2024 General Election Part II: State & local offices

You can read my usual intro, as well as initiative and federal offices, at Part I: Initiatives and federal offices.

 

STATE PARTISAN OFFICES

Governor: vote FERGUSON

Those of us who were here when Christine Gregoire became governor by only 130 votes statewide know that it is very important to vote in state races. And in this one, the obvious choice is Ferguson. 

 

Ferguson was our previous Attorney General since 2012. The Progressive Voter's Guide sums up some of his work:

"When Donald Trump attacked access to contraception, Ferguson took him to court and won. Ferguson has sued the federal government to clean up the Hanford nuclear facility more quickly and has defended the Affordable Care Act from the Trump Administration, helping preserve care for 825,000 Washingtonians. Other wins include protecting statewide water quality from Trump's pro-pollution environmental policies, securing over $1 billion from opioid manufacturers to fund treatment, and fighting back against child detention laws."

Ferguson is also endorsed by fifteen Tribes, a lonnng list of unions, and organizations such as Indivisible, Planned Parenthood, and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility.

His opponent, Dave Reichert, is endorsed by cops. Literally his endorsement page is pretty much nothing but law enforcement and Republican elected officials. He also wants to quash pro-Palestinian student activism and prevent companies from boycotting under a faux concern for "anti-semitism".

 

 

Lieutenant Governor: vote HECK 

Did you know that one of the things out Lt Governor does is break ties in the Senate? This position can be the single vote between good laws and bad ones. 

 

Denny Heck is a former state representative with a long history of voting for Democratic initiatives like infrastructure and housing. 

His opponent is, as the Stranger put it, "former pilot-turned-Boeing-consultant Republican Dan Matthews, whose platform is littered with dog whistles such as 'school choice' and 'women’s rights to fairly compete in sports.' Yikes." You can read his gross platform here.

 

Secretary of State: vote HOBBS

Who do you want running our state elections: the guy who has done it since 2021, or the executive director of an organization that tells people how to vote "based on Biblical truths" and who wants to end mail-in voting?

I disagree with Hobbs on ranked choice voting (we should have it, but both parties oppose it) but have to salute the fact that "he also got Dungeons & Dragons unbanned from prisons, which counts as lawful good behavior if we’ve ever seen it" (per The Stranger).

Vote Hobbs.

Treasurer: vote PELLICCIOTTI.

Mike Pellicciotti has been the state treasurer since 2020 and he's doing a fine job. Honestly, if a treasurer is doing a good job we mostly shouldn't hear much about them. Pellicciotti has been quietly working to improve Washington's finances. Most importantly for this race, he believes in taking into account environmental, social, and governance ratings when deciding where to invest public funds. 

His challenger, Sharon Hanek, co-founded Let's Go Washington with wealthy Republican megadonor Brian Heywood (see Initiative section), doesn't care where we invest funds, and is "the founder of My Family My Choice, a far-right group aligned with Moms for Liberty that wants to ban books and promotes conspiracy theories about public schools". You can read about her many other whackadoo beliefs in this religious voters guide.

Auditor: vote MCCARTHY

Pat McCarthy is the incumbent auditor (this would be her third term); she's been uncovering fraud and improving transparency for the past eight years.

Her opponent, Matt Hawkins, doesn't even know what the office does:  he's upset that Pat hasn't looked into his issues with voting in Spokane (according to the Seattle Times) but it's the Secretary of State who does that job, not the auditor.

 

Vote for the person who knows what the job is.

Attorney General: vote NICK BROWN

Everyone has endorsed Nick Brown in this race, partially because he has a solid record of good legal work as Gov. Inslee's legal counsel and the US District Attorney for Western WA. He's pro- gun control, pro-choice (he will uphold WA's shield law for people traveling to the state for reproductive care), and advised Inslee on the state's moratorium on the death penalty. 

I'll let The News Tribune describe his opponent, Pete Serrano.

Today he is director and general counsel at the Silent Majority Foundation. That group filed lawsuits against the state to block COVID mandates and to overturn bans on gun magazines that carry more than 10 rounds. It makes exaggerated claims about "government tyrants" and is defending the mayor of Spokane against a city council censure for appearing onstage with a Christian nationalist and anti-LGBTQ extremist last year. Although Serrano pledges to remove "partisan blinders" as attorney general, he appears inclined to do anything but that, to the point of referring to Jan. 6 rioters as "political prisoners."

Commissioner of Public Lands: vote UPTHEGROVE

I have disliked Jaime Huererra-Butler since she was my state rep in a gerrymandered district that existed to dilute Olympia's voting power. I don't trust her to make reasonable public policies. She's not the right choice for Commissioner of Public Lands unless you prefer someone who takes money from logging companies.

Both candidates want to continue to protect Washington forests against wildfires, but Upthegrove also wants to protect our "legacy forests". Which is important not just because trees are lovely and important part of ecosystems, but because they are carbon sinks which remove carbon from the atmosphere - as long as they are still alive. 

The Stranger, the Progressive Voter's Guide, the Sierra Club, and the WA State Council of Firefighters recommend Upthegrove.

 

STATE NONPARTISAN OFFICE

Superintendent of Public Instruction: vote REYKDAL

Your options in this race are the guy who, while imperfect, got our school system through the early pandemic, extended free lunches to 70% of public school students, and supports all students, or a pro-censorship, anti-LGBTQ, anti-higher ed right-winger. The Seattle Times said of Reykdal's opponent:

Olson bragged that he’d led “the first school board in the state to ban controversial social issues like critical race theory, DEI and all that horrible stuff.”

Shockingly, he went on to say that if every high school graduate opted for the skilled trades instead of pursuing a four-year degree, universities “could all go bankrupt and that would save America.”

This is disqualifying. Washington cannot have a schools chief who advocates for the end of higher education.

 I agree with the Seattle Times on this one.

 

STATE PARTISAN OFFICE

Insurance Commissioner: vote KUDERER

Patty Kuderer is a former state senator and attorney with a background in employment law, which will hopefully set the office straight after multiple employees lodged complaints against the previous Insurance Commissioner's racist and sexist behavior. Pretty much every reasonable organization has endorsed Kuderer. 

Phil Fortunato, on the other hand, lists a total of three endorsements on his website one of which is a national anti-vaccination political group who opposes teens being able to get healthcare without their parents approval. He is "vehemently opposed to" universal health coverage options that currently cover many Washingtonians, according to the Progressive Voter's Guide.

STATE LEGISLATIVE PARTISAN OFFICES

Legislative District #22 Senator: vote BATEMAN

Bateman remains one of my favorite people to have served on the Olympia city council and I am thrilled that she is running for the senate. As a state rep, Bateman worked hard on housing affordability. She has a stellar voting record including sponsoring a slew of excellent bills including abortion rights, gun reform, and voting rights.

Bob Iyall is the CEO of Nisqually's Tribal Government Corporation (i.e. he oversees all of the Tribes' businesses) and has served as a Port Commissioner. His platform is pretty similar to Bateman except she has actually been doing this work (including supporting salmon recovery, one of Iyall's big issues). I find it hard to believe, though, that someone like Iyall who has been endorsed by The Rants Group is going to hold landlords accountable the way that Bateman has. Iyall described himself to the Olympian as: 

“I feel like I can be a catalyst for collaboration because I’m running as a Democrat but I have a lot of connections on both sides from Democrats, Republicans, liberals and conservatives,” Iyall said. “I’m very much a moderate when I say I’m a Democrat so I feel like I can really collaborate between the two parties..."

In the same interview, he said he would remain a Port Commissioner even if he was elected to the Senate. 

Vote Bateman for the leadership we need in the Senate.

Legislative District #22 Representative Pos #1: vote DOGLIO

Doglio and Bateman have been legislative buddies in the best way. Olympia Indivisible, in their endorsement, described Doglio as "a leader in legislation for our environment, reproductive freedom and housing." You can see her stellar voting record here and her sponsored bills here.  

 

Her opponent, Steve Owens, wants to lower taxes and limit government. He says that "you don't need massive state run dictatorships" in order to lower housing costs, by which I assume he means all of the excellent housing legislation that Doglio has supported.

Legislative District #22 Representative Pos #2: Vote LOCKE. 

I'm stepping away from The Progressive Voter's Guide (which recommended both candidates) and Olympia Indivisible (which recommended Parshley) on this one and recommending Locke. 

 

It is extremely unlikely that Locke will win, as Parshley has a ton of endorsements and a lot more political backing. But Locke has a list of priorities that my lefty heart loves (including a Gaza ceasefire even though there is essentially nothing that a state rep will actually be able to do about it), so I'll be sending my vote his way. 

 

Either way, District #22 will have decent representation so feel free to vote for the underdog here.

COUNTY PARTISAN OFFICES

County Commissioner District #2: vote DREON

Dreon is a two-time Evergreen grad (shout out to fellow MPA grads!) with a short list of priorities that includes government transparency, ending homelessness, and getting appropriate help for people addicted to drugs. Her endorsements include Olympia Indivisible, labor organizations, and a variety of elected officials.

Her opponent, JW Foster, is the former mayor of Yelm who is running as an independent with issues such as "fiscal responsibility", supporting businesses, and "property rights". He also supports some issues I agree with, like housing density, but it gives me pause when his "compassionate care for the vulnerable" section states that "we have existing programs that can support all people."  Does the county really have those programs? If so, they are certainly not supporting all people.

County Commissioner District #4: vote FOURNIER, I guess

I recommend Fournier because he is better than the other guy and I guess that's as good as we're going to get this year. It's a low bar here, folks.

 

Fournier, who is nominally a democrat, hasn't played the best role in the recent county commissioner drama over Commissioner Clouse's suspension; his actions were cowardly at best and politically motivated at worst. And then there's the time he got so drunk and belligerent that he was charged with misdemeanor assault while he was Tenino mayor in 2019.

 

On the other hand, the Progressive Voters Guide says that his opponent, Rob Laymon, 

"...wants to reduce taxes for the wealthiest, making our upside-down tax code even more regressive. Laymon references crises that affect the county such as housing, mental health, and addiction but he fails to identify compassionate and effective solutions while seemingly taking a more conservative approach to blame individuals while defunding public services."

 

Laymon also states that "Fiscal policy and individual rights and freedoms are near and dear to my heart" in his Balletpedia survey. The fact that Laymon's favorite book is "My Side of the Mountain", a children's book that I loved when I was nine, almost swayed my vote. But then I realized it suggests that he hasn't read much since he was in elementary school.

 

So Fournier it is!

STATE JUDICIAL NONPARTISAN OFFICES

Supreme Court Justin Pos # 2: vote MUNGIA

Sal Mungia is an attorney with 40 years of experience, including as the "former president of the Washington State Bar Association,  the former chair of the Equal Justice Coalition, and a cooperating attorney with the ACLU of Washington". The Stranger says, 

 

Mungia consistently landed on the right side of history as an attorney. He’s spent most of his career as a personal injury lawyer for Gordon Thomas Honeywell in Tacoma, and while he focused on medical malpractice lawsuits, he’s fought for all kinds of causes. Back in 2005, he was filing amicus briefs in support of same-sex marriage in Washington. Before that, he fought and won better conditions for people held at Pierce County Jail.

Sal also has an impressive list of endorsements.

Although judges are theoretically nonpartisan positions, his opponent, Dave Larson, is a conservative judge who has campaigned with Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert. Larson said at a conservative campaign rally that, "it’s time that we take back the judiciary in Washington state, and I want to be part of it". He promises to be tough on crime in his Balletpedia answers, saying "Crime is out of hand and the Supreme Court has been silent, and, in some cases, has made matters worse". He also hinted that he would be an originalist by saying he will "will continue to follow our state and federal constitutions as written"(emphasis mine). 

Vote Mungia.

 

COUNTY NONPARTISAN OFFICE

Public Utility District Commissioner, District #1: vote OOSTERMAN

It sure would be nice if Linda Oosterman bothered to have a basic campaign website with literally any information about her. Her statement in the Thurston County Voter's Pamphlet (pg. 101) is the most detailed information available.

On the other hand, there's her opponent, Bruce D. Wilkerson, Jr., who posts way too much stuff about his foreign policy beliefs online, including at least one reference to a George Soros conspiracy. I'm pro-Palestine, but he's so anti-Israel that he goes all the way around to a weird half-support of Iran?  Don't vote for this dude.

 

Oosterman has been working with PUD since 2012 so I recommend voting for her even though I'm salty about her lack of a website.

 

 

2024 General Election Part I: Initiatives & Federal Offices

 

 

2024 General Election Part I: Initiatives & Federal Offices

I research a lot when voting. Starting in 2016, I began compiling my research and thoughts for friends.

If you're a left or liberal voter, you may agree with my recommendations. If you're conservative, you probably won't. Regardless, I include links so you can read sources.

This year, I am doing a two-part voter guide because there is so much on our ballot. Stay tuned for Part II! You can find the official Thurston County Voters' Pamphlet here.

I have included info on what polling says about voting your conscience over Gaza without putting Trump in office. But if you have friends in swing states, ask them to vote for Harris.

INITIATIVES

The shortest answer here is NO on all of these. Each of these initiatives are trying to repeal good laws that our legislature passed, so a no vote is a yes for good policy. Skeazy people purposefully word initiatives like this to trick people into voting in their favor. 

 

Furthermore, some of them don't just repeal a law - they prohibit the legislature from ever making a similar law. The Stranger and the Progressive Voters Guide recommend voting no on all four.

 

Did you know we have a new Tim Eyman? His name is Brian Heywood. He's a hedge-fund exec, a "Republican megadonor and self-described 'economic refugee' from California". Maybe he got lost on his way to Texas and rather than ask for directions, he's trying to make us TX.

 

Anyway, he funded these initiatives. Vote no on all of these to prevent him from Texifying WA.

 

Initiative # 2066: vote NO

Fact: the climate crisis is real and we have to do something about it. And Washington has! 

 

Back in 2008 and 2020, Washington passed laws about how we're going to reduce our emissions. A lot of these laws have to do with Puget Sound Energy - they basically require PSE to make a plan to lower emissions without screwing over poor people.

 

This initiative doesn't just overturn those specific rules, it "actually adds language that forbids the state from doing anything to 'in any way prohibit, penalize, or discourage the use of gas for any form of heating, or for uses related to any appliance or equipment, in any building.'” The Stranger's overview on this is a good one. 

The WA Progressive Voter's Guide not only recommends a no vote, but they point out that "a study from April found that passing I-2066 could raise the utility bills of gas customers by an average of $150 per year."

 

Vote no to maintain our decarbonization laws and allow the legislature to make pro-climate laws in the future.

Initiative # 2109: vote NO

This would repeal our tax on very wealthy people making a ton of money on stocks and other capital assets. Again, The Stranger's overview is good:

"The capital gains tax skims 7 percent in profits from stocks and bonds and other assets over $262,000. Unfortunately, the tax doesn’t apply to the sales of homes, small businesses, farm land, farm equipment, livestock, timberland, commercial fishing, and auto dealership sales, so it hits fewer than 4,000 people in a state of 8 million, a little less than half of whom file taxes. If you’re reading this, then there’s a 99.9% chance that you do not pay this tax."

We've been using this money to pay for important things like early childhood education.

Brian and his buddies would like to make our tax system even more regressive than it is and probably use the extra cash they'd save to fund more initiatives like this in the future. 

 

Vote no to continue taxing the super-rich!

 

Initiative #2117: vote NO

Fact: the climate crisis is real and we have to do something about it. And we did!

 

WA's Climate Commitment Act instituted a cap-and-trade emissions program that has added "billions of dollars in funding for transit programs, ferries, clean energy projects, air quality improvement", and other anti-climate-crisis, pro-environment plans. At least 10% of the funds must be used on Tribal-supported projects. It ramps up the carrots-and-sticks over time to get companies to pollute less.

Here's how it works: 

"The state sets an emissions cap and then regularly holds auctions where polluters can buy and sell permits that allow them to comply with the cap while continuing to pollute. As the cap lowers, the price of these allowances rises, which incentivizes polluters to find ways to lower their emissions. Voila, a market-based way to curb carbon emissions."

A side effect is that it's estimated to have raised gas prices by approximately 25 cents per gallon. We know that because historically, WA and OR have had similar gas prices and that's the difference in our gas prices post-passage of WA's cap-and-trade law. Here's the study on this. No one likes higher gas prices, but this is a very important law to uphold.

Also, this initiative wouldn't just repeal the Climate Commitment Act, it would prohibit the state from ever implementing a similar law. 

 

Vote no to keep our pro-climate law and allow the legislature to continue to address the climate crisis in the future.

 

Initiative #2124: Vote NO

 

Washington passed a small, state-run long-term care insurance program called WA Cares. This initiative would kill that program by making it opt-in. I know that opt-in sounds good and there are good-sounding arguments for the "soft-repeal" but here's why that's wrong: 

 

 1. Opt-in will kill this program. 

 

There will not be enough money to keep it solvent and it would end by 2027. That's the point of this initiative. People are terrible at planning for difficult, expensive, bad things, which is why less than 5% of people actually buy this coverage on the private market even though 70% of us will need it at some point.

 

2. This is a better benefit that we will get anywhere else for the cost. 

 

Long-term care is expensive, and you won't even be able to get it if you're too old or have a pre-existing condition. Like all health insurance, having everyone pay in a little bit is what makes it possible to provide the benefit to those that need it.

 

3. $36,500 will increase with inflation and YES, it is actually a useful amount of money. 

 

I, too, thought it was a laughable sum for long-term care in a skilled nursing facility but this benefit can be used for so much more than that. The money can be used for:

• In-home care
• Meal delivery
• Transportation to appointments
• Mobility and assistive devices
• Care supplies
• Part-time caregiver
  

 These things are a huge help when you have a family member or friend that requires serious care. Even if it only funds three months of full-time care, that's an important three months for the rest of the family to figure out how to help mom the help she needs after that.

4. Women will get screwed by getting rid of this benefit. 

 

Women still do majority of family care when old age or disability creates a need for a caregiver. This benefit will help take the unpaid load off of women. 

 

5. No, Medicare will not cover this. 

Medicare does not cover long-term care. MedicAID does but you have to spend down the person's entire life savings to less than $2,000 and you are very limited to some very sketchy places that take Medicaid.

 

Vote NO to keep our long-term care insurance program. It's a baby step, but it's a good one.

 

PRESIDENT

The short answer here is Harris. But if you have strong feelings on Gaza, you will probably be able to vote for anyone but Trump in WA without swinging the state.

If you have friends in swing states though, make sure they're voting for Harris because a second Trump presidency will be far, far more damaging than the first. Every vote in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona is extremely important. Margins are razor thin in the swing states.

Voting against Democrats: Recent polling shows Harris with a 10+ point lead in WA, so if you want to vote your conscience on Gaza (or whatever) you should probably be able to vote for anyone who's not Trump without contributing to our slide into true authoritarianism. On the other hand, polls have been wrong about Trump many times in the past and he has been gaining on Harris in recent polls nationwide. It's not without risk.

If you choose to vote against the Ds, though, please send a postcard to Harris and/or your other elected representatives to tell them why you voted for someone else. Without that feedback, they won't know how many people are serious about changing these policies. And we need them to know.

Voting for Harris/Walz: The Democrats took a big and unusual (for them) risk in getting Biden to step down. In addition to the fact that a Harris win gives us more time to save our democracy, it will let the Democrats know that they did the right thing in getting Biden out. And we need a Democratic party that is more responsive to younger people and, in general, our current reality, if we are going to avoid worse outcomes for ourselves, Gaza, Ukraine, etc. I'll be voting for Harris.

 

FEDERAL OFFICES

U.S. Senator: Vote for Maria Cantwell or no one/write in.

Maria Cantwell is a so-so democratic Senator. She's a reliable vote on most positive legislation in the Senate and we desperately need that if our federal government is going to do anything beyond simply staving off the worst of right-wing authoritarianism. The reality is that if we get a Senate majority we might get a few good bills across the finish line; if we don't, we need Senators to hold the line. Cantwell supports reproductive rights and she'll fight for social security. The Stranger, Planned Parenthood, and various unions have endorsed her.

That said, she should be doing more on Gaza and she is polling well ahead of her challenger so if you want to make a statement this vote is a good place to do so. Either don't vote, or write-in someone and then send a postcard to her office letting her know why. 

 Or do vote for her, and send a postcard to her office telling her to do more, which is what I will be doing. 

Whatever you do, don't vote for her challenger. Dr. Raul Garcia is a Republican running on the vaguest platform he could possibly devise as a way to court moderate voters. Here's a sample of his tepid nonsense. He's endorsed by a long list of individual Republicans and the Farm Bureau. That's it. Frankly, I don't believe his answers: for example, he says he's anti-abortion but says he will fight to uphold WA's pro-choice stance.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT #10: Vote Strickland

Marilyn Strickland is a former Tacoma mayor who has represented us in Congress for two terms. She does decent work on things like housing, infrastructure, support for service members and veterans, and reproductive rights. She's endorsed by a ton of people and groups including The Stranger, the Progressive Voter's Guide, Planned Parenthood, a long list of unions, the Tacoma Pierce County Black Collective, Olympia Indivisible, the Korean-American Democratic Committee, the list goes on. 

Her opponent, Don Hewett, is running on a typical Republican platform of less government, more family values, more police/military, and "America First". His website includes such nuggets as: "I believes that the United States maintains a military to protect our homeland and impose America’s will on its enemies and to prevent a would be enemy from doing so to the United States" and "I believes that law and order is paramount for our society.  These are the guy who keep us safe and make sacrifices that we many never know to do this."

Now available: Part II: State and local offices