UNITED STATES SENATOR
Back in 2003, I swore I'd never vote for an elected official who voted to authorize George W. Bush's war on Iraq. Unfortunately I've been forced to deviate from that promise several times, as the Democratic Party keeps nominating presidential candidates who did just that. In the end, I indeed voted for Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Joe Biden, all of whom voted for Bush's illegal invasion while they were United States Senators.

Maria Cantwell also supported Bush's war authority. I haven't voted for her since.

Her opponents are the usual gaggle of goofballs (including the legend known as Goodspaceguy) most of whom are unbeholden to corporate interests, man. Cantwell will coast to the general election and almost certainly win her fifth term in the United States Senate. But it will be no thanks to me.

VOTE FOR AN OLD HIPPIE

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT NO. 7
Who dares challenge our progressive queen Pramila Jayapal?

1. Liz Hallock (D), an Ivy League rock climbing instructor whose positions seems fairly in line with Jayapal, except maybe on border policy and the Israel/Hamas war.

2. Cliff Moon (R), an oceanographer with a sweet beard who thinks we're all too politically correct and doesn't want the government telling him what to drive or what to eat.

3. Dan Alexander (R), an aeronautical engineer who has lived in downtown Seattle for 14 years and believes that "The Arts are a defining element of our culture" that is "crucial for a healthy society." Wait, what? A Republican who believes in investing in the arts? Fascinating! I would like to know more about Dan, but his website is "Currently Under Construction."

I guess I'll stick with the fantastic congressperson we have.

VOTE PRAMILA JAYAPAL

GOVERNOR
Twenty eight (28!!!) candidates are running to be the next governor of Washington. And that's after two guys named "Bob Ferguson" dropped out of the race for fear of being found guilty of election fraud.

Judging by the signage I see and the stuff I hear, the three most likely to succeed are Semi Bird, Dave Reichert, and Bob Ferguson. Let's focus on them.

Semi Bird is this year's Loren Culp, the clueless dork who ran against Jay Inslee for governor in 2020. Remember him? He's hard to forget, especially since (four years later!) his signs still litter the landscape of Washington state. Not to be outdone, Semi Bird's campaign signs are seemingly everywhere as well, and just like Culp, he's a full on MAGA cultist. When he loses this election, I hope he'll have the decency to both concede and yank his campaign signs—two things Culp never did.

If Joe Biden were running against Dave Reichert he'd likely say, "There's only three things Dave Reichert mentions in a sentence, a noun, a verb an the Green River Killer." The dude made an entire political career on catching a guy he didn't really actually catch. And like a serial killer, just when we thought we were rid of him (by voting him out of office, that is) up he pops again. Time to move along, Dave.

Bob Ferguson is the heir apparent to Jay Inslee. I like Jay Inslee. He's been a wonkishly nerdy effective governor for the past 12 years, and I appreciate that he recognizes (unprompted) that it's time to pass the torch., and Bob Ferguson, our wonkishly nerdy attorney general, is the perfect candidate to effectively carry it on.

VOTE BOB FERGUSON

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Our lieutenant governor doesn't do much. The office presides over the state senate and takes over the governorship should the current governor die or disappear. Like an NFL offensive lineman, if you haven't heard the lieutenant governor's name in awhile, then they must've not screwed up too badly. Denny Heck was elected Washington's lieutenant governor four years ago. I've barely heard his name since.

Heck has four opponents: Patrick Harman, Bob Hagglund, Dan Matthews and David Griffin, all older white dudes like himself.

All I know about Harman is he's running as a member of the "Liberal Republican Party", which I did not know was a thing anymore. Hagglund is running to "block any woke legislation that comes across his desk as Lt. Governor," which is not how it works, Bob (also, you suck). Dan Matthews is a former pilot who flew 747s, which is pretty bad ass, but a key part of his platform is to "stand up to the war against women's rights to fairly compete in sports," which frankly seems a little low-priority...and a little dog whistle-y

The lone Democrat running against Heck is David Griffin, whose campaign platform is fairly thin, though he does put an emphasis on a women's right to choose, which is great, but that's about all he tells us. So I guess I'll stick with the guy we know a little better...and rarely hear from.


VOTE DENNY HECK

SECRETARY OF STATE
Washington has voted for a Republican for secretary of state in every election since 1960, when Democrat (and jazz bandleader!) Victor Aloysius Meyers (VAM!) was elected to the office. This is the year that is likely to change.

The lone Republican on the ballot is Dale Whitaker, who lists "Executive Director, WBWV for the last 2.5 years" as one of his qualifications for office. "What is WBWV," you ask? WBWV stands for "We Believe, We Vote," which is a Christian ministry, whose mission is to "provide resources to assist citizens in social, cultural, and governmental engagement based on Biblical truths and Constitutional principles." Tellingly, they list The Bible as their #1 core value (the Constitution is #3). Does godless Washington state want this dude running their elections? HELL NO!

Despite the fact that Washington has voted Republican for secretary of state for the past 60+ years the incumbent, Steve Hobbs, is a Democrat. Weird! What happened is Joe Biden appointed Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman to his administration shortly after her 2020 victory, which left Jay Inslee to fill her position. Inslee appointed Hobbs, thereby making Hobbs the first Democrat to hold the secretary of state office since the Notorious VAM. Kind of sneaky!

Anyhow, all that is to say that Inslee thought Steve Hobbs was good enough to run our elections in a transparent, fair and equitable manner, and that's good enough for me.

VOTE STEVE HOBBS

STATE TREASURER
The Republican candidate for this office, Sharon Hanek, looks good on paper: CPA, treasurer for several non-profits, Little League mom. Sadly, a far right, anti-vax, MAGA group called Puget Sound Patriots is throwing a fundraiser for her in August. That's bad news.

Democratic incumbent Mike Pellicciotti has been a fiscally responsible treasurer for the past four years. Did you know that the state of Washington has the best-ranked long-term fiscal stability in the nation, and a super sweet credit rating, which allows us to borrow money for public projects at a lower rate? That's rad news!

VOTE MIKE PELLICCIOTTI

STATE AUDITOR
Republican candidate Matt Hawkins complains about "the divide within our country over the past 4 years" and wonders if this is a result of having "no Audits of the election systems in Washington State." Uh, can you say election denier without actually saying election denier?

Pat McCarthy, the Democratic incumbent, kind of screwed up during COVID by not being quicker to stop fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance. But once the issues were identified, most of the money was recouped, and since then her office has proven to be an effective watchdog for fraud in public housing and other government agencies.

VOTE PAT MCCARTHY

ATTORNEY GENERAL
Republican candidate Pete Serrano is an environmental attorney who worked at the Hanford nuclear site. He has fantastic teeth and a weird solution to the fentanyl crisis: applying what he "learned at Hanford to clean up this mess." Uh, comparing nuclear waste cleanup to human addiction recovery is just plain creepy. Pass.

Serrano's two opponents are both Democrats and both good candidates. It's a Girl Scout Cookie Mom vs a Soccer Dad (their words).

Cookie mom Manka Dhingra is a state senator who spent 20 years as a King County prosecuting attorney. She proudly touts her bipartisanship nature, as well as her experience working with, and support from, various law enforcement organizations. Maybe a little too much touting for me.

I'm putting my support behind soccer dad Nick Brown, a former Army JAG officer and a current U.S. Attorney for Western Washington (the first Black U.S. attorney in state history!), who should ably carry on the legacy of Bob Ferguson, protecting civil liberties in our state should a certain orange blob find his way into the White House again.


VOTE NICK BROWN

COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC LANDS
Not long ago, when speaking of public lands in Washington state, the buzzwords were "water" and "salmon". Now? "Fire" and "smoke" rule the day. All seven (7!) of the candidates running for this position focus on the devastation caused by our increasingly intense forest fires, and the nasty smoke that ensues.

One person who will not get my vote is Jaime Herrera Beutler, a decent Republican who voted to impeach Trump when she was a member of the U.S. House. Unfortunately for Jaime, that vote cost her her job, as she got primaried by MAGA goon Joe Kent. Jaime is now looking for a new job, but when it comes to managing public lands, her resumé pales in comparison to most of her opponents.

For me, the two most intriguing candidates are Allen Lebovitz and Patrick DePoe, a couple of relative political outsiders.

Lebovitz is a forester, restoration ecologist and wildland firefighter, who, to combat forest fires, wants to "focus on the source of the problem, restoring naturally fire-resistant forests and sagelands." With his knowledge and experience, he seems well-suited to do just that.

DePoe's background and resumé are also very interesting. He's a council member for the Makah Tribe who has served as the Director of Tribal Relations for the Department of Natural Resources, and he sat on Governor Inslee's Environment Justice Council. DePoe is a fisherman and emergency first responder, and he's endorsed by our current Commissioner of Public Lands Hillary Franz, who I like. He'd also be the first Native American elected to statewide office in the Pacific Northwest. Now that's fire.

VOTE PATRICK DEPOE

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Four dudes are running for this position. John Patterson Blair is a bit of a nutjob, so he's out. David Olson seems like a decent guy with good intentions, but he focuses a bit too much on his Navy career, which makes me wonder if he'd be better suited for drill sergeant than superintendent of schools.

That leaves us with political newcomer Reid Saaris and incumbent Chris Reykdal. Reykdal will skate through to the general election, so I'm putting my vote in the primary behind Saairs, whose focus on student mental health seems important right about now.

VOTE REID SAARIS

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
Mike Kreidler has held this position since 2021. I like Mike Kreidler. I first saw him at a Democratic event in 2003, when he gave a scathing speech against Dubya's invasion of Iraq. He tied it to insurance, but I don't quite remember how, just that it was great. He also went to UCLA, which made me like him even more.

Lately Kreidler has come under attack for running a bit of a dysfunctional office and being kind of a dick of a boss. Maybe 24 years is too long to be insurance commissioner.

EIGHT CANDIDATES are running to replace Kreidler, most of whom seem completely unqualified for the office (one of them lists "father of four" as part of his "Elected Experience").

The three most qualified candidates for this offices are Phil Fortunato, John Pestinger and Patty Kuderer. Fortunato is in the bag for big insurance companies, so he's out. Pestinger has some good ideas and a lot of experience in the insurance world, but running a big public office may be a little beyond his reach. So I'm putting my support behind Kuderer.

Like myself (and many others), Patty Kuderer has experience fighting (and beating!) insurance companies to cover family health care needs. She was a trial attorney who handled cases involving insurance claims, and has been in the State House and State Senate for the past decade, during which time she sponsored legislation to create a public option for healthcare in Washington state.

VOTE PATTY KUDERER

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT NO. 43, REPRESENTATIVE POSITION NO. 2
If you do one thing this election year, DO NOT VOTE FOR ANDREA SUAREZ. You've probably seen her signs on the street or received her flyers in the mail, which practically scream "I'M A DEMOCRAT" (something she literally did at my front door a few weeks ago).

One of the reasons Suarez protests a little too much is she was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a King County Republican fundraiser in May (she later backed out, probably realizing that raising money for the Republican party was not a good look for a "Democrat"). Another reason she screams "I"M A DEMOCRAT" is she has appeared on several right wing radio shows and podcasts, and not as a dissenting voice.

But that's not the worst thing about her. She founded a group called We Heart Seattle, whose mission is to clean "garbage" out of city parks and open spaces. The problem is, it's not all garbage. Look, I don't like people camping in parks and I hate litter, but before throwing stuff away without knowing if it belongs to someone is just plain wrong. Most offensively, she doesn't have a permit to do this work, and when asked by a reporter why she lacks permitting she replied, "Did Jesus need a permit?" Say what?

ANDREA SUAREZ IS TERRIBLE.

A vote for either Daniel Carusello or Shaun Scott is a good vote. Carusello is a young guy with a lot of energy, but his lack of experience working in the government or public policy sector gives me pause. I'm supporting Shaun Scott, who I also supported in 2019, when he narrowly lost a city council seat to Alex Pedersen (who Suarez makes look good by comparison). Scott's a smart guy who's very engaged...and he wears great sweaters.

Frankly if I could vote for both, I would. Because ANDREA SUAREZ IS TERRIBLE, and her making it through to the general election in November is a scary (though quite realistic) possibility.

VOTE SHAUN SCOTT (AND/OR DANIEL CARUSELLO)

JUSTICE POSITION NO. 2
This seat is open on the Washington Supreme Court due to the departure of Justice Susan Owens, who is retiring per the state constitution’s requirement that justices retire at the end of the year in which they reach their 75th birthday. Wait, we can actually do that? Someone tell Speaker Johnson!

As a mere commoner, it's hard to judge judges, but in my judgment the two candidates most qualified to be judges are Dave Larson and Sal Mungia.

Larson is currently a judge for the Federal Way Municipal Court, where he has been serving since 2008. Larson is a member of the Therapeutic Courts Committee who believes that the courts should "prioritize therapeutic approaches to get to the root of why people commit crimes and to help them resolve underlying issues, rather than relying on a punitive system." That sounds pretty great, but his statement that he is "keeping us safe from crime as a trial judge" is a little to self-aggrandizing for me.

I'm judging Sal Mungia to be the best candidate for Supreme Court justice. Mungia is a trial and appellate lawyer with over 40 years of experience in the legal field. He's also been a cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Washington since 1986. Mungia has fought against racial discrimination in jury selection and is endorsed by eight of the nine current Supreme Court justices. (Also, what a great name!)

VOTE SAL MUNGIA

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT NO. 8
It's a shame that Tanya Woo has the power of incumbency in this election. She certainly didn't earn it. Woo lost her District 2 council race to Tammy Morales, and after being rejected by the voters, was immediately appointed to the Seattle City Council when Teresa Mosqueda left to serve on the King County Council. It was all pretty fishy, and in my mind Woo's appointment should've come with the caveat that she would not seek re-election to the council. But she is, and I'm not voting for her.

Four other candidates beside Woo are running for this office: Tariq Yusuf, Saunatina Sanchez, Saul Patu and Alexis Mercedes Rinck. All are better than Woo, but I'm voting for the candidate best suited to beat Woo in the general election in November, and that's Alexis Mercedes Rinck (AMR?).

Rinck overcame a tough childhood (what's the opposite of being born with a silver spoon?) to graduate from UW with a Masters in Public Administration. She is now the Assistant Director for Policy at UW, a fine background for navigating the city council.

Her focus on public safety is less about more cops, and more about better cops and alternatives to cops. She's a renter, so knows firsthand what a budget crunch the cost of housing in Seattle is, and will seek progressive revenue to help fund more affordable housing. Finally, she rides the bus and light rail on the regular which (judging by the lack of prioritizing public transportation on the current city council) I'm not sure any of our other councilmembers does.

VOTE ALEXIS MERCEDES RINCK