It is not surprising that President Joe Biden believes the most prepared and qualified person to secure our nation’s elections from outside interference is a Republican.  Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman (the lone Republican elected statewide official on the West Coast) resigned today to accept a position in the Homeland Security Department to lead the federal effort to protect elections from foreign and domestic interference.

Governor Jay Inslee, who has ruled the state for 605 days without involvement of the legislature and other officials, will continue to ignore the views of the voters and legislators, this time to select a replacement for Secretary Wyman.  Inslee’s appointee will serve until voters select a replacement in the November 2022 general election. Unlike in other states, and even for other partisan positions in Washington, the governor does not have to select someone from the same party to succeed Wyman, which means Inslee will ignore the will of the voters who have elected Republicans to the Secretary of State position since 1964.

Will the governor instead look to the very partisan political hacks who have lost to Secretary Wyman in recent elections, Such as current Washington State Democrat Chair (and vocal supporter of the radical Nicole Thomas-Kennedy) Tina Podlodowski who lost to Wyman in 2016. Or former state Representative Gail Tarleton (D – Seattle), who sought to restrict public oversight of government by eliminating state elections (HB 2529) in odd numbered years (because liberals couldn’t be bothered to vote in those elections) before losing to Wyman in 2020.

One thing is for certain, it will be a partisan Democrat selected by Inslee, who will do all he can to provide Democrats even more advantages at the polls. Yet with 2022 looking like a strong rebound year for Republicans, we can expect a solid slate of moderates and conservatives to take on whoever the governor appoints.  (Seattle Times, Tina Podlodowski Twitter, Washington State Legislature Bill Summary)

Democrats have once again made it more expensive to work and operate a business in Washington State, as the Inslee Administration announced that the state’s Family and Medical Leave payroll tax will be increasing 33% starting on January 1^st.   The tax rate will be increasing from 0.4% of workers’ paychecks to 0.6%.  Employers will still be required to pay 27% of the premium while the worker will be responsible for 73%. This tax hike will kick in just as most Washington State workers will also be forced to pay 0.58% of their paycheck for the controversial and poorly conceived Long-Term-Care insurance payroll tax. Thanks to the Democrats, workers in the new year will start have almost 1% of their take home pay confiscated in order to fund the liberals’ never-ending desire to expand the size and power of state government.  Since most workers will then be demanding pay raises to offset the government taking more of their paycheck, the result will be higher prices for consumers. (Washington State Employment Security Department flyer and Shift Newsmaker Interview)

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson once again dodged answering an important question which impacts public safety in the state’s largest city, and of course the reporter felt no need to make him actually provide an answer.  While the wannabe governor has been vocal about his views on federal issues during the Trump Administration, and on other states’ elections or abortion laws, he has consistently remained silent about issues which impact the public safety of his own constituents because he doesn’t want to alienate any supporters.

Remember that when liberal activists were rioting in Seattle and physically attacking the police in 2020, the state’s top law enforcement officer refused to condemn the political violence.  When the liberals on the Seattle City Council were endangering the public safety of the city’s 775,000 residents by defunding the police, Bob Ferguson was again silent.  Now, when a radical (Nicole Thomas-Kennedy) who believes that “property destruction is a moral imperative” and that police officers should “eat covid laced sh*t” is supported in her race for Seattle City Attorney by the chair of his state party and by the King County Democrats, while her moderate opponent (Ann Davison) is supported by two former Democrat governors, Ferguson is again silent. In fact, he appears to believe that it is a laughing matter that a journalist would actually ask him the question.

At the end of a Seattle Times interview, the AG is asked “So Ann Davison or Nicole Thomas-Kennedy for Seattle City Attorney?” Ferguson responds, “Ha ha, nice try. My candidate (incumbent Pete Holmes) lost in the primary.”  The reporter then refused to follow-up and make Ferguson provide an answer.  To people who live in Seattle, watching Democrats support Thomas-Kennedy is not a laughing matter.  They are concerned about their family’s safety.  But to Bob Ferguson, he laughs off the question, for evidently the public safety of Seattle residents is less important than his own political ambitions. (Seattle Times, NTKForCrime.com, Tina Podlodowski Twitter, King County Democrat Party’s Endorsements, and Brandi Kruse Twitter)

Members of the Inslee Administration are now reversing earlier statements regarding the impact of the governor’s vaccine mandates on keeping state roads safe during the winter.  Previously, when the governor’s spokesperson was asked about the possible impact of so many Washington State Department of Transportation workers being fired for not being vaccinated, he said, “There will not be massive disruptions in state services.”  Now that over 400 WSDOT workers have indeed been fired, the Inslee Administration is now warning drivers, “some roadways will not be plowed as often, and compact snow and ice will remain on roadways longer than a typical winter.”  Maybe if adults were involved in the decision-making process, as opposed to just Jay Inslee, the reality of unsafe roads could have been avoided.  (Washington Policy Center)

King County’s implementation of a vaccine mandate is already negatively impacting restaurants and bars which have suffered the most during the pandemic.  Many hospitality businesses are already short staffed and now they must take time away from service to verify every customer’s vaccine status.  Then the financially strapped establishment is forced into the position of having to turn away the business of those who cannot or will not provide proof.  One restaurant operator captured the sentiment of many in the industry about the difficult situation the mandates are placing on employers, saying “I don’t want people to get sick here, and I don’t want to get sick, but it really is going to be hard for restaurants to get through this.”  (Fox13 News)

Seattle mayoral candidate and current President of the Seattle City Council Lorena Gonzalez has been shamed into pulling a campaign ad which Black leaders pointed out was racist.  Councilwoman Gonzalez attacked former Council President Bruce Harrell for not expressing more concern over the alleged sexual assaults committed by former Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.  The ad featured a white woman speaking of experience in surviving sexual assault.  In a statement explaining why the Gonzalez campaign chose to remove the ad, Gonzalez is quoted as saying, “In an effort to give voice to survivors, my campaign produced an ad with a white survivor of sexual assault, who was willing to tell her story. As someone who has dedicated her life to fighting for and lifting up the needs and voices of people of color, I am sorry we did not work harder to center the voice of a sexual assault survivor from our community of color who was also willing to tell their story.” In other words, Gonzalez doesn’t want you to hold her accountable for her racist approach this time, so just move along. (MyNorthwest)

Once again, the liberal extremist in Spokane are playing very loose with campaign laws, and this time it involves some creative financial moves by Governor Inslee’s current Secretary of Commerce and failed congressional candidate Lisa Brown.  Secretary Brown sent $9,500 from her abysmal 2018 congressional campaign, (when she lost to incumbent Cathy McMorris Rodgers by almost 10%) to something called “509 Forward”.  The extreme liberal organization has been busy sending out negative campaign mailers in the tight races for Spokane City Council, which is legal, but  the organization is not mentioning Lisa Brown’s substantial contribution, as required by Washington State campaign laws (i.e. all campaign advertising must disclose its top five contributors, like Brown’s substantial contribution).  A Public Disclosure Commission complaint has been filed against the 509 Forward organization.

Violating state election laws is nothing new for Spokane liberals.  During the 2019 campaign for Spokane Mayor, there were many discrepancies in the reporting paperwork and advertising disclaimers filed by organizations which supported the liberal – and losing – candidate, Ben Stuckart.

We should mention that Brown’s contribution to the 509 Forward organization is helpful to her even if legally questionable, as she attempts to gain favor with the city’s far-Left activists in preparation for her likely run against popular Mayor Nadine Woodward in 2023. (PDC complaint, 509 Forward PDC report, and Shift)

King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski receives less than a slight slap on the wrist despite verbally abusing female staff members for years, and is the latest poster child of liberal privilege being granted by the local media.   Evidently the Seattle Times believes Dembowski’s on-going sexist actions were worth only one story buried in the local section and apparently the newspaper will maintain its endorsement of the liberal politician’s campaign for re-election despite his abuse.  Meanwhile the Times did what the region’s liberal establishment was hoping the paper would do to help a hyper-partisan liberal, by posting three front-page stories featuring liberals attacking the reputation of moderate Councilmember Kathy Lambert, and then endorsed the left-winger opponent, as liberals seek to eliminate any non-Seattle-centric viewpoint from the county’s legislative body. (Click to read full Shift Article)

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