Last Week’s Election Yielded Intriguing Results

I hate the August Primary election, and apparently do a lot of other people. Turnout was only about 33 percent statewide. I consider it a right for kids and adults to have summer (the weather regardless). Kids should get three full months off from school; adults shouldn’t have to think about politics until after Labor Day. If I were dictator….

Oddly, the highest turnout counties, with nearly 50%, were Jefferson and San Juan counties, with high percentages of retirees and vacation homeowners.

Still, last week’s election yielded a few intriguing results. Seattle, not unexpectedly, dug even deeper into its pockets to pay for affordable housing. The citizens also showed that they are committed to the current course of bringing the Alaskan Way Viaduct down, once and for all. The ballot measure 123 went down as easily as, well, 1-2-3.

In the 7th Congressional district, about to be vacated by Rep. Jim McDermott, voters will have a choice between liberal and liberaler with Brady Walkinshaw and Pramila Jayapal in the finals. What’s interesting in this race is that the winner could well have the seat for life. The way districts are drawn these days, this will likely remain a core urban liberal Democratic district, and once Congressional incumbents survive their first re-election race, they tend to stay as long as they choose. Jim McDermott was called “Congressman for life,” but he chose to have a life by voluntarily retiring. So the stakes are: vote for the person you want to spend the next 30 years with.

As to statewide races, Bill Bryant, the GOP challenger to Governor Jay Inslee, put on a rather weak showing, running behind where Rob McKenna and Dino Rossi did in their challenges in previous years. McKenna and Rossi have mounted the strongest recent campaigns against Democratic opponents for governor. Bryant, as I have written before, is still dodging on whether he’s supporting Donald Trump for president or not which, as I pointed out, might not be a profile in courage, but it might make practical sense. Candidate Dan Evans dodged Barry Goldwater in ’64 and won, even though Goldwater himself lost the state and all but three counties. And the miserable showing of the very decent Chris Vance against Patty Murray for senate is a warning sign: Chris who dissed The Donald did even worse against Patty Murray than Bryant did against Inslee. Integrity is not always rewarded in politics, and the Mom in Tennis Shoes is still popular.

Democrats have dominated in statewide elected office, save for Secretary of State, which was been held by a Republican since the Great Flood. This year it could be competitive with challenger, former Seattle city council member Tina Podlodowski coming within two percentage points of incumbent SOS Kim Wyman. This shows that former council members might have better political afterlives than Seattle mayor. Greg Nickels ran for this office awhile back and couldn’t make it through the primary. The GOP got a boost for State Treasurer by qualifying two candidates for the final ballots—no Democrat finished in the top two, a first. Another oddity: The GOP ran no candidate for Attorney General, so the top two there are the Democratic incumbent and a Libertarian.

And in the mad scramble for a job with few duties and a nice paycheck, we’ll have a choice between a Republican, Marty McClendon, and a Democrat, Cyrus Habib, for Lt. Governor. Why couldn’t a Libertarian have won here? This largely ceremonial office is not needed and should be abolished. Anyone who runs for it disqualifies themselves from holding it. (In many states, it is a part-time appointed position, or the duties are undertaken by the Secretary of State or some other official.) But it’s telling that so many candidates crowded this field for a position with so little to do for a nearly $100,000 paycheck.