Although ballots are already in the mail, we’re just now getting around to starting our endorsement process. As usual, if there are any races with three or more candidates (outside of Seattle legislative districts) where we should know about a particularly strong urbanist candidate, please drop a comment to that effect.

20 Replies to “Call for Endorsements”

  1. Ben Lawver running for State Rep in the 29th (Pierce County) is very pro-transit and is endorsed by all the right people.

  2. I don’t know how much the Lieutenant Governor does, but the Republican (Bill FInkbeiner) has been endorsed by the Washington conservation voters, while the Democrat (Brad Owen) has not. I wonder how that translates over to transportation.

    1. Depends on the questionnaire. If WCV mostly focused on rural lands protection, environmental regulation, etc and didn’t touch on transportation than maybe not too much. I don’t know about WCV enough to know.

      1. The one WCV endorsement questionnaire that I found was much more general than that. (What is the biggest environmental issue facing our state, etc.)

        Apparently they did lobby against proposals to water down the growth management act…

  3. I love the ad that keeps on showing up with this post “Seattle Times endorses Rob McKenna!”

    I can assure you we won’t be endorsing him.

    1. Spending money on ads here is actually a sign of the frugality that Rob will bring to the governor’s office.

      Not.

      1. Actually it’s Google that runs those kind of ops. But I’m happy to see MY money put to good use standing alongside the 1st Republican Governor in 28 years.

    2. oh come on…

      Rob McKenna is the only candidate who will go before voters on a new transportation package.

      Rob McKenna saved Sound Transit from dying… barely.

      Rob McKenna is a great leader who will respect the people’s will, stand up to his own party (just ask the Hadian campaign or the BIAW) and protect your wallet.

      Now Jay Inslee… what great things has he accomplished?

  4. Here is the state-sponsored Voters’ Guide for the Audust 7 primary election. Thank you, State of Washington, for publishing these.

    Yikes! The election is almost here.

  5. I don’t dislike Bob Ferguson. He is a maverick, and I want to see more of them in office.

    When it came to running King County Metro, though, he caved to the forces of slowness and inefficiency. I think it would be appropriate to send a message in the Attorney General race by withholding endorsement at this time.

    Bob still has time to help right Metro’s ship. Getting rid of the $5 ORCA fee, or paper transfers, or banning cash payment at bus doors in the tunnel, or even just refusing to vote to cement unproductive bus stops into law (on the E Line, for example) would be a sign that he is starting to get it on transit issues, and how elected officials can be a force for common sense.

    1. When Ferguson first ran for county council, he was making some factual misstatements about Sound Transit. I offered to provide him the correct information, have a conversation with him, and my offer was met with a curt brushoff. But I will vote for him rather than his light-weight opponent who trades on his famous names.

      1. Same here. I must have a dozen or more emails of him telling me he rides the 41. None of them involve him addressing the actual issue in the email.

    2. Bob is in SERIOUS trouble:

      http://www.tvw.org/tvw-policy-violated-by-ferguson-campaign

      “The Bob Ferguson campaign for Attorney General is currently running a political ad via YouTube that patently violates the terms of use regarding TVW programming.

      “The guidelines for the use of TVW video are clear, and have not changed since TVW’s founding in 1995. As stated both on the TVW website and at the conclusion of every public policy event we air, ‘Use or reuse of TVW’s signal or programming for political or commercial purposes is strictly prohibited.’

      “TVW is a trusted resource for the citizens of Washington, and we take very seriously our reputation, built over 17 years, for providing unedited and unbiased access to public policy events. Throughout TVW’s history, the legislative caucus campaign committees, the state political parties and candidates of every political persuasion have cooperated with TVW and refrained from using excerpts of our programming in political campaigns.

      “By editing and using our programming in a political ad, Mr. Ferguson and his campaign not only puts at tremendous risk TVW’s public trust, but also puts in jeopardy the public’s access to events like these in the future.”

      Something to consider. Perhaps Dunn or Pidgeon deserve an endorsement OR a historic “no endorsement” for that position.

  7. John Ladenburg (running for State Supreme Court pos 9) is very pro-transit. He chaired Sound Transit from 2003-2007, and was one of the critical reasons why the link light rail between Sea-Tac and Seattle was finished on time.

    1. Another important Supreme Court election is position 8. It’s important to vote because this election could fall victim to the “who cares” syndrome. Justice Steve Gonzalez is qualified; his challenger is a personal injury lawyer that endlessly throws his hat in the ring hoping for an anomaly in a low turnout election.

  8. You should really check out Kshama Sawant in the 43rd legislative district. She just secured the endorsement of ATU local 587 in part by supporting the expansion of Metro and light rail throughout the region by taxing the wealthy instead of raising taxes on the already overburdened poor and middle class through tabs and sales taxes.

    The Stranger recently described her in there endorsement as “an articulate firebrand … who understands exactly how the state’s tax structure is failing its people and exactly what legislators must do to improve it.”

    Certainly worth checking out!

  9. It’s been in vogue this season for progressives to support Steve Litzow given his cross-over vote in support of gay marriage and pro-choice credentials. Surely he desreves credit for those positions. But please don’t lok past his efforts in the past on behalf of Kemper Freeman and Jim Horn to prevent Link form extending to the east side. As a member of the Mercer Island city council, he fought hard against the agreement that cleared the way for Link to use the I-90 reversible lanes. It’s worth checking whether he still agrees with Kemper.

    A lineup of Gov McKenna, AG Dunn, and Sen. Litzow is a veritable murderers row of Kemperphile road warriors in critical positions. How pro-transit do you really think Chair Judy Clibborn would be with a who’s who of King County Republican giants looming over her?

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