A second day of vote counts did not change much the trajectory of Washington’s electorate, unfortunately. Yet there is one story that provides some hope – Washington State voters appear to be slowly waking up to the radical split in the Democrat Party, and their plans to move the state far to the left. Voters clearly spoke Election Night and demonstrated that they do not want to see Seattle-style politics and policies spread to the rest of the state. (Shift Article)

A funny video from election night of Governor Inslee is making a splash on social media.  After Inslee stepped outside the governor’s mansion to give his staff-prepared remarks, he attempted to open the front door, only to find he had locked himself out, requiring more staff help.  The governor and his wife apparently do not carry the keys to their temporary home, and had to wait for a staff member to come over and unlock the door. Many people have had fun speculating as to why the door was locked, including that it was to protect from an uprising by the mansion’s maggot population, protesting the governor illegally transporting members of their “community” over to Eastern Washington. (Twitter)

Liberals gleeful that the spending of millions of dollars by Washington State government employee unions and other special interests on legislative campaigns has paid off. They claim it is now more likely that the state legislature can pass a low carbon fuel standard top raise energy costs and an unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains.  Most notably the potential defeat of Democrat Senator Mark Mullet (by pro-tax, bigger-government Democrat Ingrid Anderson) in the 5^th Legislative District and Republican Senator Steve O’Ban (by far-Left candidate T’wina Nobles) in the 28^th Legislative District will make the state senate more receptive to pro-tax measures. (The Lens)

Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman continues to grow her lead over challenger Gael Tarleton, and thus looks likely to withstand the latest attempt by the Washington State Democrat Party to take control of the state’s election process. Tarleton, who earlier this year attempted to pass legislation (HB -2529) to do away with odd-numbered year initiatives (because many Democrat voters cannot be bothered to vote more than once every four years), has yet to concede.  As of Thursday afternoon, Wyman’s lead has grown to 5% and 170,000 votes. (Washington State Secretary of State Election Results and Washington State Legislative Bill Summary)

California voters approved a measure regarding labor regulations for “gig economy” drivers that might be introduced in Washington State soon.  California residents appear, with about 60% of the vote counted, to have approved Proposition 22, which allows Uber, Lyft, Door Dash, and other app-based delivery companies to continue to treat drivers as independent employees. The companies faced the same anti-business tactics as in Washington State, being targeted by liberal local and state politicians seeking to appease union supporters by stifling the innovative success of these companies, through increasing regulations and other employee costs. (Mercury News)

As predicted, late ballots being counted in the 10^th Legislative District races are skewing favorably for Republican candidates.  Democrat State Senate candidate Helen Price Johnson saw her 1,319 vote election night lead over incumbent Senator Ron Muzzall shrink to 279 votes after Wednesday’s counts in Island, Skagit, and Snohomish counties.  Both House races in the district also tightened up, with Republican Greg Gilday closing to within 878 votes (previously 1,763) of Democrat Angie Homola for the an open seat.  Democrat incumbent Representative Dave Paul currently has a 2,395 margin over GOP challenger Bill Bruch. (Everett Herald) 

Dr. Anthony Chen, the Director of the Tacoma – Pierce County Health Department, says school districts have the final say on whether to return students back to in-person instruction.  Dr. Chen stated that the department will make recommendations based on the local COVID-19 infection levels, but unless there is a major outbreak, school district administrators have the final say. Chen said there are many people who strongly advocate either returning students to the classroom or continuing with distance learning.  He believes the school districts are best at determining what is best for their students and communities. (News Tribune)

Republican Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier is ahead by 9% in his bid to retain his position. Dammeier is a former state legislator who is often mentioned as a possible candidate for governor.  We should also mention that current State Senator Hans Zeigler appears heading to county government to join his former legislative seatmate.  Zeigler currently holds a 5.3% margin over his Democrat opponent in the county council seat being vacated by Pam Roach. (Pierce County election returns, Dammeier Shift Newsmaker Interview, and Zeiger Shift Newsmaker Interview)

The University of Washington football team’s season opener against the University of California has been canceled due to a California player testing positive for the coronavirus.  Because of contact tracing protocols, a significant number of other players have been placed in quarantine, leaving the Golden Bears with less than the minimum number of scholarship players available to field a team against the Huskies. Of course, how often in past decades could we have said that Cal was unable to field a team? (MyNorthwest)

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Control Board suspended the liquor license of a Sultan bar for failing to adhere to the state’s COVID-19 orders.  The Loggers Inn had been warned on two previous occasions that owners were in violation of the state’s orders before Board officers visited again last week and witness continued violations (staff members and patrons not wearing masks). The 180-day suspension is believed to be the first in Snohomish County. (Everett Herald)

Democrat candidate Carolyn Long conceded defeat in her second attempt to unseat Southwest Washington’s Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler.  Long emailed her supporters stating, “unfortunately we came up too short this time,” (actually it would have been more accurate for Long to have said “both times”, since she also lost to Herrera Beutler in 2018).  As of early Thursday afternoon, Herrera Beutler had over 55% of the vote, with a 38,000-vote lead. Just like in the primary that Democrats tried to ignore. (Long Campaign email and Washington Secretary of State election totals)

The Washington State Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today that farm workers are entitled to overtime pay.  Washington State is the second state (with California phasing in overtime pay) to allow farm workers to earn time-and-a-half for working more than 40 hours in a week.  This eliminated the exemption for agriculture from many wage laws tht have been in place for decades. (Capital Press)

Candidate for Governor Loren Culp said that he not only did not get a promotion, but he is now out of a job, after the Republic City Council voted to eliminate funding for the city police department and instead will rely on Ferry County Sheriff’s Department. The city had been paying to use the sheriff’s department officers to serve its citizens while Culp took a leave of absence to campaign for governor. Culp was the lone member of the city’s police force. (YakTriNews) 

Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson and performer Ciara have stepped up where the state’s liberal education establishment has failed – funding educational opportunities for minority students.  Wilson and Ciara’s foundation donated $1.75 million to fund the Why Not You Academy. This is necessary because the Washington Education Association and the state’s Democrat establishment have kept public charter schools (which have a higher proportion of low-income and minority students than other public schools) from receiving full state funding. (Shift’s Quick Takes)

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