According to the Seattle Times’ David Postman, Rep. Jay Inslee has drawn a challenger.
Issaquah School Board member Larry Ishmael, a Dino Rossi pal, is now also a congressional candidate, running against incumbent Democrat Jay Inslee in the First District.
Ishmael was welcomed to the race by state Republican Party Chairwoman Diane Tebelius.
Um… gee… but last time I checked, wasn’t Issaquah still in the Eighth Congressional District?
According to our good friend Stefan’s online voter database (you know, the one with online ads that violate the prohibition on using such databases for commercial purposes,) Ishmael has indeed been registered to vote in Issaquah since 1987. Which kinda makes sense considering living within the boundaries of a school district is a sort of a prerequisite for being eligible to serve on its board.
So if Ishmael is indeed running against Rep. Inslee in the First District, one can only assume that either….
A) Ishamel has actually moved into the First District, changed his registration, and formally resigned from the Issaquah School Board, or
B) Is so unengaged politically that he doesn’t even know who the fuck his own congressman is.
Only an idiot would pick up and move districts just to make a futile, last minute run against a popular Democratic incumbent in an election year when Republicans are proving about as welcome as ringworm; but it would be amusing if it was the latter. And awfully embarrassing, not just for Ishmael, but for Tebelius, who probably should have learned something from the whole Will Baker debacle about the importance of vetting candidates — even joke candidates — before publicly announcing the party’s endorsement.
In any case, Ishmael’s lament that “the First District needs better leadership” falls a bit flat considering he doesn’t live there. Perhaps he was thinking of the Eighth District?