Don’s picks: Nov. 8 general election

 

Those of you who have been reading my election picks for a while know that I no longer recommend Republicans because Republicans are now a dangerous personality cult. Just ask the Republican candidate for Senate in Ohio who Trump bragged “kissed his ass.” Or the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate in Georgia who lied about his out-of-wedlock children, his payment to a former girlfriend for an abortion, his education, his credentials, his employment, and his charitable efforts.

 

The hypocrisy is stunning. Republicans complain about government overreach—but it was the Republican Supreme Court justices who ruled this year that local governments have every right to interfere with a woman’s control of her own body, but local governments have no right to regulate guns. The Republican justices ruled that a public-school coach can impose his religion on his public-school students—so long as he does it subtly. Republican Justice Clarence Thomas was explicit: He wants to allow states to ban gay marriage. Ban birth control.

 

Let that sink in. He wants to allow states to ban birth control.

 

Give money to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.

 

Then, vote. Vote for Democrats. Reject Republicans. The only good Republican is a defeated Republican, and even then, they spread their poison and lies. Vote straight Democratic. 

 

Here are my picks.

 

U.S. Senate

Patty Murray. Murray’s Republican opponent, Tiffany Smiley, is running ad after ad that ignores several things:

1) Smiley is a Republican.

2) She wants to ban abortion, and bring back the days of coat-hanger, back-alley abortions.

3) She says the 2020 election raised issues of fraud, which is a lie.

4) She claims to support veterans, although Republicans this year opposed legislation that would help veterans, until they got too much bad press.

5) She lies about the appropriation for the IRS, saying incorrectly that it will harass middle-class taxpayers. That’s a lie; the bulk of the money will be used to update customer service and computer systems—and go after millionaire and billionaire tax cheats.

6) She will vote for justices (like Clarence Thomas) that want to allow states to ban contraception and gay marriage, or, as Trump cock-sucker Lindsey Graham has proposed, banning abortion outright across the nation. 

 

But that’s what Republicans do. They lie. Brazenly. Without shame. They want Big Government to tell women they can’t use contraception. They oppose death with dignity laws.

 

Patty Murray has served the state well for all these years. She’s not a cute blonde. She’s a terrible public speaker. She has the charisma of a geoduck.

 

But Patty gets the work done. 

 

Congress

Vote Democratic. Down the line. The only Republican running with an ounce of integrity is Dan Newhouse in Tri-Cities. But on every other issue other than Trump, Newhouse votes the extremist party line.

 

Secretary of State

Steve Hobbs. His opponent is Julie Anderson, the Pierce County auditor, who has integrity and says she’s nonpartisan. But why fix something that ain’t broke? Hobbs’ priorities are the right ones: election security, cybersecurity. I see Anderson as a fine administrator; I see Hobbs as a fine policy maker and risk manager.

 

State legislature

Democrats. We simply can’t risk that any Republican state legislator runs for higher office and succeeds. Plus, most Republicans refuse to distance themselves from the lies their party leaders push.

 

Here are endorsements where the races aren’t black and white. Where I had to choose between two Democrats, I chose based on their not being ideologues and their endorsements by mainstream officeholders.

 

House of Representatives

 

District	Position	Endorsement
2	2	Edward Meer
4	2	Leonard Christian (Ironically, it’s his opponent who says God supports him.)
7	1	Jacquelin Maycumber (Opponent is a gun extremist)
8	1	Patrick Guettner
8	2	April Connors (Opponent says God supports him)
12	2	Mike Steele
14	1	Laurene Contreras (Independent)
14	2	Liz Hallock (Pro-choice independent)
34	1	Leah Griffin
36	1	Jeff Manson
37	2	Chipalo Street
39	1	Sam Low (Opponent says Trump won the election)
40	2	Trevor Smith (Union agent, so his priorities will to remind folks that of policy impacts on jobs)
46	1	Gerry Pollet
46	2	Lelach Rave
47	2	Chris Stearns (Better qualifications)

 

Senate

 

District	Endorsement
8	Ronni Batchelor (independent)
31	Chris Vance (former chair of the state republicans who was so disgusted by Trump lies and fellow Republicans kissing Trump’s ass that he left the party and is now an independent. In other words, a conservative with integrity)
32	Jesse Salomon
36	Noel Frame
46	Javier Valdez

 

State advisory votes

39, Bill 5974. MAINTAINED. Without a state income tax that would be far fairer to middle- and lower-income people, the state needs to nickel and dime people and businesses because Republicans are such assholes in their opposition to all and any taxes. 

 

40, Bill 2076. MAINTAINED. Who wouldn’t want Uber and Lyft to provide fair compensation to their drivers? Republicans wouldn’t.

 

King County referenda

Charter amendment 1. YES. Moves county elections to even-numbered years to increase turnout and simplify stuff. Endorsed by everyone.

 

Proposition 1, conservation levy. NO. In theory, I support this, which increases the amount of money that preserves land. Its opponents are crazy right-wingers. That being said, I despise government by levy. It’s an insane way to set priorities, and no levy is ever aligned with the next ones coming down the road. (Bellevue and Mercer Island have separate ballot items to increase their levy for parks.)

 

King County candidates

 

Prosecuting Attorney. Jim Ferrell. Currently, the Federal Way mayor and former deputy prosecutor. He’s running on a tough-on-crime platform, but he’s hardly right wing. He’s vocally pro-choice. He’s overtly welcoming to LGBTQ folks. And his endorsers are a mix of Republicans and Democrats, including Democrats Larry Phillips and Adam Smith, as well as the 47th District D’s. His endorsers also include a mix of ethnic groups.

 

Northeast Judge Pos. 6 (Superior Court). Michael Finkle. He’s the incumbent with a long history of work in the judicial system Although it’s a bit beyond his purview, he’s been outspoken about putting a cap on loan rates, which he’s seen as high as 30 percent!

 

Seattle propositions 1A and 1B

The crazies are on the loose trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. First, the crazies proposed Prop 1A that changes how we vote for candidates. City Council hated the idea, and knee-jerked its own poorly thought-out proposition, ranked voting. The result is two confusing ballot questions.

 

Question 1. NO. It’s a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.

 

Question 2. PROP 1B. If the ignorant ideologues voting approve question 1, then I’d go with the alternative offered by the mayor and city council.

 

Seattle candidates

Municipal Court Pos. 3. Adam Eisenberg.

Municipal Court Pos. 7. Nyjat Rose-Akins.

 

Both are willing to prosecute criminals who commit misdemeanors and are more in line with City Attorney Ann Davison. Living as I do in the heart of the battle zone on First Hill, and being a victim of rampant, unprosecuted, unpoliced break-ins, car prowls, package thefts, etc., I’m sick and tired of politically correct ideologues who want to coddle criminals because they’re so misunderstood. I’m not a NIMBY. The methadone maintenance clinic one block away is a good neighbor. I testified in favor of the homeless housing now going up four blocks away. But I’m sorry. Being depraved because you’re deprived (as West Side Story said) is no excuse for breaking the law.

 

Eisenberg and Rose-Atkins aren’t extremist Republicans. They’re mainstream lawyers—both minorities. They both have been endorsed by real Democratic politicians.