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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… I’m guessing that the day Progressive Majority set up shop in Washington state will stand out as one of the most significant recent developments in state and local politics.

PM focuses on the hard work of recruiting, training and supporting progressive candidates for “down ballot” races, building a farm team of local elected officials from which future political all-stars will rise. And their results in Tuesday’s election were truly impressive:

18 of 27 candidates won election (67%)

2 races are still too close to call

5 of 9 women won (56%)

5 of 7 people of color won (71%)

2 of 3 union members won (66%)

7 of 11 first time candidates won (64%)

Two of PM’s highest profile victories were that of Dave Somers and Steve Stuart, both of whom the BIAW spent big money to defeat. Stuart’s win keeps control of the Clark County Commission in the hands of Democrats, and was one of PM’s biggest priorities. And Somers huge upset win over incumbent Jeff Sax gives the Democrats control over the Snohomish County Council.

A big thanks to Dean Nielsen, Edie Giliss and everybody else at PM for a job well done. And a special congratulations to PM candidate Marko Liias, whose Mukilteo City Council victory makes him the first graduate of my class at Camp Wellstone to win his first race for office. (At least I think. I’m terrible with names, so let me know if I missed somebody.)

What do Judy Miller and Stefan Sharkansky have in common? They’ve both been booted from their respective papers.

(I’m pretty sure I’m the first to compare The New York Times and The Stranger in anything but post-consumer fiber content.)

You know it was a bad night for the Republicans when the best spin they could muster over on (un)Sound Politics was this feeble flip of the political dreidle from the site’s soundest contributor, Matt Rosenberg:

A bit of good news tonight… For the first time in quite a while, an out-of-the closet Republican has been elected in a Seattle-wide contest, albeit a non-partisan race.

Um… yeah… elected to a seat on a board that Seattlites also voted to dissolve. That’s some consolation prize Matt.

But of course, the blow was even worse than the righties are letting on, for they didn’t just lose a couple of high profile initiatives and a coveted county executive race… they lost their entire campaign strategy for 2006 and beyond. Initiative 912 was cleverly launched last May as the election contest controversy came to a head, and from day one it was always pitched as an opportunity to send a message to “Queen Christine” and the Democrats who they accuse of stealing last year’s excruciatingly close gubernatorial election.

Likewise, the focus of the Republicans’ campaign against Ron Sims was always the so-called “mess” in King County Records & Elections, with our good friend Stefan, the Pied Piper of GOP paranoids, focusing his relentless efforts on proving a conspiracy theory that seems to flow from the premise that Republicans would actually dominate state and county politics if not for the widespread fraud and corruption in KCRE.

Way back during the election contest trial, during a debate with Stefan on the John Carlson Show, I argued that the GOP’s lawsuit had long since ceased to be about who really won the 2004 election, that it was now focused mainly on defeating Sims in 2005. And this strategy was never clearer than in Stefan’s own election-day call to action:

The choice between David Irons and Ron Sims could not be more clear. A vote for Irons is a vote for integrity and accountability. A vote for Sims is a vote for corruption, fraudulent elections, ridiculous boondoggles and a culture of secrecy and retaliation. … If you want more of Dean Logan and his fraud, dishonesty, disregard for the law and refusal to take responsibility for his work, then by all means vote for Ron Sims. If you’re as sick and tired of reading about Dean Logan as I am sick and tired of writing about him and you want to restore clean elections, then vote for David Irons.

I’m not sure who followed whose lead, but Stefan, Carlson, Kirby Wilbur, Chris Vance and the rest of the GOP leadership seemed to share the same delusion… they confused their own anger and disappointment over Dino Rossi’s loss with that of rank and file voters. How else to explain the arrogant overreaching blunder of the GOP’s fraudulent voter challenge stunt just days before the election?

The framing was clear. An Irons victory would be payback for Gregoire’s disputed win last November, and I-912 was always about sending a bold message that would weaken her administration, paving the way towards big Republican wins in 2006 and beyond.

Well… voters did send a message last night, and it wasn’t exactly the message the R’s had intended: policy trumps politics. In reelecting Sims by a margin that anywhere else in our fractured political terrain would be considered a crushing landslide, King County voters resoundingly rejected the GOP’s year-long smear campaign. And in refusing I-912’s tax cut — not in a squeaker, but by a surprisingly comfortable spread — voters sent a clear message to both the governor and Democratic and Republican legislators alike, that they will not punish elected officials for governing responsibly, even if it means enduring a little financial pain.

It’s hard to blame Irons and the KC GOP for adopting the kind of “anybody but Sims” strategy they ran; what else could they do with such a deeply flawed, totally unqualified candidate running against an experienced, competent and likable incumbent? But John and Kirby should be kicking themselves for jumping the gun on a long term political strategy that has clearly backfired.

Back in May, Kirby told me that one of his main reasons for sponsoring I-912 was so that we could have a public debate over transportation issues… a debate that he felt the Legislature had short circuited. Well, thanks to I-912, we’ve had that debate, and Kirby and his cohorts have lost. The KVI crowd had attempted to wield an incipient gas tax revolt over the heads of elected officials, but their election-contest-forged Sword of Damocles has proven to be little more than a rubber dagger. On this issue at least, voters have given their stamp of approval to Olympia, and rather than weakening Gregoire, I-912 has only enhanced her stature as a leader who is willing and able to take controversial positions on tough issues… and come out on top.

I-912, born out of the ratings spike that accompanied the election contest trial, was intended to be a continuation of the GOP’s relentless propaganda campaign to undermine Gov. Gregoire’s legitimacy, and yet another step down the road towards Rossi’s eventual succession. If the initiative had passed, there is no doubt it would have been politically damaging, but its failure not only leaves Gregoire one of last night’s biggest winners, it leaves Rossi one of its biggest losers… not just by default, but by his total unwillingness to step out in front on the most contentious issue on the state ballot.

As one political wag put it, “when Rossi was asked to lead, he ran away,” whereas Gregoire personally championed the transportation package from the day she brokered the bill out of legislative deadlock, to the moment the last ballot was cast. Gregoire spent her political capital and was rewarded handsomely, whereas Rossi refused to even speak his mind.

Last night was a huge win for both Sims and Gregoire, the two former primary rivals having their political fortunes oddly intertwined in yet another election. So it was especially gratifying to watch the two, side-by-side before the cameras, jointly proclaiming victory.

The coming year promises more bruising campaigns, over land use restrictions, control of the Legislature, Sen. Maria Cantwell’s re-election and other races… and everything we saw last night suggests that Matt, Stefan and their unsound comrades will have at least as much trouble spinning next year’s election night as they did this year’s.

Well… so much for the wingnuts’ predicted backlash over the contested gubernatorial election:

King County Executive:
Ron Sims (D)		54.35%
David Irons (R)		40.80%
Initiative 912
Yes		47.18%
No		52.82%

This might have been the first election in Washington state history in which the blogosphere had a measurable impact on the results, and I think it is fair to say on behalf of my fellow progressive bloggers, that… we kicked the other guys’ asses!

More gloating in the morning.

Early returns look good for Ron Sims, and I-912 isn’t drawing quite what it probably needs in Eastern WA. So I’m feeling good right now. Have at it.

Democrats John Corzine and Tim Kaine have apparently won their races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia respectively. Corzine has a commanding 54% to 43% lead with 58% of precincts reporting. And I love this little description of Kaine’s victory:

Democrat Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine won the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday, soundly defeating Republican Jerry Kilgore in a contest for a GOP-leaning state that was closely watched by political analysts for signs of the public’s mood ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Kilgore lost despite a last-minute rally with President Bush and a harsh campaign ad that alleged that Kaine, a Roman Catholic opposed to the death penalty, would not have executed Adolf Hitler.

Kaine had 812,235 votes, or 51.2 percent, to Kilgore’s 737,747 votes, or 46.5 percent, with 82 percent of precincts reporting.

These were the two highest profile races in today’s election, and neither bodes well for the Republicans. Goody.

Our good friend Stefan at (un)Sound Politics stormed off his post as Provisional Ballot Judge at St. Bennedicts Parrish today, after the polling place inspector reprimanded him for harassing a provisional ballot voter into leaving without casting a ballot.

In a nutshell, I quit as a poll judge because the inspector threatened me for doing my job of dissuading ineligible individuals from voting.

That’s Stefan’s explanation of his job, but that’s not how Bobbie Egan of King County Records and Elections describes it. “Our procedures are very clear,” Egan said. “Provisional voters are to have their ballots accepted at the polling place, and the determination as to eligibility is to made later in the elections office.”

Silly me, I tried to convince someone who is not eligible to vote in this election to vote in the next election.

Yes, silly you, Stefan. According to Egan, the inspector reported that Stefan was “overzealous” in challenging the voter, asking if he was sure he wanted to perjure himself by claiming he was eligible to vote. The voter reportedly replied that “this just isn’t worth it,” and walked out. Egan says that KCRE is trying to contact the voter to tell him to vote at any other polling place.

Stefan also says that the inspector “threatened” him. According to Egan, Stefan was told that he needed to either follow instructions, or move to a different position. At that point, Stefan said he could “no longer fulfill his oath”, and stormed out of the polling place.

Sounds to me like Stefan was unable to “fulfill his oath” from the moment the polling place opened.

See, when we talk about Republican voter intimidation and suppression, this is exactly the type of crap that would happen all the time should people like Stefan control the polling places… exactly the type of crap that already occurs in Florida and Ohio and many other states.

UPDATE:
I was listening to John Carlson bloviate on this subject while I was driving. Oy.

Let’s just make one thing perfectly clear. I know that Stefan thinks he is an election expert, but in truth, these polling place judges and inspectors only get a few hours of training and work maybe 2 or 3 days a year. And so, KCRE’s wise policy is to have these decisions made by the actual professionals, with the training, experience and tools to best determine a voter’s eligibility… rather than leaving it to some hot-head, partisan asshole administering some improvised poll test.

Yes, even on election night, the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.

I’m going to be doing a little election night party hopping, but I’ll be stopping by DL either early, or late… or both. The Montlake Ale House has free wireless internet access, so I may post some election night updates from the festivities. Hope to see you all there… in a celebratory mood.

Via Slog, King County Council Chair Larry Phillips has sent a letter to Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng, formally asking him to investigate Lori Sotelo for perjury:

Metropolitan King County Councilmembers have been contacted by challenged voters whose voter registrations are not only correctly registered to their home addresses, but who also have no prior contact or relationship with Ms. Sotelo. Thus, Ms. Sotelo’s basis for “personal knowledge and belief” of falsified voter registrations is highly questionable, and her voter challenges should be investigated for possible perjury.

I urge you to investigate Ms. Sotelo’s possible perjury in this matter; a violation of state law and a constitutional violation of numerous voters’ inherent right to vote in King County.

Here’s the point… challenging a voter’s registration at any time, let alone days before an election, should not be taken lightly. Yet that’s exactly what Sotelo and the Republican Party did.

This is particularly offensive when you consider the basis for their challenges… not that voter fraud has occurred, or that ineligible voters are casting ballots… but that otherwise eligible voters have technical errors in their registration. According to KCRE, many of those who revised their registration on Saturday only needed to swap their street address for their mailing address… they had merely put the wrong address on the wrong line.

And yet, not only is the GOP bragging about their efforts to deny these people the franchise, they also apparently feel it is justified to inconvenience or even disenfranchise hundreds of wrongly challenged voters in the process!

But with all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over alleged corruption and incompetence in KCRE, what the Republicans haven’t been able to show us is a single scrap of evidence proving widespread voter fraud. After the most scrutinized election in state history and an unprecedented election contest trial, only seven voters out of nearly one million ballots cast have been prosecuted for casting illegal votes. Seven!

The Republican solution? Disenfranchise tens of thousands of legal voters by purging the rolls, eliminating ballot duplication and enhancement, enacting photo ID and stricter signature matching standards, and yes… falsely challenging hundreds of legally registered voters.

The only fraud in the 2004 gubernatorial election was Dino Rossi’s fraudulent lawsuit contesting it.

Back in 1991 I co-authored the book and lyrics for an Off-Broadway musical. Much to my dismay the NY Times sent Mel Gussow to opening night, a theater reviewer who occasionally confessed that he didn’t really care for musicals. (He didn’t much care for ours either.)

And so in talking about the initiatives on today’s ballot, I should start with a similar caveat: I don’t much care for the initiative process. Indeed, for those unfamiliar with my bio, this blog’s domain name is a vestige from my accidental pratfall into the political arena, when a joke between me and some friends somehow turned into an initiative to officially proclaim Tim Eyman a “horse’s ass.”

Oh, I think that initiatives are fine in theory, but in practice, I don’t find anything particularly direct or democratic about direct democracy. All it takes to get an initiative on the ballot is half a million dollars of paid signature gathering (or free use of the airwaves.) And the battle at the polls is too often won by whoever spends the most money. Moreover, the vast majority of initiatives are actually complex pieces of legislation that would greatly benefit from a more deliberative legislative vetting, rather than just being thrown together in some watch salesman’s bonus room, and shoved onto the ballot for an up or down vote.

Perhaps the only initiative on today’s ballot that remotely resembles the type of simple, straightforward policy issue direct democracy is equipped to deal with, is I-901, which bans smoking in public places. Do you want smoke-free bars and restaurants? I do. Cigarette smoke is a nuisance and a health hazard, and a smoker’s right to puff away in public clearly infringes on my right to breath clean air. Breathing trumps smoking. So I’m voting Yes.

The other initiatives, I’m voting No.

I-900…? Say what you want about my anti-Eyman posturing, but I’m guessing I’m one of only a handful of citizens in this state to actually read the full text of I-900 and compare it section by section to the performance audits initiative passed by the Legislature last spring. I-900 is superfluous and over-reaching, placing too much power in the hands of the State Auditor. Sure, I trust Brian Sonntag to use this power wisely, but he won’t be auditor forever. How soon do you think it’ll be before the BIAW spends a million bucks to put some hack into the auditor’s office, who can use I-900 to harass and disrupt state and local agencies of their choosing?

And finally, while I certainly support experimenting with performance audits (I even testified on behalf of the bill last spring), Eyman is dramatically over-promising the impact. These are complicated audits that require a great deal of expertise… and the full compliance of those being audited. It’s kind of like psychoanalysis… it only works when you have a good therapist and a cooperative patient.

I-912…? What can I say… it’s a shortsighted, intentionally misleading, possibly life-threatening load of crap. Our state’s economic health, and the safety of its citizens, depends on maintaining our transportation infrastructure… that’s why I-912 has drawn opposition from such an unusually broad coalition of groups: labor, business, environmental, etc. Indeed, the only groups that seem to be actively supporting the initiative are politicians and radio talk show hosts.

The bipartisan transportation package that I-912 would repeal was painstakingly negotiated, and includes hundreds of desperately needed safety and improvement projects scattered throughout the state. Kill it now, and nothing will replace it for years. This is too important an issue to fall victim to petty political maneuvering.

I-330 / I-336…? Confused as to which is which? Well one is backed by the insurance industry and the other is backed by the trial lawyers… and they both deserve to be defeated. There is most certainly NOT a medical malpractice insurance crisis going on in WA state right now, as I-330’s backers deceitfully claim, and even is there was, I-330 is a totally one-sided solution that takes away your rights, and hands them over to the insurance industry.

As for I-336, it contains a few good ideas, but this is much too complicated an issue to warrant a thumbs up at the polls. Medical malpractice and tort reform need to be addressed by an open, deliberative process in the Legislature, not in an advertising war on the airwaves.

And I almost forgot… the Seattle Monorail. It’s never fun euthanizing a pet, but show some mercy and put this dog to sleep now. It’s not that I don’t want a monorail, it’s just that this particular one just isn’t worth the money.

I’ve got nothing against the technology, and I’m a big fan of elevated rail, but the monorail folks went about this entirely backwards. They started with monorail technology, and then tried to figure a way to fit it into our cityscape and transportation infrastructure… when really, they should have started by looking at our transportation needs, and then finding the solution that would make the most sense. Maybe that would have been a monorail? Or maybe dedicated bus lanes? Or maybe a giant roller coaster from West Seattle to the downtown waterfront? (Wheee!) But we’ll never know.

But yet, you gotta admire a city that still has the youthful joy to give something like this a try.

So in summary, Yes on I-901, an emphatic No on everything else. (And I wouldn’t be so disappointed if all the initiatives failed.)

The Tri-City Herald’s Chris Mulick digs out the details on what passage of Initiative 912 would mean to the avalanche and rock slide prone portion of I-90 that was shut down by a massive slide Sunday morning:

Sunday morning’s rock slide that closed Interstate 90 occurred at the site of where the Department of Transportation plans to reconfigure the highway. In the $8.5 billion transportation funding package approved by the Legislature this spring is $388 million to shore up a five-mile stretch of roadway alongside Keechelus Lake.

One particular section of that stretch, straddling the existing snowshed there, is responsible for as much as 80 percent of closures on the highway because it is prone to avalanches. The design option gaining favor with the agency would build a bridge into the lake, pulling the highway away from the hillside and any falling snow or rocks.

This is the same area where the rock slide occurred.
…
One has to wonder if any of those Coug Dads coming back from Dad’s Weekend at Washington State University gave any thought to the measure as they were forced to take the longer way home Sunday from Pullman.

One has to wonder if enough voters have bothered to educate themselves about what they would lose should I-912 pass? I guess we’ll find out tonight.

Oh my God, I almost forgot… today’s election day! Guess I better post my endorsements….

King County Executive: Ron Sims

Hmm… now let’s see. On the one hand we have Ron Sims, an experienced executive who has led our county to AAA bond ratings from all three major credit agencies, reduced growth in health care costs for county employees to a rate dramatically lower than state or national averages, and has been a proven leader on civil rights, workers’ rights, gay rights and the environment. And on the other hand we have David Irons Jr., a resume inflating, staff abusing, tool throwing, mother beating liar, who isn’t qualified to manage his own anger, let alone a $3.4 billion government.

Now I know that there are a lot of you out there who are pissed off at Ron for some decision or another, or who have bought into the Republicans’ bullshit propaganda campaign to depict KC Elections as a whorehouse of corruption and incompetence… but let’s be honest… in an emergency… should the big one hit or an avian flu pandemic strike… who would you rather have in charge? Sims, an experienced county executive, or Irons, an experienced, um… mechanic? (Come on… I bet even some of you diehard Republicans get the willies thinking of Irons making life and death decisions.)

Of course there’s also the Green candidate, Gentry Lange, a man who has made his name campaigning against black box voting machines… exactly the kind of voting technology King County doesn’t use. Sure, Lange’s a nice guy, and I agree with the Greens on the vast majority of issues… but he’s certainly not qualified to be executive, and this race is simply still too damn tight to afford the self-indulgence of casting a protest vote for a spoiler.

So please, don’t be an asshole. Unless you really want Irons in office, vote for Sims.

King County Council: Gentry Lange

I mean really… who the hell cares? There isn’t a competitive race in the lot, so if you really feel the urge to cast a protest vote in this election, write in Gentry Lange. Or you can do what I would do, and just vote for the Democrat.

Seattle Mayor: Al Runte

Perhaps if we had a stronger City Council to keep him in check, I wouldn’t be so turned off by Mayor Paul Allen Greg Nickels and his strong arm tactics. And perhaps if he was a little more of an executive and a little less of a politician, I wouldn’t be so distrustful of his agenda. And perhaps if he had stopped by Drinking Liberally for a cold ale and some heated conversation, he could have cajoled a vote out of me… but Nickels didn’t, and Al Runte did (on a number of occasions), and so Professor Runte gets my vote.

No, I don’t think Runte has much chance of winning (though I think Nickels is going to be embarrassed by the relatively close results), so I guess this is kinda-sorta a protest vote. But there are a couple of huge differences between casting a protest vote for Runte in the mayor’s race, and casting one for Lange in the executive’s race. First of all, I think Runte is actually qualified to serve as mayor. Second, Runte couldn’t possibly play the role of spoiler, since if he spoils the election for Nickels, it means Runte wins. And I can live with that.

Seattle County Council: Conlin, Drago, Licata and Pelz

This was really a tough one for me, as my favorite incumbent is the only one I’m not endorsing: Richard McIver. It’s just that McIver is the only one who’s actually drawn a tough opponent.

As I wrote in my primary endorsement, Dwight Pelz can be a bit of an asshole. But he’s our asshole, and we desperately need someone like Pelz on the council to occasionally get in Nickel’s face. (And he’s stopped by Drinking Liberally a couple times, so that works in Dwight’s favor too.)

As for Conlin, Drago and Licata, none of their opponents have made the case to toss them out.

Port Commission: Molloy, Hara and Jolley

But mostly Molloy. Great guy, well intentioned, and a dedicated reformer.

Coming next… Initiatives: Yes on 901, No on everything else

Act of God, or act of WSDOT?

Conservative airwaves are growing heavy with fear, as I-912 supporters, less and less sure about their once sure thing, apparently crack under the pressure of a close election. On Friday, the aluminum hat brigade was calling into KVI with complaints that transportation officials were greasing the skids for the anti-roads initiative’s defeat… accusing officials of intentionally knocking traffic lights out of sync to create more congestion, and of putting make-busy road crews back on projects that were finished weeks earlier.

But by Monday morning the conspiracy theorists were out in full force, with Kirby Wilbur actually entertaining the suspicions of callers who claimed that WS DOT had intentionally caused the rock slide that has shut down I-90 near Snoqualmie Pass since early Sunday morning… all as part of a secret campaign to defeat I-912.

Um… really.

Apparently state Secretary of Transportation Doug MacDonald was out there crawling around the slope at 3 AM, planting sticks of dynamite or something. Or perhaps he’s omnipotent. I dunno, but it does seem kind of funny that the same agency that’s supposedly too incompetent to spend our transportation dollars is somehow able to knock the side of a mountain onto a roadway at a moment’s notice.

WSDOT says it might manage to open a lane in each direction as early as tonight, but personally, I hope they take their time until after Tuesday’s election. For as far as I’m concerned, if I-912 passes, why should my tax dollars be used to pay for Kittitas County’s problem?

I’ve started poring over the GOP’s list of 1944 voters alleged to have registered at mail boxes and storage facilities, and the first thing I’m struck by is how incredibly sloppy their work is. First thing I did was run an Excel macro to look for duplicate voter ID’s… and immediately found 89.

Come on… how hard was that? I mean, if you’re going to swear “under penalty of perjury” that you have “personal knowledge” that a voter is illegally registered, the least you can do is proofread the list before signing the affidavits. That way you might have also noticed that 535 of the voters on the list are marked as “Inactive” status… meaning they haven’t voted during the last decade or so.

What does GOPolitburo Chair Chris Vance have to say about his party’s rude fuck up?

Vance apologized to voters whose registrations were challenged mistakenly but said Republicans were motivated by a desire to avoid a repeat of problems that plagued the county elections office last year.

“We are not going to sit by again and watch [County Executive] Ron Sims and Dean Logan count illegal votes again,” Vance said. “Over 90 percent of what we’ve done is accurate.”

Hey Chris… a

Dino Rossi, who’s taking a well-deserved break from politics, just called to ask me to vote for some righty tool for Port Commissioner. (And no… it wasn’t Richard Pope.) So you’d think if he had time to record a message for a Port Commissioner race, perhaps he might have time to make a simple public statement about his stance on I-912?