Democrat Chris Barringer (who didn’t even live in the 47th Legislative District until he was recruited to run for office) is getting desperate in his race against incumbent Rep. Mark Hargrove. The evidence of his desperation is easily seen in his latest attack ad in which he makes far-fetched—and simply dishonest—claims concerning Rep. Hargrove.
Luckily, SHIFT is here to shine the light on campaign lies made by Democrats like Barringer. Of course, Barringer is often repeating common lies popping up in multiple Democrat attacks. The false accusation appears in varying forms including: Republicans are responsible for the state Supreme Court’s McCleary Decision or the state Supreme Court held Republicans in contempt for failing to fully fund education.
Barringer takes the-state-Supreme-Court-found-Rep. Mark Hargrove-in-contempt-for-failing-to-fully-fund-education approach in his attack ad. However, there are quite a lot of problems with that claim—beyond even the completely fake Seattle Times citation for the absurd claim.
First, Rep. Hargrove was elected in 2010. That means he was not even in office when the original McCleary decision was delivered. Hargrove was only a few months into his first term when oral arguments began at the state Supreme Court began.
Second, as a Republican, Rep. Hargrove is in the minority in the State House. If Barringer is looking for somewhere to place blame, he should consider Speaker Frank Chopp because, well, he sets the agenda for the House, and as the longest-serving Speaker in state history has been underfunding public education for years.
Third, perhaps most importantly, Barringer seems to forget that the last Republican governor left in 1985—leaving Democrats in control of Olympia for three decades. That means, through the course of Barringer’s entire life, a Democrat governor has signed every state budget in Washington State. Additionally, Democrats have had control of at least one house of the legislature in 28 of the last 30 years – and complete control of the legislature in 14 of those years.
The state Supreme Court held the entire Legislature in contempt. But, based on the facts, it is clear Democrats hold the greater responsibility for failing to prioritize education.
You can view the attack ad below.
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