Rep. Cyrus Habib (D-48 LD) is running for the 48th LD Senate seat as a Democrat, but will he have other opponents?
I live in the 48th, and have pondered this a bit. I haven’t heard any scuttlebutt about potential opponents. Given the importance of this seat—Dems won’t control the Senate without it, and Dems get some chance of controlling the Senate if they win it—I would be very surprised if the Republicans didn’t try recruiting some high profile candidate.
Rep. Cyrus Habib (D-48)
One high profile candidate would be the former state Senator Luke Esser (R-48). Esser was defeated by Tom in 2006 after Rep. Tom switched from R to D and ran for Senate. Esser went on to be state GOP chairman until being unseated by Kirby Wilbur in early 2011.
I doubt Esser will run. He likely burned his bridges with the GOP when he became a lobbyist for the SEIU.
What about Tom’s 2010 opponent Gregg Bennett? Bennett lost to Tom, 47.3% to 52.7%, a mere 1,400 votes that year. Still, Bennett has not declared and his former campaign web site is dead.
So, imagine my surprise and delight this afternoon when I received a polling robocall from Republican pollster Moore Information. The poll included a pair of head-to-head match-ups of a Republican against Democrat Cyrus Habib. The first match-up was Habib against Gregg Bennett.
Coach Butch Goncharoff
The second match-up was surprising. It sure sounded like Butch Goncharoff. I could have misunderstood the last name, but that’s what I wrote down as the poll was in progress.
Who is Butch Goncharoff? He is the nationally-ranked football coach for Bellevue High School. Really? Why would a football coach run for a part-time Senate position that doesn’t align very well with the school year or the football season? Besides that, a brief web search reveals no information about Mr. Goncharoff’s political affiliation. The man is all football, all the time. The PDC has no record of donations from him. The only thing that has the slightest whiff of politics is that Rep. Dave Reichart (R-48) once gave a House floor speech to congratulate Coach Goncharoff and his team. Maybe he is a friend of Reichert? Or not.
Aside from some kind of mid-life crisis, a run by Goncharoff seems highly unlikely. Still…the domain names GoncharoffForCongress.org and GoncharoffFor48th.org are, oddly, unavailable. That’s interesting, but hardly conclusive.
I see several possibilities:
1. Neither is running and the state Republicans commissioned the poll as a way of recruiting either Bennett or Goncharoff.
2. Bennett is thinking about running and they are using some other high profile person in the 48th as a diversion—to leave some ambiguity.
3. Goncharoff is thinking about running and they are using Bennett as a diversion.
4. They have both expressed interest in running…for the good of the party, only one will.
So…it seems that someone has Bennett or Goncharoff in mind as an opponent for Habib.
Cyrus Habib is a Wall st. tool. He is a big supporter of UberX and Lyft.
ClaimsAdjuster,
“Cyrus Habib is a Wall st. tool.”
What the fuck?!? Habib has been the primary sponsor on 15 bills. None of these bills would suggest such a thing.
“He is a big supporter of UberX and Lyft.”
Not exactly. He opposes limiting the number of rideshare vehicles as Seattle has (sort of) done. He is in favor of promoting rideshare by regulating them. And, at the same time, he wants to level the playing field for taxis. In fact, one of the bills he introduced (HB 2152) requires that local entities consider insurance costs in setting taxi rates.
I get the feeling he is very pro-alternative transportation. That includes ride sharing, but also strengthening the taxi industry.
@2, HR 2152 just drops mandatory Worker’s Compensation (L&I) coverage for For Hire drivers (i.e Taxi, limo, For Hire vehicles, TNCs). This means that taxpayers will end up picking up the tab for drivers injured in at-fault accidents. 2152 says nothing about considering insurance costs in setting taxi rates.
Habib was just looking ahead for when TNC regulation hits the state level. UberX, Lyft and Sidecar are not covering their drivers now with their illegal operation. Habib ensured that they won’t be covered when and if the state starts regulating them.
Cyrus Habib is completely unconcerned with the fact that the TNCs are operating in violation of the state for hire laws and are cutting corners with insurance fraud. Instead of doing anything about it at the state level, he instead bad mouths the Seattle City Council.
http://www.sfgate.com/business.....339357.php
ClaimsAdjuster.
“s. 2152 says nothing about considering insurance costs in setting taxi rates.”
You mean, except for this part?
“Cyrus Habib is completely unconcerned with the fact that the TNCs are operating in violation of the state for hire laws and are cutting corners with insurance fraud. Instead of doing anything about it at the state level, he instead bad mouths the Seattle City Council.”
Bullshit.
Your words have the ring of a bad press release from an amateur campaign spokesperson.
The section you mentioned was not in the bill Habib introduced – it was in substitute bill LWD14.
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinf.....;year=2013
But so what? Your idea of “leveling the playing field for taxis” is to get rid of insurance coverage for on-the-job-injuries for cab drivers – one of the most dangeous occupations in the US. Habib could have “leveled up” by requiring TNC drivers to get that coverage also but no, a race to the bottom is better in your mind.
Big accompilshment. So impressive.
What has Cyrus Habib done to see that the current state for hire laws are enforced?
Nothing.
Has he spoken up about it?
No.
What has Habib done about Uber and Lyft’s insurance fraud?
Nothing.
But what Rep Habib did in February was to cosponsor a bill to push the city out of the way so that the state could take over TNC regulation. The bill was filed on a Friday and set for a reading on the following Monday. He hoped that he could sneak the bill in with just Uber and Lyft at the hearing. Fortunately it did not work out that way.
http://crosscut.com/2014/02/11.....lty-troll/
The section you mentioned was not in the bill Habib introduced – it was in substitute bill LWD14.
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinf.....;year=2013
But so what? Your idea of “leveling the playing field for taxis” is to get rid of insurance coverage for on-the-job-injuries for cab drivers – one of the most dangeous occupations in the US. Habib could have “leveled up” by requiring TNC drivers to get that coverage also but no, a race to the bottom is better in your mind.
Big accomplishment. So impressive.
What has Cyrus Habib done to see that the current state for hire laws are enforced?
Nothing.
Has he spoken up about it?
No.
What has Habib done about Uber and Lyft’s insurance fraud?
Nothing.
But what Rep Habib did in February was to cosponsor a bill to push the city out of the way so that the state could take over TNC regulation. The bill was filed on a Friday and set for a reading on the following Monday. He hoped that he could sneak the bill in with just Uber and Lyft at the hearing. Fortunately it did not work out that way.
http://crosscut.com/2014/02/11.....lty-troll/
ClaimsAdjuster
“The section you mentioned was not in the bill Habib introduced – it was in substitute bill LWD14.”
Yet…he is still the prime sponsor, testified in favor, etc.
“But so what? Your idea of “leveling the playing field for taxis” is to get rid of insurance coverage for on-the-job-injuries…”
MY Idea?!? That’s funny. I’ve offered no opinions on any of the issues.
“Habib could have “leveled up” by requiring TNC drivers to get that coverage also but no, a race to the bottom is better in your mind.”
Ummm…there are an infinite number of things he could have done on an infinite number of topics. I mean, he didn’t abolish the B&O tax, either. That doesn’t make him anti-business.
“What has Cyrus Habib done to see that the current state for hire laws are enforced?”
Your mistake. That isn’t his job…that’s for law enforcement.
“Has he spoken up about it?”
There are an infinite number of things he hasn’t spoken about on an infinite number of topics.
“What has Habib done about Uber and Lyft’s insurance fraud?”
Again…actually doing something seems to be in the purview of law enforcement.
“But what Rep Habib did in February was to cosponsor a bill to push the city out of the way so that the state could take over TNC regulation. The bill was filed on a Friday and set for a reading on the following Monday. He hoped that he could sneak the bill in with just Uber and Lyft at the hearing. Fortunately it did not work out that way.”
Wow. A BILL TO COMMISSION A STATE STUDY! ON CONSUMER SAFETY!!! THAT EVIL BASTARD!!!!!!!
ClaimsAdjuster…you seem rather unhinged.