The Official Seattlish Guide to Your Ballot: August Primary Edition

For months, we’ve been helping you stay on top of the various (god there are so many) ballot initiatives and other pieces of legislation that are in process. However, most of the proposed laws we’ve been talking about won’t appear on a ballot until November. 

In the meantime, you’ll be getting another ballot for the August primary. 

Originally posted by dailyhappylife

It’s a sizable ballot which includes some key races that need to be narrowed through this top-two system. 

Because of the girth of this particular piece of mail (and because we are but three small people with day jobs), our voter’s guide sticks to King County races. But here’s an important caveat: THERE ARE A LOT OF REALLY IMPORTANT NON-KING COUNTY SENATE RACES. As we’ve mentioned before, control of the Senate is up for grabs this year if Dems can swing it. 

If you live outside of King County and are wondering if yours is a crucial Senate race, a.) you can check here because we’ve rounded up the really key ones, or b.) you can just assume it is and be sure to vote for the Democrat.

We apologize for not being able to thoroughly address each and every race that you may find on your ballot, but we just don’t have the resources. We do, however, feel pretty damn confident in this King County guide. 

So without further ado, here we go:

SEATTLE BALLOT MEASURES:

• Prop 1: This is the Seattle housing levy, i.e. Yes for Homes. This receives a firm endorsement from us. Prop 1 would allow the City to build affordable housing, which is pretty damn important, what with the not-at-all-affordable-housing going in all over the damn place and the Concerned Neighbors trying to stop any and all development. We need to build houses for people who make under six figures and we need to build them now and we need to build them right. Vote yes. 
  
• I-123: Waaaaay back in August of 2015, we noted that this initiative, which wants to turn the viaduct into a park, would appear on this August’s ballot and told you that it’s not such a hot idea. That still stands. “But wait!” we can hear you saying, “a park might be nice on the waterfront!” And you’re right. It would be. But this is not the way. It would be expensive, have a massive economic impact on downtown, and honestly not be that cool. Vote no. 
  

KING COUNTY BALLOT MEASURES

None of these are up for Seattle voters, but here’s a quick rundown for our friends outside the city limits:

• Normandy Park Prop 1: This is a levy that just restores funding levels to what they were previously. Vote yes. 
  
• Fire Protection District 1 Prop 1: Another levy, this time to extend/continue an existing levy that pays for fire services. Vote yes. 
  
• Fire Protection District 43 Prop 1: Basically the same deal. Vote yes. 
  
• Public Hospital District 2 Prop 1: Increase the number of board members from five to seven? The board of commissioners already approved this, they’re just checking with y’all. May as well vote yes.  
  

FEDERAL POSITIONS

• U.S. SENATOR: This is an easy one. With a bunch of fringe candidates and Washington Republican Bad Guy Chris Vance as the main challenger (and a bunch of other weirdos, like ALEX TSIMERMAN), incumbent Patty Murray is clearly the winner. She’s an unwavering champion for marginalized groups and we’re generally proud to have her representing our state in the other Washington. Vote Murray.
• US Rep District 1: Another easy pick—Susan DelBene is not only the only Democrat on the ticket, she’s kind of the only grown-up in the race. Vote DelBene. 
  
• US Rep District 7: This one is a little trickier. One Seattlish editor has moderated not one but two debates in this race, and has seen the top three candidates—House Rep. Brady Pinero Walkinshaw, State Senator Pramila Jayapal, and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott (no relation to the man vacating the seat, Jim McDermott)—effectively flex on some big issues. Any one of these three (note: there’s not a single straight white dude in the bunch!) would be solid representatives for our state in Congress. In his short period as the Representative for the 43rd, Walkinshaw’s work in Olympia has been laudable—he’s the reason police can carry Narcan, a life-saving drug, and his positions on issues like food insecurity could lead to real change on a statewide level. McDermott has been around for basically ever and we’ve seen him be a real champ on LGBTQ and women’s issues. But our official endorsement in this race has to go to Senator Pramila Jayapal, who has continued to impress us with her work in the Senate—pushing hard for the WVRA, not to mention getting a landmark bill passed that mandates the testing of rape kits—and as a candidate on this campaign trail. We’d like to see her in DC. Vote Jayapal. 
  
• US Rep District 8: With old-timey, hard-to-beat Republican (and former sheriff) Dave Reichert on the ticket, we should probably all get behind one of about a million (ok, just three) Dems in this race. The hard part is picking which one, especially considering none of them seem QUITE formidable enough to topple Reichert. Former sportscaster Tony Ventrella announced in April that he’d be running, and we like his pro-union stance and some people may be into his not-taking-big-money position (though against a six-term incumbent, some big money probably would be helpful). However, we don’t know him super-well—after all, he hasn’t held an office before.  He dropped out on July 1, so never mind. Also, we heard from reliable sources that he stealth sucks. Alida Skold is a CEO and rich lady who has pretty vague (but positive) positions on issues like education. She’s also been endorsed by quite a few sitting senators and the Kittitas County Democrats. Santiago Ramos has run for a few things—including Kirkland City Council in 2013—but is really hard to read. This race kind of blows altogether but we’d say vote Skold. 
  
• US Rep District 9: Adam Smith is fine. Vote Smith. 
  

STATE EXECUTIVE POSITIONS:

• Governor of Washington: Not even hard—incumbent Jay Inslee, to whom we have often pledged our love, may not always be perfect (we’d REALLY have liked to seem him be more forceful on Voting Rights and on McCleary) but he’s doing a pretty good job. Between throwing his weight behind the ballot initiatives we care about the most and putting his foot down when lawmakers couldn’t come up with a damn budge, we tend to think he’s pretty good. Plus, he’s handsome and enjoys the company of our youngest citizens. His main challenger, Bill Bryant, belongs to a party of Confirmed Bad People and doesn’t believe there should be a minimum wage, and if you think a third-party or another Democratic challenger can oust Inslee, you must be new at this. If you haven’t been thoroughly please with Inslee’s work, the course of action isn’t to try to elect someone else, it’s to elect him and then furiously tell him what you think about it. He’s an incredibly moveable guy. Help re-elect him, then tell him what you wish he’d do better. Vote Inslee. 
  
• Lieutenant Governor: This is a surprisingly packed race. Since incumbent and Perpetually Useless Dude Brad Owen bowed out (we wrote about it back in September), the seat is wide open. Most of the candidates are already in elected office—including three State Senators and the Mayor of University Place. And while Democrats Steve Hobbs and Karen Fraser are both totally decent lawmakers, we’re going to go ahead and endorse Senator Cyrus Habib. Between his track record as an elected official (he’s gotten SO. MUCH. STUFF. DONE.) and the times we’ve met him and seen him stump at just about every LD that has a regular gathering, we think he’s got a chance to turn this office into an office that actually matters. In fact, he’s so enthusiastic about the position that it’s made Ol’ Do-Nothing Owens kind of sour-grapey. But you know what? We’re choosing to be optimistic—and in reality, it is actually a really important position. Vote Habib. 
  
• Secretary of State: Yooooooo we have been hammering on this for so long! Washington hasn’t had a Democrat in this seat in almost 50 years and we think it’s high time. The SoS basically controls the elections, so if you hate how Republicans have a primary and Dems don’t, if you have the dearth of ballot boxes in the south end, if you hate the way that we can’t vote online or do anything cool, Republican Kim Wyman is not your candidate. Wyman has not only said on record that she would not support the Washington Voting Rights Act, but she’s like, totally fine with our garbage voter turnout. Meanwhile, former Seattle City Councilmember and Microsoft business person Tina Podlodowski has taken a stand on allllllll these issues and more. Plus, she’s super into technology and the idea of helping get Washington to the forefront of more accessible voting. We think Tina Po has a hot chance of actually making some changes and we endorse her heartily. Vote Podlodowski. 
  
• State Treasurer: Marko Liias seems like a good dude. Vote Liias. 
  
• State Auditor: Since TroyKelleyGate, this seat has suddenly seemed a lot more important. Candidates include State Senator Mark Miloscia, a former Democrat who went over to the DARK SIDE (we’re pretty sure he’ll make it to the general), Pierce County Executive and former Tacoma School Board member Pat McCarthy, and some independents. But we’re going to go with attorney Jeff Sprung, who’s been campaigning with Official Seattlish SoS Pick Tina Po. Vote Sprung. 
• Washington State Commissioner Of Public Lands: There’s a lot going on in this race. We’ve got former Congressional candidate Hillary Franz, King County Councilmember and former Rep Dave Upthegrove, and former Mayor of Spokane Mary Verner. All three of these candidates seem like they’d be fine, but we’re going to go with Upthegrove. He’s got the name recognition needed to keep this seat blue and has been a visible conservation leader for a while. Vote Upthegrove. 
  
• Superintendent of Public Instruction: This is another “nonpartisan” race wherein a person’s party really matters a lot. It’s also got a lot of candidates, some of whom we think would be fine and some would be not-fine. 
  

In the interest of transparency, here are some of our notes on this race from our Google doc.

• Obviously, this is a really, really important seat because Washington is doing a shit job with its Paramount Duty i.e. funding education. The person in this position will be really critical in the next few years. In the race, we’ve got John Patterson Blair (of the ponytail), Rep Chris Reykdal, who would be fine, Ron Higgins, who would not be fine, and most notably, educator Erin Jones, who has been honored by the White House and has focused her career on equity. We need people like her. Vote Jones. 
• Insurance Commissioner: Democrat and incumbent Mike Kreidler seems fine. Vote Kreider. 

WALEG

• State Senator Dist 1: Now we’re into the section of the ballot guide which also details the House and Senate Musical Chairs that is 2016′s election cycle. This seat used to be held by Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, who announced her retirement in April. Rep. Luis Moscoso is vacating his seat in the house to run for this Senate seat. Because this seat was formerly held by a Democrat, it’s super, super important to keep it that way. Fortunately, the one Republican running for the seat, Mindie Wirth, isn’t too terribly challenging. Vote Moscoso. 
• State Rep Dist 1 Pos 1: Derek Stanford is the incumbent and he’s fine. Vote Stanford. 
• State Rep Dist 1 Pos 2: Moscoso’s old seat. This race is crowded. There’s a businessman, a couple of lower-level elected officials (suburban City Council mostly) and a realtor in the pack. Our pick? Kirkland City Councilmember and progressive Shelley Kloba. She seems like she’d do a good job and is up for the task. Vote Kloba. 
• State Senator Dist 5: THIS IS ONE OF THOSE CLUTCH SEATS THAT WE REALLY NEED TO HOLD ONTO BUT COULD BE VULNERABLE. Sen. Mark Mullet is the incumbent. Do not assume that he will win if you don’t turn out. If this is your district, please show up and vote Mullet.
• State Rep Dist 5 Pos 1: This isn’t a Dem/Republican race—instead, it’s incumbent Republican Jay Rodne (he really sucks) vs. Jason Ritchie with the “Working Families” party, which is actually pretty cool (it’s backed by FUSE Wa and some labor groups). So for this race, don’t look for the D—just look for the Not R. Vote Ritchie. 
• State Rep Dist 5 Pos 2: We’ll pretty much always endorse Darcy Burner. So vote Burner. 
• State Senator Dist 11: Good Guy Bob Hasegawa is running for reelection and we support him. Vote Hasegawa.
• State Rep Dist 11 Pos 1: Pretty straightforward race. Vote Zack Hudgins. 
• State Rep Dist 30 Pos 1: Hottest in the Office Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon said at King County Young Dems event that Mike Pellicciotti was the kind of lawmaker we need more of, so we’re going to follow his lead. This is another pretty important race and we’d love to see Linda Kochmar as far away from office as possible, so vote Pellicciotti.
• State Rep Dist 30 Pos 2: We’d love to see Republican incumbent Teri Hickel sail away into the sunset, plus <3 Patty Murray <3 endorsed Kristine Reeves. Good enough for us! Vote Reeves.
• State Rep Dist 31 Pos 1: Write in “School Sucks” or “Mike Rotch” or something because it really doesn’t matter. 
  
• State Rep Dist 31 Pos 2: The only non-Republican in this race is Lane Walthers. He’s a firefighter and “fiscal conservative” which is maybe what it takes in this district? We don’t love him BUT he’s starting to collect labor endorsements (including AFT and AFL-CIO), so vote  Walthers.
  
• State Rep Dist 32 Pos 1: Incumbent Cindy Ryu is very much a Business Dem; she is a retailer and was the head of the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce. She’s the only Dem in the race, so she’ll do. Vote Ryu. 
  
• State Rep Dist 32 Pos 2: Incumbent Ruth Kagi really loves The Children. She’s fine. Vote Kagi. 
  
• State Rep Dist 33 Pos 1: Incumbent Tina Orwall kind of sucks (she’s sort of a SWERF which we are decidedly not ok with). But she’s better than the two conservative dudes running against her so vote Orwall. 
  
• State Rep Dist 33 Pos 2: Mia Su-Ling Gregerson is fine. 
  
• State Rep Dist 34 Pos 1: Eileen L. Cody is a delight. Vote Cody. 
• State Rep Dist 37 Pos 1: Democratic incumbent Sharon Tomiko Santos loves safety and always Thinks of the Children and she’s totally solid. Vote Santos. 
  
• State Rep Dist 37 Pos 2: Incumbent Eric Pettigrew is like, a legit American Dream story and he’s a damn fine leader and we like him a lot. Vote Pettigrew. 
  
• State Rep Dist 39 Pos 1: This is kind of a tough race because the incumbent, Dan Kristiansen, is shady as fuck—but the Democratic challenger doesn’t seem to be putting up much of a fight. Kristiansen, who’s the House Minority Leader, was basically on the take from auto dealerships and is staunchly pro-1515, so we’d encourage you to vote for anyone but him. Challenger Linda M. Wright, though, literally has zero online presence. So like, I guess vote Wright and hope for the best?
  
• State Rep Dist 39 Pos 2: Republican Elizabeth Scott held this seat until she gave it up to run against Susan DelBene. It’s a pretty firm Republican stronghold, but we’re hoping it could be shaken up based sheerly on the fact that Republican hopeful John Koster sucks. As the ombudsman of Snohomish County, he actively fundraised for the union-busting bad guys at the Freedom Foundation. He also has some seriously shitty views on rape. Here’s an actual quote from him regarding the rights of a woman to have an abortion following a rape: “But on the rape thing, it’s like, how does putting more violence onto a woman’s body and taking the life of an innocent child that’s a consequence of this crime, how does that make it better.” So yeah. He sucks. Meanwhile, Ronda Metcalf, the general manager for the Sauk Suiattle Tribe, has the endorsement of AFL-CIO and other labor powerhouses and generally seems pretty cool. Vote Metcalf. 
• State Senator Dist 41: Another one of those BIG IMPORTANT RACES. Republican incumbent Steve Litzow is terrible. Also, it makes no damn sense that the district representing Mercer Island is held by such a shitty Republican. Fortunately, you can change that with your vote! Lisa Wellman, a former public school teacher who’s now a CEO, seems like a pretty good opponent. She’s called out Litzow on his partisan bullshit and his blocking on key women’s health issues—and she’s right! Vote Wellman. 
• State Rep Dist 41 Pos 1: Incumbent Tana Senn is pretty cool. Vote Senn. 
• State Rep Dist 41 Pos 2: Democrat Judy Clibborn currently holds this seat and, honestly, she’s not super-great. She’s pro-charter schools and we’re just not sold on her. However, we really don’t want to give up the seat and the other democratic challenger, William Popp, Sr., is kind of a non-candidate, so we somewhat reluctantly say vote Clibborn. 
• State Rep Dist 43 Pos 1: We knew exactly who we wanted in Brady Walkinshaw’s old seat, but unfortunately (due to some really scary personal stuff), activist Danni Askini dropped out of this race. She’s since endorsed DESC deputy director Nicole Macri for the seat, though, and we agree. Macri is a pioneer in Housing First and huge supporter of rights for marginalized groups. She’s also the only candidate who we believe might take a firm stance on the tampon tax. So we’re here for her. A lot of the other candidates are…ok, but she’s the one who won us over. Vote Macri. 
  
• State Rep Dist 45 Pos 1: Roger Goodman is the incumbent and he’s fine. Vote Goodman. 
  
• State Rep Dist 46 Pos 1: Same deal. Gerry Pollet currently holds this seat and we’d like to keep it that way. Vote Pollet. 
  
• State Rep Dist 47 Pos 1: Mark Hargrove, the incumbent, is pretty terrible. He’s staunchly pro-charter schools, sucks on women’s health issues, and is generally just a bummer of a republican. Challenger Brooke Valentine, who unfortunately shares a name with an actress and singer so if you Google her, add “Washington”, is really into education and seems ok. Vote Valentine.  
  
• State Rep Dist 47 Pos 2: Incumbent Pat Sullivan is fine. He’s the former mayor of Covington. Vote Sullivan. 
  
• State Rep Dist 48 Pos 1: Though incumbent Patty Kuderer isn’t perfect, she’s ok. She’s pro-“school choice” but voted down the charter amendments and is pretty active. Vote Kuderer. 
  
• State Rep Dist 48 Pos 2: Joan McBride loves The Arts and is fine. Vote McBride. 
  
• State Supreme Court Justice Position 5: Hoo boy. This whole race is actually kind of a garbage fire. Conservatives seem to hate incumbent Chief Justice Barbara Madsen for being a ~*~liberal activist judge~*~ but she upheld a DOMA in Washington in 2006 (after giving the impression that she was for sure going to be on the right side of history), so what are they even talking about? (Answer: McCleary. Always McCleary.) Her main challenger, Greg Zempel, is the current Kittitas Valley Prosecutor, where he’s been hard at work “educating parents on protecting their children from molesters.” He’s one of those folks that is convinced that Madsen is a ~*~liberal activist judge~*~ and wants someone “balanced” and LESS PRECEDENT-SETTING, which might be code for “no income tax” (he is a Republican?) but could also just be “doesn’t want to make decisions,” which is kind of a bad quality in a judge. For real, though: In the same breath, dude says that the current supreme court is not “balanced,” then says that they don’t talk to other government branches enough. Then he goes to the Republican convention. Hmmm. Also, discuss: This weird guest piece in the Daily Record about preventing sexual assault (one tip: “ladies,” don’t drink! BUT, in a show of the bare minimum of human decency: Men, don’t rape!) Her other challenger, Zamboni John Scannell, is disbarred. So, in short, we wish Madsen had a better challenger, we are still a little sore about her DOMA vote, but we still think she’s the best option. Vote Madsen. 
  
• Superior Court Judge Position 44: This one’s tough. Cathy Moore has Madsen and Justice Mary Yu’s endorsements, plus 43rd’s sole endorsement, while Eric Newman has the endorsement of many LDs and a lot of legislators (and the endorsement of our Dream Boyfriend Dow Constantine). Jackson Schmidt also seems ok, though a little more Rich White Dude-ish and less equity-focused. Honestly, this one is up to y’all. We encourage you to look at all of their websites and decide for yourself. 
  

The following races are all running unopposed:

• State Rep Dist 11 Pos 2: Democrat Steve Bergquist is fine. 
  
• State Senator Dist 36: Reuven Carlyle (he’s….well, he’s usually fine and when he sucks he’s really quick to correct so just stay on him)
  
• State Rep Dist 36 Pos 1: Noel Frame (WE LOVE YOU, NOEL)
  
• State Rep Dist 36 Pos 2: Gael Tarleton (AMAZING at Twitter. We love her)
  
• State Senator Dist 39: We literally wrote “who cares” in our notes because unfortunately, Republican incumbent Kirk Pearson is sadly running unopposed. 
  
• State Rep Dist 43 Pos 2: Frank Chopp doesn’t have a challenger and anyway it’s probably his last year so it’s whatever. Email him and tell him to knock it off with his weird blocking of the PTE. 
  
• State Rep Dist 45 Pos 2: Larry Springer is unopposed so whatever.
  
• State Rep Dist 46 Pos 2: Jessyn Farrel is a consummate professional and a legitimate bad-ass and we love her and we’re glad she’s unopposed because no one could do a better job than her, anyway. 
  

The ballots for the August 2 Primary drop in mid-July, and you can still register to vote or update your voter registration through July 4 by clicking right here. We recommend you get that squared away sooner rather than later. Happy voting!

A NOTE: Because of the huge-ness of this document and the fact that we are part-timers, we have made a few corrections since the original publication of this piece. But our endorsements all still stand!

A SECOND NOTE: We have been inundated with people who disagree with one or two of these races and have even demanded that we retract some. We will not and honestly we actually don’t care to hear it. We offer this as our opinion as volunteers and if you hate it, you can go write your own. No seriously, take your own free time and vet over 200 candidates in more than 50 races.