A little over one million ballots statewide were counted Tuesday, and another 500,000 to one million more ballots are still left to be counted in the 2022 Washington State Primary Election.  There were many interesting stories from the results posted last night and many more will come as county auditors will be counting ballots for the next week or so.  The news at the congressional level is that currently none of the Trump-supported candidates have made it onto the general election ballot, as they are currently behind Democrat contenders for the second spot in the state’s “top-two” primary.  Across the state there were many interesting developments (and still some undecided races) at the legislative level, as the primary whittled the number of candidates down to just two for November’s general election.

Shift’s recap provides some of the interesting stories that took place in the primary and what races are still yet to be decided. (Click to view full Primary Election Recap)

The Seattle Times sent out emails last night which made them appear as if they were the campaign media consultants for Democrat Secretary of State Steve Hobbs.  The incumbent Hobbs has received just 41% of the vote (thus far), yet the Times acted as if he was a sure lock for victory in November.  Hobbs was appointed to the position last November after previous Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman was put in charge of the federal government’s election security efforts. Former Senator Hobbs’ appointment to the position had nothing to do with him being qualified for the position and much to do with Governor Inslee wanting to remove him from the senate where he often stopped the governor’s extreme environmental proposals.

The Times’ news alert email had the subject line, “Democrat poised to win WA secretary of state race for first time since 1960.” Then inside the email, the headline stated, “Incumbent Hobbs takes big lead.” Remember 59% of the voters voted against Hobbs, yet to the overtly biased crew at the Seattle Times, Hobbs should already be writing his general election victory speech. (Seattle Times email)

The normally very liberal KIRO radio host Dave Ross argues that Governor Inslee should lift the vaccine mandate – which he alone imposed on state workers – because it has seriously impacted our state’s once-dependable ferry service.  Ross stated that the ferry service was once so reliable that it operated as if it was part of our state’s highway system (which, in fact, it is).  Now, because the vaccine mandate often forces ferries to miss sailings dues to a lack of enough certified workers to staff the vessels, Ross says the ferry system is now “a highway that’s suddenly missing a lot of its bridges.”

When the governor abused his emergency powers (now on Day 886) and imposed the vaccine mandate on state workers last October, 132 ferry workers were fired (and a few dozen more retired or quit).  Because the governor did not discuss this decision with lawmakers representing constituents, the ferry service was woefully unprepared for the loss of personnel and has run a reduced service schedule since last October.  It often takes months for workers to receive Coast Guard certification, and until this occurs ferry passengers will just have to sit in long ferry lines because the governor did not think through his unscientific political decision made without discussing it with legislative or locally elected leaders. (MyNorthwest)

The Seattle City Council voted to end its $4 an hour “hazard pay” for grocery workers.  The pay had little to do with working during the pandemic and more to do with the grocery workers’ union (UFCW 21) flexing its political muscles over the councilmembers it had written big checks to.  There were many other workers (including police officers, firefighters, emergency medical workers, physical therapists, medical workers, foodbank operators, homeless shelter workers, cab drivers, etc.) who worked under conditions which made them vulnerable to being infected with COVID.  But the city council did not raise their pay, just for their campaign-donating friends at the UFCW. (KING5 News)

Clark County voters are strongly supporting a 0.1% increase on their sales tax to fund public safety improvements.  Currently 60.44% of the voters are supporting the tax, which is estimated to bring in $12 million in 2023.  The money will be used for body cameras, increasing police staffing, and making improvements at the Clark County Jail.  The county will retain 60% of the funds and the remaining 40% will be distributed to cities on a per capita basis. (Vancouver Columbian)

Governor Jay Inslee and U.S. Senator Patty Murray continue in their quest to make wealthy urban environmentalists happy by pushing to tear down the Snake River dams, yet new data reveals how improvements and new methods are bringing positive results to the salmon population.  New sockeye salmon counts (more than 2,000 at the Lower Granite Dam) reveal that the current run is the third-highest in recorded history and three times greater than the 10-year average.  Maybe it is time for the liberal politicians and extreme environmental groups to begin supporting efforts which are seeing dramatic positive results and spend less time pushing unscientific arguments which they use to raise even more money to attack anyone who disagrees with their radical agenda. (KQQQ Radio)

For your convenience, we have all of Shift’s Newsmaker Interviews with 2022 legislative candidates on one page. Our readers often tell us they appreciate the interviews with legislative contenders which Shift has posted, since the old guard media cannot be bothered with providing in-depth coverage of candidates before an election. Every Friday since the end of the legislative session, Shift has posted an interview with one of the GOP candidates who is either running against an incumbent Democrat legislator or for an open seat. These are the races the Republicans will need to win in November to take control of the Washington Legislature. Republicans will need to win nine seats in the House and four seats in the Senate to earn majorities.

Thus far, we have 14 interviews posted (12 House and two Senate). We will continue to feature candidates until the November general election, including this Friday, when we have scheduled an interview with one of the top Republican contenders to take back a seat currently controlled by the Democrats. (Collection of Shift candidate Newsmaker Interviews)

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