Sound Politics: Satterberg Unveils Major Democratic endorsements

September 10, 2007

Satterberg Unveils Major Democratic endorsements

Dan Satterberg's campaign has released a potent round-up of Democratic endorsements. Major Republicans already fill his list of backers - with names like Dunn, Gorton, McKenna, & Reichert highlighting the collection. Quoting from today's release:

Today, a coalition of prominent Democrats announced their endorsement of Interim King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. Senator Adam Kline (D-34), Representative Al O'Brien (D-01), Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Janice Ellis, Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Gerry Horne, and Jenny Durkan were among the Democratic supporters.
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Satterberg has earned the endorsements of King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, over 500 attorneys of both political parties, and major law enforcement associations and unions including: King County Police Officers' Guild; Seattle Police Officers' Guild; Renton Police Officers' Guild; Kirkland Police Officers' Guild; Federal Way Police Officers' Guild; Issaquah Police Officers' Guild; Seattle Police Management Association; Joint Council of Teamsters, Local 28; Carpenters' Local Union 1797; Local 751 Aerospace Machinists (Dual); King County Corrections Guild (Dual); and the AFSCME Council 2.

Also joining the Democrats for Dan coalition are: Rebecca Roe, Peter Goldman, Wes Uhlman, Jon Bridge, Nate Miles, James Kelly, Doug Wheeler, Judy Runstad, George Griffin, Jay Reich, Tom Keefe, Brad Marten, Paula Boggs, John Wolfe and Faith Ireland.

Jenny Durkan and Peter Goldman are about as "establishment" as you get these days among Seattle Democrats. Nice work by Satterberg; bipartisan support being an obvious necessity for any Republican running for a serious post in King County.

Posted by Eric Earling at September 10, 2007 07:08 PM | Email This

Comments

1. That should read Adam Kline, D-37.

Posted by: ivan on September 10, 2007 08:00 PM

2. Just because they endorse a republican doesnt mean that they are donklephants,it means they like the candidate.
I say So what.

Posted by: Publicbulldog on September 10, 2007 08:26 PM

3. Its nice to have a race that features two quality candidates. I would be happy with either.

Posted by: Giffy on September 10, 2007 08:45 PM

4. Nice to see some Democrats look beyond party affiliation when deciding what candidate to back.

Posted by: Bill Anderson on September 11, 2007 05:53 AM

5. There isn't an endorsement out there that doesn't have political overtones. The Democrats in this case know Satterberg has it locked up, so why not endorse and after the election, they can claim bipartisanship.

Bottom line: non-story

Posted by: swatter on September 11, 2007 06:52 AM

6. Of course the Democrat's support Dan Satterberg, he consistently sided with them on the vote review panel on decision's on individual votes in King County in 2004- handing Christine Gregoire the election. Do you think that, just maybe, that is why Jenny Durken is involved?

Posted by: Bill S on September 11, 2007 10:47 AM

7. Is Satterberg really a Republican?
His press release left off the fact that he has a 100% approval rating by NARAL....

I just don't see the base getting excited about him.

Posted by: Big Red on September 11, 2007 08:33 PM

8. His press release left off the fact that he has a 100% approval rating by NARAL....

Yah, because you can do so much about abortion as a county prosecutor. :rolls eyes:

I just don't see the base getting excited about him.

When your party has a 'base' of about 30-35% of people in the county, exciting the base isn't exactly the best strategy to win an election.

Anybody expecting some sort of ideological crusade on the part of any countywide elected Republican is nuts. The job of elected Republicans in such a liberal county is to keep the machinery out of the hands of the D's, and to be a competent, fair administrator. That's good enough, or should be good enough, for any reasonable person.

Posted by: Cliff on September 12, 2007 01:07 PM

9. I completely agree with Cliff. We cannot impose ideological purity tests in King County if we ever expect to gain ground.

The real issue in this race is experience. Bill Sherman is a minor-league prosecutor with only three years of experience. More than 200 attorneys out of 250 in the prosecutor's office have more experience than he does. The only thing this guy has going for him is a D by his name.

Posted by: Jeff on September 12, 2007 03:13 PM

10. Jeff - Did you get the night off from the Satterberg campaign?

This "experience" debate is stupid. Sherman has actually prosecuted more cases in the last 6 months than Satterberg has in the last 10 years. He is also older than Satterberg was when he was promoted into the upper bureaucracy of the prosecutor's office and about the same age that Maleng was when he was elected. Satterberg is a career middle manager who only discovered he was an R when he realized that was the only way to get appointed and run unopposed in the primary.

Incidentally, Satterberg needs the vote of every member of the "base" of the Republican party if he is going to win. Republicans who alienate the base to capture moderates historically end up doing neither. Last I checked, Sherman outpolled him in the primary by almost 15,000 with only 65% of the D vote. Dan needs every R he can get and getting a 100% rating from NARAL isn't going to do it.

When is Satterberg going to start coming up with some novel and meaningful ideas, rather than just trotting out pictures of himself with Norm? He could start by prosecuting Dan Ring. Do you think that might have anything to do with the King County Police endorsement ...

Posted by: Josie on September 14, 2007 12:17 AM