The race for King County Executive is now non-partisan because the voters said so but no one is fooled. Of the five leading candidates two are sitting Democrat members of the King County Council (Dow Constantine and Larry Phillips) and two are Democrat members of the state legislature (Senator Fred Jarrett and Representative Ross Hunter). The fifth candidate with a chance to win is Susan Hutchison. Seeking her first elective office, she is a known Republican. That may surprise some Seattle liberals who think anyone who is a journalist (she once anchored KIRO TV news) and a civic leader particularly in the arts could be anything but a Democrat.
Three major election changes will be in play in this years run to replace Executive Ron Sims, the newly appointed Obama administration bureaucrat. First, the Primary Election has been moved from mid September to August 18, 2009. The two candidates who emerge from the primary will have about four extra weeks to make their case to the voters. This is probably a positive change. Such is not the case for the other two election changes, the Top Two Primary and non-partisan elections for King County offices. The Top Two Primary, approved by voters in 2004 and upheld by the courts, was first used in elections for state offices in 2008. Under this system, one may still be identified by party on the primary ballot but only the top two vote getters, regardless of party, advance to the General Election. Last year, King County voters removed the party preference by passing Initiative 26 making King County elected offices non-partisan. Minor parties are effectively eliminated, the two major parties are weakened and voters lose one measure of a candidate's political philosophy. Like the new rules or not, campaign strategies will be different in 2009.
Hutchison has finessed her way out of the first series of candidate forums leaving the floor to the Democrats. Her obvious ploy is to let the four Democrats split up the Democratic vote while she slips in under the radar to the General Election. If she can quietly energize and hold the Republican voters in the primary, her strategy has a reasonable chance of success. But former State Representative Toby Nixon, a solid Republican, has endorsed Republican turned Democrat Fred Jarrett. What is the old adage? "The best laid plans of mice and 'political candidates' oft go awry."
Posted by warrenpeterson at June 09, 2009 05:08 PM | Email ThisNice ploy.
All the SP chatter about open government apparently takes a back seat to supporting the candidates you like.
Just like HA, your inconsistent partisan driven postings are so transparent.
In addition to the name, it's "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men. . . Gang aft agley"
Posted by: Matt from Olympia on June 9, 2009 08:21 PMSusan Hutchison has done . . . what?
Fred Jarrett decided to be popular rather true to his ideals, and so became a Democrat so he could hang out in the Dem caucus. He also published an editorial in the Bellevue Reporter than was co-authored by a global climate ideologue. He stated that the US will save $260 billion a year (or some such number) by converting to wind and solar power. He said we should all be forced to drive electric cars. Glad Toby likes him, he is kind of a nut job, or he doesn't read what others put his name on.
janet, you are a very reasoned person. Why not Hutch? Experience? Hey, we have the class clown running the USA without any management experience. What experience did Sims and Nickels have before they were elected?
I say Hutch for Republicans because they need a stable and someone who will make the race at least close. Over the years and reading what happened during the McGavick annointing, it appears Hutch was run out before they even got her on the playing field. I say give her a shot. She is comfortable on the tube, which is usually a non-starter for Republicans (that goes for you too, Dino, though you were passable).
For those who think they are in the Republican inner circle (folks, there ain't one) and didn't like her, at least give her a shot. That goes for you, too, Toby. I hope you change your mind.
Warren, great blog site. Gonna spruce this one up, too?
Posted by: swatter on June 10, 2009 07:40 AM"Susan Hutchison has done . . . what?"
She's done at least as much in her life so far as Barrack Obama and he got elected President. I'd say she can run King County.
Posted by: G Jiggy on June 10, 2009 09:18 AMIf you think the race for County Executive should offer you more on the Republican side, contact your KCGOP
http://www.kcgop.org/sitemax/AboutUs/KCGOPTeam/tabid/61/Default.aspx
Get Involved!! WIN!!!
Posted by: MikeBoyScout on June 10, 2009 11:44 AMI'm sure you'd much prefer an Eastside moderate to a Seattle liberal. So why are Republicans holding out slim (IMO) hopes of Susan winning in November when you have two very different if less-than-ideal options with a better chance? Or do you truly believe Susan can win head-to-head against any of the Dems?
This isn't meant to be snark at all, I'm genuinely surprised that so little GOP support appears to be open to supporting Jarrett or Hunter. I'm curious why??
Posted by: mr. smitty on June 10, 2009 01:10 PMI would think she can pick up the extra as a backlash against Obama and the rest of the Democrats. I think it safe to say Obama and the Dems now own the economy and not Bush. Sure, it was bad months ago but the Dems have buried their collective (pun intended) head in the sand and people are noticing.
Posted by: swatter on June 10, 2009 03:43 PMHere's the way I read the polling:
Susan 34%, which is pretty much the entire GOP vote.
Various Dem candidates: 27%
Undecideds: 39%, which is mostly Democratic (or indy lean Dem) votes that haven't made their choice between the four Dems running.
I'd guess maybe 3-5% of the Democratic-leaning voters will be angry their guy lost and support Susan or a 3rd party person out of spite. Those numbers add up to a big loss for Susan in November.
And even if I underestimated the amount of undecideds who might support Susan, she'd need to get about 40% of them to win a head-to-head matchup. I seriously doubt that's possible.
Posted by: mr. smitty on June 10, 2009 04:23 PMAnd that Obama backlash? Huh?? You mean because on his watch we've had TWO TERRORIST ATTACKS IN ELEVEN DAYS ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND?
One of which narrowly averted the deaths of a dozen or two dozen people right there in the national ULTRA HOMELAND THE MALL IN OUR NATION'S CAPITOL a FEW BLOCKS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
yeh, that's Obama's fault and in response people will vote for hard right Republicans. The same people who run a popular blog site and don't have the decency to even mention a terrorist attack on minorities right there on the SOIL OF THE AMERICAN HOMELAND.
Not a mention.
Pretty weird, huh?
One black guy dead. A Jewish center attacked. What a racist. But instead of noting that racism, we have had several posts about implied inferred speculative racism in Sotomayor. What a telling difference. Bullets kill someone on the national mall, no mention, clearly a racist terrorist; one or two cases out of thousands in which the vast majority of discrimination claims are rejected anyway.
Doesn't sound like the Republicans really care about keeping us safe. Any one of us could have been in DC in that Holocaust Memorial. I haven't been there yet and it's on my list.
I don't think there's an "Obama backlash," but even beyond that swatter you're not going to see very local issues influenced by national trends. We're going to be talking about bus service, health care, and local services. It would be incredibly difficult for a conservative candidate to win.
These early polls are simply name recognition and not representative of the general election. Though it seems very likely she will sail through the primary while the democrats split the ticket, as warren's insightful post discribed.
Posted by: John Jensen on June 10, 2009 09:44 PMSeriously, I am in Fred Jarrett's district, and he seems like a reasonable guy but when I have contacted him with concerns his response has always been something along the lines of 'I agree, I'm concerned too, but nothing can be done.' I am not going to vote for him for exec.
Posted by: travis t on June 11, 2009 01:30 AMYou know, on that Democrat backlash, it is coming. Whether it will be evident in November yet or in the Congressional races next year, I can't say for certain.
The signs are there, but we'll see. For the record, the Obama/Democrat backlash is a big picture comment. At the State level, didn't the Democrat legislature and governor play games all session on the budget. Wasn't it Gregoire who said there was no budget deficit just last summer and then the shortfall kept getting bigger and bigger. Think the middle 20-30 percent haven't paid attention? Think the union people aren't worried about their pensions? Think the young 'uns aren't dissatisfied and disillusioned?
They are, but the question is "will it be enough" to change the election for County Executive?
And why all the hate on Hutch? Frankly, I never watched TV news so I know absolutely nothing about her. I know the left already hate her and haven't heard a word about her. I still don't know why the squishy middle of the R party hate her (she doesn't sound like a Crasswell, after all).
I hope Hutch changed the dialogue from the liberal issues to one of fiscal responsibility, justice and law enforcement (gangs and drugs) and property rights.
Posted by: swatter on June 11, 2009 08:13 AMBeing a woman is not a qualification.
Comparing Hutchison's qualifications to Obama's is irrelevant and not a selling point.
Counting on an "Obama backlash" in King County is way beyond a pipe dream.
With Toby and Litzow, the endorsement was a pretty transparent political ploy (Toby angling for a cushy job, Litzow trying to exercise the antiquated Downsian model).
But I'm perplexed about Lamb. There's a guy who could run for the leg. in a good year, move to the Snoho side of Bothell and run for Exec, or hope Bothell gets redistricted into the 45th by 2012. But who knows, maybe he's preparing to exit the electoral arena and is hoping for a job with Governor McKenna in 3 years.
Posted by: Slippery Pete on June 11, 2009 09:05 AMhttp://susanhutchison.org
Real tough one to find that. Who ever heard of a candidate's domain being firstnamelastname.org?
Posted by: Slippery Pete on June 11, 2009 09:29 AMRepublicans should go with their values. They need to articulate not only what's wrong with the Democrat's big government approach, but also STRONGLY put across -- through better communication, their own points. Communication was Hutchison's business for 20 years. I think the GOP is sadly lacking in any expertise in that area. She has a leg up on opponents on that score, and she's not bad on the eyes either.
Posted by: scott on June 11, 2009 10:27 AMFrom Google, looks like HA doing more events than Hutch herself.
And scott, that is what surprises me from the Toby Nixon side, too.
Posted by: swatter on June 11, 2009 10:35 AMIt's kind of a metaphor for the whole Democratic party philosophy for how they view voters.
(Especially if you add the words "And let the government do it for you with money they steal from people who are actually productive.")
Posted by: johnny on June 11, 2009 04:35 PMWell, why isn't there? This is serious. Two armed guys kill people and have intent to terrorize others and no mention.
Why not?
2. "On a site covering right-wing politics"
excuse me this site covers all politics. I see comments about left wing politics right wing policits, everything.
I don't see any notice that says "only right wing comments are welcome" either.
3. "there is really no place for disgusting stories of unfortunate murder."
Actually, there is often discussion of murder on this site. There is discussion of crime. There is discussion fo terrorism. There is discussion of disgusting acts of terrorism.
4."The men who committed those acts are not representative of either political stripe."
True, but who said they were?
The point remains, my god we've had two terrorist attacks, the latest one is a certified hater who previously tried to arrest the federal reserve, he was posting open threats on web sites, he was clearly ready to kill as many people as he could and it happened right on the DC Mall.
Thank God there were armed security guards to shoot back. One of them died and we should be memorializing him. HE's got a name, he's got a history, he's got a family, he was serving the public guarding a national treasure, on the mall, and no mention of this guy.
Huh. What the problem, is he just "not important" enough for us to memorialize him or tell his story?
I find it quite odd that there's a blackout on this whole terrorist atack, on this site.
Do folks agree with Rush that this nut von Brunn is a leftist? That's he's being influenced by leftist forces?
Sounds like a pretty weird comment to me. Rush just said on TV: "You are ramping up hatred for the Jewish people. It is coming from the Obama administration."
That guy is crazy, isn't he?
Oh and the connection to local politics is this: comments like Rush are pretty effectual in ensuring there isn't going to be any backlash against Obama or helping the GOP anytime soon.
Especially in a place like King County.
So Susan Huchison, a dead certain bet for the primary, isn't going to win the county exec race based on some notion of a backlash against Obama.
The GOP is cementing its image as weird, crazy and out of touch with comments like what Rush is saying. I am sure the vast majority of republicans disavow what he's saying and would want to have nothing to do with him.
It's too bad there doesn't seem to be any GOP leader who's making sense about this nut von Brunn that our conservative friends can look to, instead of Rush.
That's why it would be nice to hear what sensible conservative folks think about this kind of terrorism.
Right?
Posted by: Torture lawyer on June 11, 2009 04:52 PMIsn't this the Susan Hutchison who is a far-right, bible thumping, wacko religious fundamentalist who firmly espouses "creationism" and looks forward to Armagedon?
Is this someone we want formulating policy for King County?
I don't think so.
I think it's good torture lawyer and others are putting some of you on the defensive about the hate on this site. The constant completely contentless denigrating of Obama, for instance. Oldstyle conservatism is mired in hate, and two of the last three recent terrorist attacks in this country were by right wingers, that should give every "conservative" pause.
At it's core, conservatism is a beautiful thing--it's about holding government to the job of ref, not boss.
Conservatives have a lot to do in the next ten years but they need to take their inspiration from the likes of Martin Luther King not the millions of haters out there.
Meanwhile, thanks for allowing conservative diversity on this site.
new left conservative 1
Posted by: new left conservative # 1 on June 11, 2009 09:50 PMSusan H. hasn't done anything in the community, as far as I can tell. She has worked for a non-profit? I don't know. Sure can't tell what qualifications she has from her resume.
That's why I like Ross Hunter. He is a big reason for why passing a school levy in Bellevue looks so easy. He doesn't look for the camera, he does the actual work. Plus, he is smart, and was very successful at Microsoft. You can't make it there if you don't have some creative problem solving skills.
Looks, I'm not connected in any way to Hunter's campaign. I have worked with him on education issues, and he walks the walk. He calls things as he sees them. He stood in front of a large group of what I surmised to be pretty liberal parents, and told them that one problem with education is that new teachers have lower SAT scores than those entering the field 20 years ago, implying a big decrease in quality. It takes guts to point that out.
Of course Susan H has 34%. She is the only one Republican running. The others are splitting the vote. A Republican won't win in King County. Sorry.
Posted by: janet s on June 11, 2009 10:00 PMThe guy who shot the Army recruiter was certainly no right winger, or conservative.
The abortion doctor was killed by a crazy. Pro-life groups denounced his actions. Not liking the doctor's practice does not equate to wanting him dead. To suggest that O'Reilly was responsible is just stupid. What a way to chill dissent.
Stop smearing people based on your fantasies. I'm not defensive about being conservative. I'm not afraid to tell people my views. And being a conservative does NOT mean wanting the government be the ref. That's how we got Fannie and Freddie, and the mortgage melt down. Politicians are singularly unqualified to officiate business.
Posted by: janet s on June 11, 2009 10:19 PMfunny how the lefties don't want hutch winning because they .... wouldn't vote for her. But, they wouldn't vote for anyone would a far lefty either.
janet, giving up on the Rs? not wanting Hutch to see how her communication skills are? like you, I don't know nuttin' about nuttin' w/respect to Hutch, but we have to have a 2 party system. are you suggesting Dright and Dleft as the two parties? Don't mean to pick on you as I agree with more than 98% but just saying for the millions of the readers of this blog.
Posted by: swatter on June 12, 2009 07:50 AMForgive my poor wording. I didn't mean to imply that Jarrett 'is' a Republican, but that given the current participants in the race Jarrett is (unfortunately imo) is the most viable Republican choice.
My point is that this election is an opportunity for Republicans in King County, but the current field of Republican and/or Republican 'like' candidates is sooooo weak as to lead a predictable outcome - Republican trouncing.
IF Republicans wish to play an active and useful role in WA State politics THIS election is the biggest opportunity in decades. He/She who wins this election shall have a huge impact on both local and state govt. as well as the political climate. The winner of this election will likely stay in office for a L O N G time.
And Hutchison is a serious Republican contender?
Some nut tries to kill Jews and those at the holocaust museum, he kills a black dude who's serving and protecting, this follows the terrorism attack on Tiller, and no discussion.
Interesting.
2. The relation to King county is there's no ObBama backlash. This kind of terror attack following statements by Rush and others that are just plain insane -- trying to say von Brunn is a creature of forces of the left????? -- well those kind of statements just destroy the brand of the GOP in a place like King county. And the failure of sensible conservatives to denounce those kinds of statements is helping doom the GOP, too.
3. On the county excec race, wow, Huch gets 34%? Um, that means the GOP vote is limited to about 34%. I actually think she will win the primary easily with 34-40% then she will increase her vote in the general election to about 42% and lose in a landslide to any of the four democrats who are running. All of them are viable and capable public officials and campaigners. Oh, I know many here hate their guts, but what I mean is they don't have scandals or problems like a Blogoyevich or something.
Hey guys the right people won in Lebanon you think Obama's speech helped?
We're hoping that the right side wins in Iran, too. Wouldn't that be great if they had their elections and millions voted and Ahminejad lost?
Here's hoping Our President's speech is making an impact. As Americans, we can all hope for that together as it is in our national interest.
Right?
Posted by: Torture Lawyer on June 12, 2009 08:50 AMIf it is important to you, take the responsibility and the action to meet your needs.
Posted by: MikeBoyScout on June 12, 2009 09:04 AMReally millions?
Posted by: BA on June 12, 2009 11:37 AMCouldn't tell 'millions' were written with tongue-in-cheek?
lawyer, get a room, er, go to sidebar and post to your heart's content.
Posted by: swatter on June 12, 2009 02:08 PMWow,you seem hostile. Why is that?
I am posting exactly what I want when I want where I want, and I am taking responsibility for it. But thank you for the invitation to me, to do so.
You ask me, "What is preventing you from posting the discussion you desire to have? If it is important to you, take the responsibility and the action to meet your needs."
I am.
The action I want is to make a comment here:
it's very interesting to me that there's no discussion on this site of the horrible act of terrorism on our American soil, on our national mall in fact, designed to terrorize Jews by a right wing extrmist nut who tried to murder as many museum goers as he could and was only saved by the heroism of the guards who shot back.
And what's even more interesting is even the mere mention of this makes 2 common posters here mad and pissed off.
Come on guys, this act was terrorism, right? It's a tragedy, right? I am sure you share in our sadness and the feeling that we need to take all steps proper and necessary so our citizens are not shot by madmen terrorists like von Brunn.
right? You do agree, don't you? I mean that guy has nothing to do with sensible law abiding conservaties, right?
that would be shocking and disgusting, wouldn't it?
Posted by: Torture Lawyer on June 13, 2009 03:21 PMSo anyone who goes to church is a whacko? And anyone who thinks that God created things is a whacko?
Working for a non-profit makes you a bad person?
Hmmm. You libs have a strange way of picking candidates. I would think given your self-proclaimed superior intellect - that you'd be looking at the substance of a candidate's positions, not their private religious beliefs.
Would you call Barack Obama a bible thumping whacko? After all, he's been quoting from the Bible and Quaran more than any President in recent history. How about the "Reverend" Jerimiah Wright, or the "Reverend" Jesse Jackson, or the "Reverend" Al Sharpton? Are they whackos?
Oh, my bad...sorry for pointing out the liberal double standard. I guess that makes me a hate monger too.
Posted by: scott on June 15, 2009 08:45 AM