Secretary of State race

The Seattle Times reports on the race for Secretary of State between incumbent Republican Sam Reed and Democratic challenger Laura Ruderman:

Ruderman says Reed, as the state's elections chief, should not have backed a ballot measure to change the way the state runs its primary elections.

"The referee does not wear the colors of one of the two teams," said Ruderman, criticizing Reed for his support of I-872, which calls for having the top two finishers in a primary advance to the general election, even if the candidates represent the same party.

Ruderman voted for a "top-two" system this year in the Legislature but won't say whether she supports I-872. She said the secretary of state, as the chief elections officer, should not take positions on initiatives.

This is odd. As I noted earlier, I endorsed Laura Ruderman back in May precisely because of her position supporting the state's current "Montana-style" primary, effectively opposing I-872. Ruderman's own words:

I was absolutely in support of the Governor's partial veto. I think that the way that the current Sec. of State wrote the "Top Two" bill would have led to huge opportunities for the parties to game the system. I think that the Montana is the best compromise (although actually, the way I understood it, Arizona's model might have been even better).

Not only did Ruderman send me the foregoing in an e-mail, but she even linked to my blog post citing her e-mail from her own campaign newsletter. Clearly she embraced my interpretation of her remarks.

Ruderman's position on the "Top Two" primary system -- "I actually voted for the Top Two primary before I supported the Governor's veto before I didn't have a position on it" leaves me underwhelmed.

The Seattle Times reportage also leaves me underwhelmed. I e-mailed reporter Susan Gilmore a link to my blog post with Ruderman's e-mail after she reported Ruderman's lack of a position on I-872 a month ago. Gilmore acknowledged my e-mail, but apparently didn't see fit to challenge Ruderman on a glaring inconsistency in her position.

Voters who prefer an alternative to both Sam Reed and Laura Ruderman could vote for Libertarian Jacqueline Passey. She's a nice lady and she unambiguously opposes I-872.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 26, 2004 06:04 PM | Email This