The staff at Shift has will be taking its usual two weeks off after the primary election to recharge our batteries and prepare for our coverage of the general election.  The Daily Briefing will return on Monday, August 22^nd.  We will occasionally be posting on our Twitter and Facebook accounts during our break, so we hope you are following us on social media.  And if you have some spare time over the next couple of weeks, we encourage you take a look through Shift’s collection of interviews with legislative candidates. There are just 95 days until the November 8^th general election, and these are some of the top candidates who will determine whether the GOP will take control of either the House or the Senate (or both).

We hope you have good couple of weeks and as always, thank you so much for your support which allows Shift to provide a much needed perspective that sadly is missing in our state’s old guard media.

Shift Newsmaker Interview is with Republican 47^th District Senate candidate Bill Boyce.  The former Kent School Board member and current Kent City Councilman will bring significant local experience and knowledge if he is elected to the Washington State Senate. Like many South King County leaders, Boyce has seen the impact of the Democrats’ soft-on- crime legislation and that’s why he is calling for the legislature to fix the state’s laws which severely restrict law enforcement’s ability to pursue criminals, and to end the Democrats’ decriminalization of lethal and addictive drugs (which are already ruining so many people’s lives).

Councilman Boyce also calls for repealing the Democrats’ poorly developed and already underfunded Long-Term Care payroll tax which Boyce says will hurt lower- and middle- income workers. Boyce wants to use the state’s surplus revenue to give money back to taxpayers through reducing or suspending the state’s sales tax, gas tax, and/or property tax.  The Army Ranger veteran also tells us that his favorite books deal with the strategy behind military actions, for they teach us the importance of preparation. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

Matt Larkin won in five of the 8^th Congressional District’s six counties to overcome Reagan Dunn’s 4,000-vote advantage in King County, to advance to the general election, where he will face two-term Democrat Representative Kim Schrier.  Larkin currently has a 4,000 vote lead over Dunn to be the leading Republican candidate in the contest, which featured three top GOP contenders (including Jesse Jensen, who came within 2.5% of defeating Congresswoman Schrier in 2020). Larkin had an especially strong showing in the 8^th CD’s Eastern sections of Pierce and Snohomish counties, and he also polled well in the less populated Central Washington portion (all of Chelan and Kittitas counties and a couple of precincts in Douglas County) of the district.

The general election’s contest is considered a toss-up by nearly all political analysts because Representative Schrier nearly lost in 2020 in a very strong Democrat year and because the majority of the district’s voters opposed her in the primary (as she only received 47.5% of the vote).  Larkin is known as a hard-working candidate who has many issues to use against the congresswoman since she has faithfully supported many of President Biden’s failed policies and carries a voting record nearly identical to that of radical Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. To learn more about Matt Larkin, please visit his campaign website or read his Shift interview. (Washington Secretary of State election results, Larkin for Congress, and Shift Newsmaker Interview)

The mayors of eight South King County cities sent an open letter to both state and county officials to describe how the passage of the liberals’ soft-on-crime proposals (especially at the state level) has contributed to the sharp increase in crime in their communities.  In this unprecedented action, the mayors stated that the Democrats passage of SB 5476, which decriminalized possession of such lethal drugs as fentanyl, methamphetamines, and heroin, and the passage of HB 1054, which prevents police from pursuing most suspected criminals, are the top contributing factors to the increase in crime in their cities.

The media asked Governor Jay Inslee for his response to the letter from the mayors and (as usual) he failed to take responsibility for supporting and signing the two pieces of legislation which the mayors wrote was causing problems in their communities.  The governor also refused to commit to fixing the problems in the Democrat-only legislation, which not only the mayors said is causing crime to rise, but has also drawn the ire of law enforcement leaders from across the state. Instead the governor gave a non-committal response which said that the rise in crime can only be reversed by all levels of government working together.  It seems to many that nearly all levels of government in Washington State are attempting to solve the crime problem, but the Democrats in the legislature and the governor are refusing to do what is needed to help law enforcement do their job.  (KING5 News, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and CenterSquare)

Things have tightened up in the Southwest Washington’s 3^rd Congressional District where Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler currently holds a 2,000 vote lead over Trump-endorsed candidate Joe Kent. The medium and smaller sized counties (Cowlitz, Lewis, Skamania, and Wahkiakum) in the district have tabulated almost all of their votes, yet 45,000 more are estimated to counted in Clark County and 1,500 remain in Pacific County.  So far Representative Herrera Beutler holds a 3.5% lead in the mostly suburban Clark County and has approximately the same advantage in previous counts in more rural Pacific County. Both counties will count most of their remaining ballots later this afternoon. (Washington Secretary of State election results)

Director of the Washington Policy Center’s Initiative on Agriculture Pam Lewison provides a useful public service in clearing up the distinctions between different labels placed on chicken.  Lewison explains the differences (if there are any) between such terms as “free range,” “cage-free,” and “pasture raised,” and helps you understand if some are official USDA terms, and which are simply marketing phrases. (Washington Policy Center)

For your convenience, we have all of Shift’s Newsmaker Interviews with legislative candidates on one page. Our readers often tell us they appreciate the interviews with Republican contenders 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.

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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