Sound Politics: More on that Spokane legislative contest

July 28, 2008

More on that Spokane legislative contest

A follow-up to this post about the race between Kevin Parker and Mel Lindauer ; I heard from some readers, did a little research, and have one major point to make.

Lindauer is obviously trying to exploit the fact Parker is newer to the district than he. Evidently, he finds it insufficient that Parker went to college in the district and has now decided to settle his family in it and open several coffee shops in the area. On the surface, Lindauer's gripe is lame.

True, there are a number of good reasons to draw contrasts with a fellow GOP opponent. This doesn't seem like one of them, especially when the lion's share of Lindauer's financial support itself is from outside the district.

A very quick review of available PDC data (click on "Legislative" candidates, click on district "06," then click on the chosen candidate) shows Lindauer reports $46,809 in cash contributions as of this typing. Of those, approximately $36,500 is from outside the district, and of that sum at least $25,000 is from his fellow optometrists. That last number is probably slightly higher since some smaller dollar donors are not required to report their occupation.

I think we can stipulate that raising roughly 78% of one's contributions from outside the district in which one is running does not leave one in the best shape to question the in-district bona fides of someone else. Moreover, having over 50% of one's contributions come from one industry - again, outside the district - doesn't exactly say "I'm the hometown boy!"

Contrasts on issues and qualifications for office are more than fair game, but I have no patience for these sort of tactics that Lindauer is engaging in, especially in a GOP primary. I hope Parker wins by a country mile, even before one considers the fact he's exactly the kind of person Republicans need in Olympia these days.

Posted by Eric Earling at July 28, 2008 08:50 PM | Email This

Comments

1. I guess I'm wondering why it's any of you business, and why we should care about your patience level.

The people that actually live there will make their decision known in a few weeks, and then you can stop fretting about something that will have absolutely zero effect on you one way or the other.

Your efforts will do nothing to help your guy. The LAST thing he needs is someone from this side of the mountains assuming the voters in his district are too stupid to make their own decisions... kinda like the idiocy of the Seattle City Council passing a resolution to tear down dams.

Posted by: hinton on July 28, 2008 09:09 PM

2. "I guess I'm wondering why it's any of you business" should read "I guess I'm wondering why it's any of youR business."

Sigh. The arthritic "r" finger.

Posted by: hinton on July 28, 2008 09:14 PM

3. Hinton, for crying out loud. Eric is supposedly someone who cares about GOP, and if one GOP candidate in the state (whether Eric lives there or not) is making a dirty case of nothing, he should care. One rotten apple can rot the whole basket, and he is helping himself for the grand cause. He reports, and people in the district decide.

Why is it your business to care about why Eric cares, anyway?

Posted by: DopioLover on July 28, 2008 11:21 PM

4. Lindauer's behavior reminds me of Darcy Burner. Lindauer should grow a pair.

Posted by: Jeff B. on July 28, 2008 11:45 PM

5. As a resident of Spokane (sixth district, featuring Parker versus Lindauer, etc.) I am a little surprised to find my own legislative district featured in Sound Politics. I am a native of Seattlite, hence my interest in Sound Politics. This is a suburban upper middle class district that would be most comparable to Bellevue or Mercer Island in the 1970s and 1980s and generally Republican. However, in 2006, Chris Marr (D) defeated Brad Benson (R) in the senate race for this district. This district had been Republican since 1940. I think the reason why Chris Marr won is that he went knocking on everyone's door and personally visited a huge number of houses. When he came to my house, I actually thought he was a pretty decent guy although I didn't both for him-- too many rats in Olympia already.

Kevin Parker is doing something similar in that his volunteers have been to my house 3 times in the past two weeks and I think Kevin Parker is knocking on a lot of doors as well. It is kind of old-fashioned (but nice) when candidates go around the neighborhood like that. I think that is why Chris Marr won in 2006 and I suspect Kevin Parker will end up ahead of Mel Lindauer. However, there are so many candidates for this district who knows who will win?

As for Lindauer's contributions from the optometrist, optometrists have an agenda to expand the scope of what they can do in terms of medical procedures without actually going to medical school (full disclosure: My brother is an ophthalmologist).

Posted by: eeman on July 29, 2008 12:06 AM

6. hinton, your comments were my first blush reaction to Eric posting a Spokane political race.

But, I can live with it and it is, in fact, very appropriate.

Mainly, the Rs in this State are weak, so that any good R (or D for that matter- I just can't find any good Ds lately) should be promoted and any weak R should not be in Olympia.

Secondly, one of SPs commenters posted an article on this very subject, Eric read it, checked into it, and felt it important enough for the main page.

Lastly, Eric's PDC advice should be followed; the site is now very friendly and quicker. It even likes Mozilla all of a sudden, where before I used IE (I wasn't about to change security setting every time and have to log in every time with Mozilla).

Posted by: swatter on July 29, 2008 06:42 AM

7. Hinton, I think you need to go crack a 6th grade civics book. You claiming that the 6th LD race has zero effect on Eric show a scant knowledge of government. The fact is, whoever is elected in that race will have about a 0.3% effect on all our lives. Add in the other 97 Representatives, 49 Senators and the Governor and that's who steers the ship of state. By your opinion, why do any of the news channels report on what Nancy Pelosi is doing, or what Senator so-and-so from Nebraska is doing? Because it effects the country as a whole, just like the 6th LD effects the state as a whole.

Posted by: WFP on July 29, 2008 08:05 AM

8. I don't live in Seattle, but I care a lot about what their government is up to.

Every time they sneeze, the rest of us catch cold. You bet that a bag tax is coming our way, now that the brilliant Seattle leaders have deemed it good.

It's naive to think that those outside of Spokane have no interest in that race, since it affects the balance of the Legislature.

Posted by: Camille on July 29, 2008 09:12 AM

9. Marr had a great GOTV effort in 2006, which made all of the difference. He also has a ton of bona fides from his auto dealership and being a trustee at WSU, and the Benson campaign was hamstrung from the West association.

As a Democrat Parker worries me more than Lindauer, because while I love Barlowe's legislative record he is *not* an effective campaigner in the way that it sounds like Parker is.

Posted by: Ryan on July 29, 2008 10:03 AM

10. I'd much rather read about state legislative races on a regional blog than another freaking post about national politics and the POTUS race.

Posted by: jimg on July 29, 2008 10:03 AM

11. This is my point exactly! Realistically, the 6th District is the only shot we (R)'s have at taking back a seat from the Dems. We need to make sure that we have our strongest candidate who can not only beat Barlow, but can actually accomplish some quality legislation. Lindauer isn't a strong candidate, pure and simple. Look at his website, endorsements, money raised, ect. And he is running a wimpy campaign based on character assasination rather than on the issues. If he could beat Parker on the issues, that would be one thing, but simply slamming the guy on groundless charges because Lindauer doesn't have anything better to offer is weaksauce.

Posted by: spokanerepublican on July 29, 2008 11:40 AM

12. I, too, am a resident of the sixth district, and appreciate the attention of folks from the west side. When legislators vote, the issues impact the entire state, not just one particular district. I first met Kevin Parker almost two years ago --long before he decided to run. As a long-time Republican activist, I could see (as many others have seen) the kind of young man who is destined to serve his fellow man. We've watched him, we've heard from his mentors and associates. Everyone feels he is genuine, ethical, determined, and intelligent. He listens, remembers, and genuinely cares about the people who share their stories with him. I'm voting for Kevin, and urging my friends to do so as well.

Posted by: Charlotte on July 29, 2008 04:10 PM

13. So Mel Lindauer is supported by members of his profession. Is this supposed to be some sort of indictment? It seems to me that a medical professional who inspires that sort of support is at least as worthy of consideration as a coffee-shop owner who has been trying to get a foothold in politics both in Oregon and in Washington for the past decade or so, with little success.

Plenty of the people in Spokane whom I know are supporting Mel, and none of them are optometrists, nor am I. They're just regular folks looking for a fresh face to go up against the Democratic juggernaut in Olympia.

Here's a suggestion: let the voters of Spokane decide whom their representative will be, without the advice of West-Siders -- whose legacy of futility and defeat is the last thing the GOP voters in eastern Washington need to emulate.

Posted by: Rey Smith in Spokane on July 30, 2008 01:39 PM