UNITED STATES SENATOR
I visited Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Tiffany Smiley’s Twitter feed and now I have the Eagles 1977 song “New Kid in Town” stuck in my head (“Johnny come lately / The new kid in town / Everybody loves you / So don’t let them down”). But I’m assuming that Smiley’s campaign motto “New Mom in Town” is not an homage to the Eagle’s #1 hit but is rather a nod to Patty Murray’s “A Mom in Tennis Shoes” slogan from 30 years ago (Patty’s a grandma now, by the way).

In her five terms in office, one of Murray’s great strengths has been on issues regarding military veterans (she’s a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee). Veterans issues are also what Smiley is running hardest on. The subject is close to her heart for personal reasons, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense politically. What's the point of differentiation?

Perhaps more importantly Smiley is silent on the issues of a woman’s right to choose and anything to do with Donald Trump and the Big Lie (her website says nothing and she doesn’t respond to my very polite emails). She is also endorsed by Mike Pompeo and Dino Rossi. Say no more.

Even though things aren’t going well for the party (barely) in control of the U.S. Senate, Patty Murray should be safe in both this primary and in November's general election. If she’s not, there’s a giant red wave on November 8, and my bags will be packed for Montreal by Thanksgiving.

To be safe, let's help keep the Senate in (barely) Democratic control by casting our votes for the O.M. (Original Mom), Patty Murray, and throwing a few bucks, letters, or phone calls in support of the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Colorado, where senate races are much tighter.

VOTE PATTY MURRAY

UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE, CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 7 
Reading Republican U.S. House candidate Paul Glumaz’s position on health care makes me almost want to vote for him (“Hedge funds and financial speculation should not have a role in driving up the cost of our medical care...Medical care is a form of infrastructure, not a commodity....Laws must be passed that only allow the existence of not-for-profit private insurance organizations”). But my love affair ends pretty quickly as I read on. He talks a lot about “the globalists” which is kind of a loaded term these days, and he’s pretty obviously anti-choice. Moving along...

The Independent candidate, Jesse James, has an awesome name and a mostly solid platform (though he’s a little too into Julian Assange). He also has no prayer of winning. His big complaint about incumbent Representative Pramila Jayapal seems to be that she couldn’t single-handedly pass the Democrats’ Build Back Better agenda. Perhaps she needs more power.

Now and in November, let's vote for Jayapal, work to keep the House in Democratic hands, and pressure the House Democrats to make Pramila Jayapal their next Speaker.

VOTE PRAMILA JAYAPAL

SECRETARY OF STATE
The last time a Democrat won the race for Washington Secretary of State, Joe Biden was a teenager. And now, thanks to 79-year-old President Biden, the Democrats might actually have a chance to win once again.

The last person to win a race for this position, Kim Wyman (a decent Republican), was appointed by Biden to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency last year. She resigned her position as Secretary of State, and Steve Hobbs was appointed by Jay Inslee to the office, giving Hobbs the power of incumbency for the 2022 election. It was sweet little Three-card Monte trick successfully executed by the Democrats (which they can still manage to screw up because, well, they’re Democrats).

Hobbs has seven opponents in this race. Some have experience (Pierce County auditor Julie “I’m Non-Partisan!” Anderson), some have name recognition (former state senator Mark “Family Values” Miloscia), some have endorsements (Keith “Sam Reed Likes Me” Wagoner), and some have delusions (Tamborine “TRUMP WON!!!” Borrelli).

Hobbs will definitely make it through to November. It’ll be interesting to see what brand of opponent joins him on the ballot. For now, let’s reward Biden and Inslee for their political acumen in putting a Democrat in charge of our state’s election integrity. Recent history has shown there are folks on the other side who cannot be trusted with such power.

VOTE STEVE HOBBS

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 43,
ONE SENATOR AND TWO REPRESENTATIVES 
I don’t know what YOUR legislative district looks like, but it’s Cuba over here in the 43rd. Our state senator and two state representatives are all running unopposed. All three of them! Usually there’s a token Republican in the race complaining about too many taxes, bike lanes, and commies in Seattle. Or there’s a Socialist in the race complaining about too few taxes, bike lanes and commies in Seattle. But not this year.

Frank Chopp, Jamie Pedersen, and Nicole Macri are all running unopposed, and will all represent you in the 43rd for the next two years. No matter what. And that’s fine. They’re all fine. But...yawn.

Have some fun with this one. The 43rd Legislative District covers Downtown Seattle, First Hill, Capitol Hill, South Lake Union, Madison Park (ugh), Montlake, Wallingford, Fremont, the U District and Southern Green Lake. Think of three people who live in those neighborhoods that would be fun to represent you in the state senate and state house and write them in. Just for the hell of it.

Usually your vote matters, but this time it really doesn’t

I’M VOTING DAVE MATTHEWS, DAN SAVAGE & BO ODYSSEY