bill, she has always co-sponsored it, see SB 5701. Furthermore, she co-sponsored the Single Payer bill that Sen. Kohl-Wells introduced well before it was Frockt’s bill. Also, Chase does support pot cafes -- and she hangs out with Rick Steves.
Here’s a quick elementary civics lesson: introducing your own bill doesn’t mean you can't support another legislator's bill.
It’s outrageous that the SEBC did not do their homework or, by their own criteria, they would have endorsed Chase, not Salomon.

21

people are praising The Stranger for finally not endorsing war criminal Adam Smith for congress (WA-9), which is a good start, but...

people are totally missing the fact that The Stranger, whose election board's deciding vote is Dan "I'm still with her" Savage, still endorsed a mess of big-money-accepting pharma-backing payday-lender-friendly sellouts for everything else.

news flash: you don't HAVE TO endorse someone. and where were you when people DID run against these people and you acted like they didn't even show up for an interview? (they did, and you ignored them)

the stranger continues to be a useless rag of "who barfed last night" and "what millionaire dan savage thinks about poor people"

22

@21 Yes. The only positive in these endorsements is not giving the corporate war criminal Smith the nod. Other than that...Cantwell?

23

So I thought The Stranger claimed to support the “Me Too Movement?” But apparently that doesn’t apply to accusing Sen Maralyn Chase of being “rude” to their precious editorial board, but at the same time saying “F*** Sen Chase?” WTF? I am relatively sure they would denounce any male politician who publicly referred to any woman that way? And yet they have the nerve to denounce a Champion of Woman’s Rights, Environmental and Social Justice this way, and expect us to take them seriously ever again on any topic?

I think not. Voters, please disregard this juvenile piece of non-journalism and vote PROUDLY for the re,ark able Sen Maralyn Chase in this Primary. Her record of achievement speaks for itself.

The Stranger’s record of potty-mouth trash is not even worth lining your cat liter box!

24

myself @12:

Ah, found it; BDE is currently short for "Big Dick Energy." https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/6/27/17506898/big-dick-energy-explained

Glad I've been missing this current fad meme.

25

@wayupnorth If you support the Me Too Movement, you would be ASHAMED of Sen Maralyn Chase. She supported and advocated for Lynnwood Mayor Gough during the sexual discrimination lawsuit against. In which the victim won and Chase continues to support Gough and is vile towards those who supported the victim. The only thing that related to Chase and MeToo is that her TIME IS UP!

26

also "some lefty needs to run against Chopp"

HMM IF ONLY SOME LEFTIST, PERHAPS A SOCIALIST, WOULD RUN AGAINST CHOPP...

oh wait, they did, and The Stranger still endorsed Chopp

https://www.socialistalternative.org/2014/07/18/the-strangers-strange-endorsement-of-frank-chopp/

27

The Stranger appears to have launched a full scale attack on the 32nd, arguably the most progressive LD in the state, specifically targeting Maralyn Chase and Chris Roberts. Let’s just wonder out loud about who funds the opposition. Big money from somewhere, determined to undermine those who stand up for everything progressive - universal healthcare, reproductive parity, gun safety, immigrant rights, citizen’s privacy and civil rights (note we need to repeal Initiative 200 and adopt a strategy for addressing discrimination against Africans Americans in state government). The list goes on: Advocacy for small business owners, advocacy for homeless people, advocacy for minimum wage, environmental protection and justice, and especially the items that cut into mega corporate profits in our region, like repairing our ass backwards tax system, just to name a few of the causes dear to our incumbent Senator Chase and aspiring Representative Roberts. They’ve got my vote.

28

@ellasonbass It's called journalism, exposing the truth. Like Trumpette's, Chasebots would rather rage a war with the press then accept the truth. I would love to see the stranger do an article where the money went on Chase's last election, straight into her family business. I think it was something like 40,000 grand went into Chase Campaign manager, who happened to be her daughter, who happened to be the chair of the 32nd. So let's wonder out loud about who funds Chase's family business.

29

@A cat named cat: Just curious, are there PDC reports confirming those numbers that you can post? With all the public (read Repubs) scrutiny, it's hard to believe that such a large amount of $ would disappear without a peep from anyone. That was 4 years ago, right? Plenty of time for such information to have been investigated and reported by any of our local rags, including this one.

Posted by Critical Thinker

31

@Critical Thinker, Under PDC for the 2014 senate race under expenditures for Innovation Services LLC. It was all legal, just politics.

32

The candidates the stranger endorsed in the 32nd all have big money behind them including lobbyist. None!! Ever bother to keep in touch with the Democratic community. One even claimed she hangs out in Olympia instead of the 32nd. Not representative of the Democrats of 32nd.

33

My attention was called to the 32nd Legislative District Senate Democrat endorsement in The Stranger. I have not read The Stranger for many years. I had no time for the quantity of uninformed twaddle found in its pages. To the people who called my attention to the endorsement article, thank you for reminding me of why I haven’t bothered with The Stranger for all these years.
Were the endorsement article to be sophomoric drivel, it would be improved. The author may imagine being a crusading reporter, a modern-day Edward R Murrow, uncovering and fighting the evil of a repressive, autocratic, egotistical maniac like Joseph McCarthy. However, if this person even knows who Edward R Murrow was, emulating his role is pure fantasy or delusion, like that of El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. The repressive, autocratic, egotistical maniacal Maralyn Chase represented in the endorsement article is certainly a product of delusion.
The author, the editorial staff, and the publisher may consider the style of writing exhibited in the endorsement article to be hip, since it extends to other areas of The Stranger, but is far from hip or even acceptable writing, even in the ghetto neighborhoods of Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston, et al. It merely reinforces the impression of sophomoric drivel. The author is in no danger of winning a Pulitzer prize for the egesta of this article and may not be in danger of passing the entrance writing exam for Fayetteville State University (https://owlcation.com/academia/The-10-Worst-Colleges-In-America)
The author claims to have been insulted and implies that the article is retaliation. In the first place, Americans tend to be insulted too easily in general. However, a professional journalist should be objective. A professional journalist should not use his/her position of power to carry on a personal vendetta. There is a great difference between being published and being a professional journalist, however, so perhaps one should look to the editors and publishers of The Stranger for the abusive content responsibility.
The author’s use of distortion and outright lies to carry on the personal vendetta from a position of power is unconscionable. If the author is going to set distortion and outright lies to be an acceptable standard, at least study such conduct in publications such as Washington Post of New York times, where bias in such content is at least obfuscated. Whatever the influence that led to the publishing of this reprehensible purgamentum, cash, favors, position, or a stick of bubble gum, the writer and the editors should be a little more discrete than presenting disparaging remarks about both candidates, then endorsing one of them. The discrete way would be having no endorsements for the position. Broadcasting the obvious bias of the writer, the editorial staff, or the publisher is just such an amateur approach.
As a matter of information, I am supporting Maralyn Chase. This is the first political campaign I have ever worked on and only the second I have actively supported, the other being Bernie Sanders. I have a high standard that just has not been met by any other candidates I have encountered. I have been relegated for decades to picking the moderately better or less dreadful candidate. Bernie and Maralyn are a refreshing change from the norm of US politics for the past five decades.
The author and The Stranger editorial staff and publishers are reminded that the power of the press lies with he who owns one…and in the 21st Century, that covers a lot of people.
Thos
-30-

34

Sigh... ... Why are we doing NO research into who these other candidates are? There is a much better choice than Maria Cantwell. I am tired of her and Patty Murray selling us out to corporations. They vote "Yea" every single time something comes up for surveillance on us. They sell us out. I'm not saying vote republican in senate races.. but come on.. Why can't we find someone new to help us get away from corporatism?

35

GFalcon, I am sure we have at least one progressive in that race, who aspires to help us get away from corporatism, yet, I am also sure she isn't a strong competitor at this time and it's crucial we beat Hutchison. Perhaps the next round, we will have a viable opposition to both Cantwell and Murray.

36

Thos, wow, just go after em.

38

They got it right for WA-09: Sarah Smith.

39

Maralyn Chase and Chris Roberts gave poor interviews for sure, and Chase's position on ST3 is dumb as hell. But SECB also needs to take a look at the larger context here. Jesse Salomon and Lauren Davis are backed by corporate money and are part of a larger corporate project to move Democrats in Olympia more toward the center and away from progressive stands. Vote Chase and Roberts.

40

Nobody is perfect, but in his 6 1/2 years on the Shoreline City Council the single largest vote that Jesse Salomon cast was the deciding vote in favor of developers and against the needs of the people of the city. He voted for a massive, extreme up-zoning around (and extending a long distance away from) the coming 185th St. light rail station.

Literally hundreds of citizens showed up to meeting after meeting, and dozens spoke. There was only one Shoreline resident who spoke in favor of it (and she lived safely outside the rezone area). Yet Mr. Salomon chose to ignore them.

The one study done by professionals (BAE Urban Economics) warned explicitly against this type of rezone, yet Mr. Salomon chose to ignore the professional advice.

Why? I don't know for certain, but the only reasonable explanation seems to be that he is highly ambitious and knows where the Big Money comes from when running for higher office.

He is smart and shrewd, but if this is how he wants to represent the people, then we can do better. Vote for Maralyn Chase.

41

What about that guy fronted by the Freedom Socialist Party? Oh, wait: the 'The Stranger' is Killaryian . . . .

42

I am truly savoring The Stranger's rejection of a property tax levy, for any reason. God bless.

43

How did Dr. Hader "whiff your endorsement interview"? And what do you mean by "not one of her 17-point solutions could fit on a hat"? You want bumper-sticker candidates? I found her quite compelling and well-prepared the couple times I heard her speak. I ain't gonna vote for a white-boy prosecutor.

44

Thanks for all the hard work that went in this report. you've made it very clear who not to even think about voting for from this list of deplorable people.

45

@43 I concur, the SECB owes us a more complete explanation of why they chose the lone male over the two women in this race. Dismissing Hader so summarily, while insisting they "wanted" to endorse her, reeks of both insincerity and borderline sexism.

Also, while I don't have a problem with the endorsement of Lauren Davis, Chris Roberts isn't wrong about wanting to replace the state sales tax with an income tax. The latter is (at least potentially) progressive; the former can never be. Lack of even a small reduction in the sales tax was the fatal flaw in the 2010 initiative. My own suggestion would be to adopt Oregon's tax system in its entirety, eliminating the ability of Washington residents living near the border to "free ride" by doing all their shopping in Oregon.

46

No Legislative 46 district recommendations?

47

As a business operation, The Stranger makes a lot of money off of pot shop ads. I voted for legalization and am against criminalization of drug use, in general, but there's definitely a conflict of interest when this paper's journalists criticize a politician for her views on pot, while making money off of it hand over fist, at the same time — and that needs to be at least said out loud in some way, when you're making your endorsements.

48

Nice post sir

49

There appears to be one significant reason to not vote for Jesse Solomon for 32nd District Senator.

That reason contains two alternatives of equal weight.
1. His own campaign material demonstrates that he is unable to read and understand legislation. There was no bill that removed the legislature from the voter-approved Public Records Act. Knowing that requires being able to read and understand the bill.
2. He is resorting to lies and cheating to win election. Since he is a lawyer, he probably can read and understand legislation. Therefore, his campaign claim (indirectly by citation of the Seattle Times in his campaign material) that SB 6617 was a brazen attempt by lawmakers to exempt themselves from the state’s Public Records Act is a lie. As well, he fails to reveal that among his notable endorsers, Rep. Ruth Kagi voted for that same bill. In another tactic, although it is at least common courtesy to place yard signs in a manner that does not obscure the signs of others, his signs can be found directly adjacent to one or both sides of Maralyn Chase’s signs, concealing them.

Either way, such a person has no business being elected to the legislature. People are becoming very weary of this type of Business As Usual politics. There is need for, quoting his campaign website, “a change for the better.” The change that is needed is eliminating the kind of dirty politics being practiced by Jesse Salomon and so many others throughout the US.

50

@18 Thank you for that. I decided to vote for Ms. Ferguson over Cantwell this year.

@34/@35 If you don’t want to vote for Cantwell in the primary, may I suggest Jennifer Gigi Ferguson? Ms. Ferguson is not in the pocket of big corp, she’s not in the pockets of Big Insurance or Big Pharma. And she didn’t vote for the Homeland Security Act that helped create ICE. Cantwell needs to be ousted because she doesn’t support single payer, she voted for the HSA that created ICE, and she refuses to join the calls to Abolish ICE. She shouldn’t represent WA on any level.

51

Thank you SECB, you make it so easy to know who to vote for.

52

@3 Regarding Nguyen in the 34th, you wrote "The fact that he’s also the only candidate in the race who hasn’t taken PAC money or self financed is admirable as well."

PDC reports show at least one cash donation Nguyen has made to his own campaign: https://www.pdc.wa.gov/browse/campaign-explorer/candidate?filer_id=NGUYJ%20%20102&election_year=2018

Moreover, no one in that race is reported as receiving any independent expenditure funds, so he's certainly not the only one without PAC funding (not at all surprising, it's not like Burien/White Center is some hotbed of political activity).

53

Hey - no opinion on Amy Walen vs Cindi Bright? That's my problem, too...no opinion. I was counting on you to have one.

54

Here's how I decided: a key difference between between Cindi Bright and Amy Walen is that Cindi Bright bothered to post her platform online - and it's a good one. She got my vote.

55

@52 Pac's are allowed to contribute a maximum of $1,000 per election (primary, general) to a candidate so your statement that Shannon has not received PAC money is inherently misleading, and easily proven false if you take a look at her contributions.

https://www.pdc.wa.gov/browse/campaign-explorer/candidate?filer_id=BRADS%20%20116&election_year=2018

Shannon claims to be a progressive yet her campaign finances show that she is more than comfortable taking money from people who would love nothing more than to destroy our public education system and prevent workers from earning a decent wage. She has received a maximum $1,000 primary contribution from "Washington Values PAC" which gets about a third of its money from Pro-Charter School groups like WA Charters PAC and Stand For Children, a maximum $1,000 primary contribution from the Washington Hospitality Association which fought tooth and nail against the $15 minimum wage campaign, and a whole host of other PAC's and businesses. A vote for Shannon is a vote for politics as usual.

56

@55 It wasn't clear to me from your original post whether you were talking about independent expenditures or direct contributions. Apparently it's the latter, in which case there are a number of candidates in the field that haven't received direct funding from PACs.

It looks like Ngyuen's largest contributors are developers. What's that all about?

57

What about Cantwell's answer to the community service section of her profile in the King County ballot guide? "Community Service: Maria is an avid hiker and outdoorswoman who has summited Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Grand Teton, Kilimanjaro, and hopes to tackle more of our nation’s highest peaks." Give me a break. That statement shows she's completely out of touch.

58

Have conviction! If you don't like Cantwell, don't endorse her! Calculating and triangulating her as a lesser of three evils is the same reasoning that got us a compromised HIllary and lead to Trump. You have demonstrated how the jungle primary system favors the establishment candidates by giving in to the fear that an insurgent progressive may play the spoiler role. Now we're most likely stuck with her until 2024 or nearly a quarter century of her sucking up the special interests you always rail against.


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