UNITED STATES PRESIDENT
In 2002, I swore I would never vote for anyone who supported George W. Bush’s Iraq War Resolution. I’ve had to break that promise to myself only once: when John Kerry ran against Bush for president in 2004. I will never forgive Hillary Clinton for her “YES” vote, and that was one of the key reasons I supported Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination.

America has three choices in the race for president this year: vote for Hillary Clinton, vote for Donald Trump or write-in the name of your dream candidate as a protest vote. I’ve considered writing in Sanders’ name, but this is not the right election in which to cast a protest vote, even in a safely blue state like Washington. The rejection of Donald Trump as a viable candidate for president must be overwhelming. Not just so he and his supporters will have a harder time claiming that the result was “rigged”, but also because Trump appeals to bigotry, fear, violence and other terrible instincts that must be condemned by landslide on November 8.

Benghazi, email servers and Bill’s infidelities are all distractions. There is no doubt that Hillary Clinton is eminently qualified to hold the office of President of the United States. And my 92-year-old grandmother will be ecstatic to have a woman president in her lifetime. I’m with her.

VOTE HILLARY CLINTON

UNITED STATES SENATOR
In 1992 (the Year of the Woman) Patty Murray won her first race as a U.S. Senator. Since then, she has been fighting for better health care, access to education, veteran’s rights and sensible foreign policy. And every six years, the Republican party nominates another human punching bag for Patty Murray to knock out. In 1998 it was Linda Smith with an uppercut, in 2004 it was George Nethercutt with a body blow, in 2010 it was Dino Rossi with a left/right combo so vicious it nearly mussed his hair. This year it’s Chris Vance.

Chris Vance is not evil. He denounced Donald Trump back in May, way before it was cool for a Republican to do so. He’s a rational Republican who regularly appears on our local NPR affiliate to give a reasonable right-of-center counterpoint on local and national issues. That’s a good role for him. Let’s keep him there.

VOTE PATTY MURRAY

UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE,
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT NO. 7
Brady P. Walkinshaw lost my vote the moment he entered this race. An inexperienced Brady P. Walkinshaw was appointed through the backdoor as a state representative for the 43rd District (my district) in 2013. He then ran unopposed for the seat in 2014, and before serving even a full term, dumped us in pursuit of something sexier in Washington DC.

When it comes to stick-to-itivness, Pramila Jayapal isn’t much more tenacious than Brady P. Walkinshaw. In her first term as state senator, she is bailing on the 37th District to run for U.S. Representative (but, hey, what do I care...I don’t live in the 37th!). Jayapal’s resumé is much stronger than Brady P. Walkinshaw’s, especially when it comes to civil rights. After 9/11 she founded Hate Free Zone (now called OneAmerica), whose goal is to protect the rights of immigrants, especially Arabs and Muslims. And with the crisis in Syria, combined with our current political climate (stoked by a billionaire Creamsicle), Middle Eastern immigration could be one of the most important issues our representatives in Washington DC face in the coming years.

VOTE PRAMILA JAYAPAL

GOVERNOR
Jay Inslee is running unopposed in this race...wait, what, he’s not? Ah, I almost didn’t notice the vacuous empty suit with the sweet hairdo in the corner over there. That’s Bill Bryant, hater of environmentalists who fight against arctic drilling, laughing at them like a cartoon villain.

Inslee’s been a good, if not great, governor. He caters a bit too much to the corporate dollar and the culture of the automobile for my tastes, but that’s to be expected from someone who represents the two Washingtons that lie on the east and west of the Cascades. Four more years of Inslee is much, much preferable to the joker running against him (and maybe Inslee will have a Democratic Senate to work with this time).

VOTE JAY INSLEE

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Washington’s Lieutenant Governor has what is perhaps the most boring job in state politics. He or she presides over the Senate and assumes the Governorship if the Governor dies while in office, which has happened three times in this state, but not since 1919. And that’s it.

Cyrus Habib has accomplished much is his young life. Blind since childhood, he overcame that obstacle to get a law degree from Yale, practice law, teach at Seattle University and serve in the state Senate, where is currently the highest ranking Iranian-American in United States public office. Why he now wants the most boring job in state politics is lost on me. But since he was the Democratic Whip while serving in the Senate, he should have no problem telling his former colleagues to get to work.

VOTE CYRUS HABIB

SECRETARY OF STATE
When it comes to experience with running elections (which is the primary responsibility of the Secretary of State) Kim Wyman is the most qualified candidate in this race. In a year when the standard bearer for the Republican Party wasn't an unhinged bigot who throws tantrums like an over-sugared 10-year-old brat, I could see endorsing a fairly reasonable Republican like Wyman. But that is not the case in 2016. And even though Wyman dubbed Donald Trump's assertions that the presidential election is being rigged as "irresponsible", I'm still punishing her for being even tangentially associated with Trump by not giving her my vote.

Hey Republicans, if you want bipartisan support down the ballot, try and find someone less crazy in 2020 to represent you on a national stage (or maybe don't).

VOTE TINA PODLODOWSKI

TREASURER
This is one of the more interesting races in Washington state this year. In the primary election, the three Democrats running got 52% of the vote, while the two Republicans got 48%. But because we have a Top Two Primary, the two Republicans advanced to the general election with just 25% and 23% of the vote, while the three Democrats are sitting home wondering why the hell THREE of them decided to run.

So I guess I have to vote for a Republican. The Party of Trump. Ugh. Which is the lesser of two evils?

This is a battle of public sector versus private sector experience. Duane Davidson has been the Benton County Treasurer since 2003 (Where's Benton County? Good question. I looked it up. It's halfway between Yakima and Walla Walla, population 175,000 with 22 ghost towns). Michael Waite is a money manager in Seattle, who moved to the United States from Australia in the 1990s to play professional tennis. Now he runs marathons.

Waite sounds like a much more interesting dude to hang out with, but I'm going with the guy who's actually been a Treasurer, mate.

VOTE DUANE DAVIDSON

AUDITOR
Pat McCarthy has been the Pierce County Executive since 2009. Before that she was the Pierce County Auditor. She has experience, endorsements and a sweet trophy case—in 2005 McCarthy was named County Auditor of the Year, which is like the Heisman for county auditors.

Her opponent, Mark Miloscia, ran for this position in 2012 as a Democrat. He lost. Now he's running as a Republican. He's gonna lose again.

VOTE PAT McCARTHY

ATTORNEY GENERAL
In the August 2nd Top Two Primary, Democrat Bob Ferguson and Libertarian Joshua Trumbull were the only two candidates in the race for Attorney General. Not surprisingly, they advanced to the general election...because they were the only two candidates in the race.

In the August 2nd primary, Ferguson got 73% of the vote to Trumbull's 27%. Since both Ferguson and Trumbull have managed to avoid major scandals in the past three months, I have a feeling November 8th will look a lot like August 2nd.

VOTE BOB FERGUSON

COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC LANDS
This down-ballot position sounds a bit mundane, but it is important. The Commissioner of Public Lands is the head of the Department of Natural Resources and is responsible for environmental protection in the state. Like clean air and water? Want to see our public lands properly cared for? Hate mudslides caused by dangerous logging practices? Then pay attention!

Hilary Franz is currently the Executive Director of Futurewise, whose goal is to promote smart growth and protect our natural environment. She wants to end steep slope logging, curb carbon pollution and be a kickass steward for conservation. And she lives on a farm with a herd of goats and three teenage boys, so I'm guessing she's got firsthand knowledge of flora, fauna and natural gas.

VOTE HILARY FRANZ

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
I endorsed Erin Jones in the primary because she has experience as both a teacher and administrator, including serving as an Assistant Superintendent in the Office of Public Instruction. She wants to focus on closing the educational opportunity gaps that exist between the wealthy and the poor. She promises to fight for school funding as mandated by state law, and is not a huge fan of charter schools. She grew up in the Netherlands and speaks four languages.

Some other people who endorsed Jones in the primary (namely The Stranger) have since rescinded their endorsement based upon comments that Jones made regarding education and the transgender community. Jones's comments were clumsy, but not offensive. A polished politician she is not, and I think The Stranger went on witch-hunt armed with dubious facts. I'm pro-facts and anti-witch-hunt.

VOTE ERIN JONES

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
My wife and I recently got screwed over by our health insurance company. I emailed everyone I could think of for help. Regence didn't give a damn. The Health Care Marketplace said their hands were tied. Frank Chopp and Jamie Pedersen's offices tried to help, but couldn't do much either. But the Office of the Insurance Commissioner had my back. One of Mike Kreidler's compliance analysts spent a lot of time listening to my issue, then started busting heads (or at least writing letters) until our problem was solved. Thanks, Dan!

Kreidler has been our Insurance Commissioner since 2001. The insurance industry is messed up: premiums are too high, coverages are confusing and bureaucracy reigns. But this is not Kreidler's fault. He stands on the side of the consumer and is willing to fight the many complicated injustices thrust upon us by large insurance carriers. He's also a good Lefty and a fellow UCLA Bruin.

VOTE MIKE KREIDLER

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT NO. 43, REPRESENTATIVE POSTION NO. 1
Driving down an I-5 offramp the other day, my grandmother, who was in the passenger seat, pointed at a line of tents along the shoulder and asked, "Do people actually live there?" She's been on this earth for 92 years, traveled to every continent except Antarctica, and this, to her, was more shocking than the snake I put on her head at a Malaysian temple in 1989.

Seattle's a big city, and big city's have homeless people. But the number of people living on freeway medians, in roadside brambles and under bridges in Seattle the past few years has become staggering.

I did not support Nicole Macri in the primary, but of the two candidates who advanced over my pick (Scott Forbes) I am swayed by Macri's work on low income housing, homelessness and budgeting more than Dan Shih's also impressive work on civil liberties.

VOTE NICOLE MACRI

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT NO. 43, REPRESENTATIVE POSTION NO. 2
Olympia's favorite dictator, Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, is running unopposed, which is hardly a surprise. If you cross the Great Mustachioed One, he will destroy you.

OBEY FRANK CHOPP

WASHINGTON STATE INITIATIVE NO. 1433
If you hate food poisoning, you might like Initiative 1433. Not only would I-1433 increase the hourly minimum wage in Washington state incrementally over a four year period beginning in 2017, it would also require employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees.

The increase in the minimum wage and the sick leave requirements are both modest. The minimum wage would increase at an annual rate of somewhere between 5 and 12 percent over four years, and then adjust each year according to the rate of inflation. The sick leave requirement would be one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked, which should be enough to keep a sick guy at home rather than sneezing on your potato skins at Fridays.

VOTE YES on I-1433

WASHINGTON STATE INITIATIVE NO. 1464
This initiative does a lot of little things in an attempt to keep Big Money out of state politics. Most interestingly it will provide each registered voter with three $50 credits that they could then donate to eligible political candidates of their choice, the idea being that this will allow candidates who are not backed by big financial donors to have a bigger voice in elections. Where is the money coming from? That’s the best part...OREGONIANS!

I-1464 would repeal the nonresident sales tax exemption, thus requiring nonresidents to pay sales tax on retail purchases in Washington. And we all know who most of those sales tax scofflaws are—our hipster neighbors to the south.

The initiative also requires SuperPACs and other big donors to be more transparent in disclosing which political ads they’re funding, and also puts limits on the “revolving door” that currently exists in state politics which allows government officials to take lobbying jobs as soon as they leave office.

The whole thing sounds a little crazy. Crazy enough to work? Why not!

VOTE YES on I-1464

WASHINGTON STATE INITIATIVE NO. 1491
What if, in the Spring of 1994, Courtney Love had gone to the King County Courthouse and reported that her husband was behaving erratically and she would like a police officer to remove all guns from their home? Kurt Cobain might still be alive today, writing songs about middle-aged angst.

If a family member fears that a person presents a significant danger to himself or others, I-1491 would allow them to request “extreme risk protection orders” from a court, which if granted would require the troubled person in question to surrender all firearms and firearm licenses to law enforcement.

Plenty of protections against filing false claims and a person’s due process are included in this initiative. And it’s telling that the argument against I-1491 states, “Confiscating firearms doesn’t make someone stable, it makes them mad.”

VOTE YES on I-1491

WASHINGTON STATE INITIATIVE NO. 1501
This initiative sounds good on the surface. It would increase the penalty for consumer fraud (i.e. identity theft) that targets senior citizens and other “vulnerable” individuals. This sounds like a good thing. But I-1501 takes a weird shift when it also exempts in-home caregivers from our state’s Public Records Act. I’m confused as to why these caregivers would be given this special exemption that most of the rest of us do not have. And when I’m confused, I just say no.

VOTE NO on I-1501

WASHINGTON STATE INITIATIVE NO. 732
If passed, this initiative would impose a new carbon emission tax on the sale or use of certain fossil fuels and the energy generated from these fuels. It does not apply to energy generated from non-fossil fuel sources, which includes hydro, wind, solar and, unfortunately nuclear.

The money generated from these taxes would then be used to reduce our state sales tax to 5.5 percent from the current 6.5 percent. Washington has one of the most (if not the most) regressive taxation structures in the nation, and that's largely due to our very high sales tax rate. So if we can take a few dollars from the dudes blowing smoke into the skies and redirect it to everyone who ever buys anything in the state (which is all of us), then I'm all for it.

VOTE YES on I-732

WASHINGTON STATE INITIATIVE NO. 735
This initiative would urge our state legislature to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution which would declare that constitutional rights belong only to human beings and that money is not free speech. It's basically a response to the terrible 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

The U.S. Constitution can be amended either by the United States Congress or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state's legislatures. If passed, Washington would be the 17th state to tell our legislatures to act on this issue. Not very close to two-thirds, but on the way.

Only one Amendment has been added to the U.S. Constitution in the past 45 years, the 27th, which was proposed in 1789 and ratified in 1992. That process took 203 years. I-735 is a good measure, but I'm not holding my breath that the 28th Amendment is coming along anytime soon.

VOTE YES on I-735

ADVISORY VOTES NO. 14 & NO. 15
Advisory votes are stupid. They are only on the ballot because snake oil salesman Tim Eyman sponsored an initiative back in 2007 that required advisory votes on tax increases that were not subject to citizen referendum. The state Senate and House have already voted on these bills and both passed by large margins. One has to do with insurance premium taxes on dental plans, the other with tax exemptions on alternative-fuel vehicles. Vote however you want, because your vote doesn't matter...it's advisory. Get it? Thanks Tim!

VOTE HOWEVER YOU WANT

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 8210
Hate working over Christmas? So does the state redistricting commission. If passed, this measure will move the approval deadline of a state redistricting plan (which determines the geographic boundaries of state legislative and congressional districts) from January 1 to November 15. Let's give these folks some time to get drunk with their families over the holidays.

VOTE APPROVED on RESOLUTION 8210

KING COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 1
This amendment would make the elected office of King County Prosecutor a nonpartisan position. Currently, Prosecuting Attorney is the only partisan elected position in King County government, and even though King County votes over 70% Democrat in presidential races, our current prosecutor is a Republican. As was the prosecutor before him. And the prosecutor before that.

The local Democratic party wants to keep this a partisan position so voters can make "informed choices" and "know what candidates stand for" by maintaining party labels. I hate labels. Labels are lazy. And if voters already know what party our last three County Prosecutors belonged to and still voted for the Republican, maybe Democrats need a new strategy.

VOTE YES on CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 1

KING COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 2
The King County Charter is basically the Constitution of the county. Currently it includes non-gender neutral terms, like "chairman," "councilman" and "Eyman". It also contains varying uses of "his" and "his or her". This amendment would standardize pronouns and make the language in the Charter gender-neutral. Sounds fair.

VOTE YES on CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 2, MAN

CITY OF SEATTLE INITIATIVE NO. 124
This initiative works to protect the safety and health of hotel housekeepers by giving them resources to report sexual harassment, as well as mandating they be provided healthcare subsidies by their employers. According to the Yes on 124 literature, "53% of Seattle hotel housekeepers have been subjected to gross sexual behavior by male hotel guests." I had no idea this was even an issue, but apparently when some men see a woman in their bedroom, they have trouble controlling themselves. Pass the Tic-Tacs.

The only thing that gives me pause regarding this initiative is that guests can be kicked out and banned from hotels when they are accused of sexual harassment. There is no legal requirement for due process. But I really can't think of what a hotel housekeeper has to gain by falsely accusing a hotel guest of gross sexual behavior. Payback for hoarding the little soaps? Yeah, I don't think so.

VOTE YES on I-124

SOUND TRANSIT PROPOSITION NO. 1
Usually the third part of a series is terrible. Godfather III, Jaws III and that last Lord of the Rings movie are bad, bad and bad. Not so Sound Transit 3, which is what Proposition 1 will fund. It's more like Rocky III.

If Proposition 1 passes, 37 new light rail stations will be added throughout the Puget Sound region, serving Ballard, West Seattle, Kirkland, Bellevue, Issaquah, Federal Way, Tacoma, Everett and more. Commuter rail and bus rapid transit will also be added. This is a huge project and a huge investment, funded through a combination of sales taxes, car tab fees and property taxes. It will cost the average adult $14 a month, which is the price of a bad movie in Seattle these days.

Does it take too long to build? Seemingly. But it will be worth the wait, as we witnessed when the Capitol Hill and UW stations opened in March of this year, making the commute (my commute) into and out of downtown speedy and reliable. It changed our city for the better. I pity the fool who votes against Sound Transit 3.

APPROVE PROPOSITION 1

WASHINGTON STATE SUPREME COURT POSITION NO. 1
An aptronym is a personal name that is aptly suited to its owner. Examples in history include William Wordsworth, Usain Bolt and Anthony Weiner. Mary Yu was the first judge to officiate a same-sex marriage in Washington state. Get it? Mary Yu can marry you. She's made for this job.

VOTE MARY YU

WASHINGTON STATE SUPREME COURT POSITION NO. 5
Barbara Madsen has been a Supreme Court Justice since 1992. She is rated Exceptionally Well Qualified by the King County Bar, the Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee and the Latina and Latino Bar Association. Greg Zempel enjoys hiking.

VOTE BARBARA MADSEN

WASHINGTON STATE SUPREME COURT POSITION NO. 6
A bunch of super-wealthy Republicans, including Seattle Mariners owner John Stanton, have spent a lot of money to defeat incumbent Charlie Wiggins by giving his opponent, Dave Larson, $350,000 in campaign contributions. They cite a controversial ruling Wiggins made on a child pornography case that Wiggins said came down to a right to privacy issue. But I think their motives might go a little deeper, and that they'd like the court to move further to the right and be a bit more business-friendly. I ain't playing ball.

VOTE CHARLIE WIGGINS

KING COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT POSITIONS NO. 14, 26, 31, 44, 52 & 53.
Holy crap. This is ridiculous. This ballot is too damn long! Who has the time? No wonder people don't vote. These are the people most-qualified for these King County Superior Court positions. Why? Because I said so, tough guy.

VOTE NICOLE GAINES PHELPS, POSITION 14
VOTE DAVID KEENAN, POSITION 26
VOTE HELEN HALPERT, POSITION 31
VOTE CATHY MOORE, POSITION 44
VOTE KRISTIN RICHARDSON, POSITION 52
VOTE MARIANE SPEARMAN, POSITION 53