Last week, candidates for public office officially filed for the August Primary Election. Washington State’s “filing week” allowed final insight into the competiveness of local and statewide races. In light of those filings, we decided to highlight some of the most high profile/competitive races in our state. Without further ado:
1. Governor
Jay Inslee faces 10 primary challengers — including three who prefer the Democrat party and one who prefers the “Socialist Worker Party.” Of course, Inslee’s real competition is Republican Bill Bryant (a former Seattle Port Commissioner).
As he even admits via his desperate fundraising emails, Inslee is having trouble garnering support/enthusiasm for his candidacy. That should come as no surprise. After all, our green governor does not have a record of accomplishments he can run for re-election on. And, making matters worse for Inslee, his favorability numbers are sinking.
2. Lt. Governor
With Democrat Brad Owen retiring, the completion for Lt. Governor is open. Perhaps the most interesting development in this race is the fact that State Representative Jim Moeller decided not to run – even thought he had been actively campaigning for the position for some time. Moeller even secured the endorsement of Speaker of the House Frank Chopp. Instead, Moeller jumped out of one race he was likely to lose into one he will certainly lose, against popular GOP Congresswomen Jaime Herrera Beutler in the 3rd Congressional District.
Moeller’s exit leaves the door wide open for State Senator Cyrus Habib to sweep up most of the Far-Left support. Recently, he’s done just that, despite facing two other incumbent Democrat Senators in the primary, Olympia’s Karen Fraser and Snohomish County’s Steve Hobbs.
Habib has admitted that he doesn’t believe abiding by the state constitution and governing by the law is enough for him. He wants to be a Lt. Governor that forces “progressive change” — we assume that includes a state income tax since he loves to talk about it so much — on Washington’s working families.
3. Secretary of State
Former Seattle City Councilmember Tina Podlodowski– a Democrat, of course — is challenging Republican incumbent Kim Wyman. The type of ridiculous criticisms Podlodowski has leveled against Wyman reveals her desperation and lack of understanding of the position. Wyman’s flaws, according to Podlodowski, include low voter turnout in recent elections (something she can’t actually control) and not canceling Tuesday’s presidential primary (something she has no lawful authority to do).
As Wyman put it, Podlodowski is “doing everything she can to deflect that her résumé doesn’t have any experience running an election.” Sounds like Podlodowski is following the Democrat’s recipe for a candidate with no record to run on (Inslee anyone?).
4. State Treasurer
Democrats appear to be highly unorganized in this race, despite having held this position for the last 60 years. Three Democrats ended up filing, though only one had announced before last week. Initially, Democrats appeared to be placing their bets on Alec Fisken, a former Seattle Port Commissioner, who secured the endorsement of outgoing Treasurer Jim McIntire.
Well, all that changed when Democrat State Senator Marko Liias decided to enter the fray at the last minute. Apparently, Liias wants to upgrade his job to a state level position… on top of his part-time gig for the City of Mukilteo that earns him a whopping $65,450 per year. A third liberal, grassroots activist John Paul Comerford, also came out of nowhere to jump in.
5. Supreme Court
Justice Positions 1, 5, and 6 are all up this year. And, in a rather rare feat indicating the dissatisfaction with the liberal direction of the court, every incumbent justice has managed to secure him/herself a challenger. Justices Mary Yu (Position 1), Barbara Madsen (Position 5), and Charles Wiggins (Position 6), all face opponents.
It’s no secret that the Washington Education Association (WEA) has several of the current liberal justices eating out of the palm of its hand. Many have attributed the WEA’s influence over the justices as the cause of the court ruling that voter-approved public charter schools were unconstitutional. After all, the liberal court plagiarized its majority opinion by borrowing copiously from the plaintiff’s (which included the WEA) brief without any citations.
Then, of course, there is the very real threat of a future state income tax should liberal activist justices maintain their positions on the Supreme Court.
The stakes are high and the competition will be intense. Hold on to your wallets.
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