It is a Presidential year, and it could be the most unusual year in state politics in decades.
How much will Donald Trump impact voter turnout and down-ballot races? Currently, all but one of the statewide positions on this year’s ballot are held by Democrats. Will Trump bring a whole new set of voters that will help elect Republicans, or will his controversial positions on women and minorities result in a backlash that benefits the Democrats?
Candidate filing closed last week, and while there was a large number of candidates, the Aug. 2 primary will only advance the top two in each race regardless of party affiliation. There is also an interesting local flavor to several of the matchups.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray is being challenged by former Washington Republican Party Chair Chris Vance. Vance has several local connections: He lives just over the boundary in Auburn, and he represented the area in the legislature several years ago. He also has family in Federal Way. That may not be enough, however: Murray will have a significant financial advantage, along with an outstanding organizational ground game. She’ll be hard to beat. Advantage Murray.
Incumbent Gov. Jay Inslee is being challenged by former Seattle Port Commissioner and Republican Bill Bryant. Despite some challenging issues, Inslee is the front-runner and has raised $5 million in his bid for re-election. Bryant has only raised $1.5 million, but he’s well-known among the movers and shakers in the Puget Sound area because of the Ports influence. Due to Federal Way’s geographic location between Seattle and Tacoma, Bryant has been a frequent visitor to our area for meetings and has represented the Port at the annual Federal Way Chamber of Commerce Gala. Still, advantage Inslee.
The battle to replace retiring Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, a Democrat, has drawn a large field. Three Democratic state Senators – Cyrus Habib, Karen Fraser, and Steve Hobbs – are in the race. There are also two Republicans, Phillip Yin and Javier Figueroa, vying for the office. Habib is considered the front-runner due to the amount of money he’s raised compared to the other candidates. Name recognition, however, is an advantage for Fraser and Hobbs over the Republicans, and there is a possibility that two Democrats could emerge from the primary and go on to the general election. There’s a local connection in this race as well: Mark Greene, from the Citizens Party, is from Federal Way. Last year he was a candidate for the Federal Way City Council against Lydia Assefa-Dawson, and he ran a close but losing race. Green is most remembered for making comments that caused Mayor Jim Ferrell to lose his temper at Greene during one of the council debates. Advantage Habib, Fraser, and Hobbs.
Incumbent Secretary of State Kim Wyman is the only statewide Republican office-holder on the West Coast. She is being opposed by former Seattle City Council Member Tina Podlodowski. Wyman has continued a long line of Republican Secretaries of State in a Blue state, but Podlodowski leads in fundraising. The latter, though, has been out of office for several years. Advantage Wyman.
The race for State Auditor has an interesting field with another local connection. Incumbent Troy Kelley’s problems have been well-chronicled, and Kelley is not running again. Federal Way-area state Sen. Mark Miloscia ran for Washington State Auditor four years ago as a Democrat and is back for a second run after switching to the Republican Party. Seattle Democrat Jeff Sprung leads the field in raising money, and Miloscia has to make up ground. But there is another local connection as Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy is also in the race. McCarthy has been in public office for several years and is a familiar name to Federal Way residents. Early advantage to Sprung based on money and Seattle base.
With incumbent Washington State Treasurer Jim McIntyre not seeking re-election, the field in that race is wide open. McIntyre has endorsed Democrat Alec Fisken, a former Seattle Port Commissioner. Democratic state Sen. Marko Liias of Lynnwood is also in the race. The Republican candidates are Michael Waite, who’s endorsed by former Attorney General Rob McKenna, and Benton County Treasurer Duane Davidson, who is endorsed by former Gov. Dan Evans. Fisken has Seattle contacts and name familiarity and is likely the front-runner, although it’s too early to say for sure.
Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson has only token opposition from the Libertarian Party and should easily win re-election. Ferguson is thought to be a future candidate for governor, and he seems to be staying busy: He was recently door-belling in Federal Way for one of his staff, Mike Pellicciotti, who is running for the state legislature against Republican incumbent Linda Kochmar. Not to be outdone, Kochmar door-belled the area the next day. Watch Ferguson in the future; more on Pellicciotti and Kochmar in another column.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is opposed by Republican Richard Schook. Keidler is the easy front-runner.
Randy Dorn’s retirement from the non-partisan position of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has attracted several candidates. Early leaders are Democratic state legislator Chris Reykdal, OSPI employee Robin Fleming, and former OSPI employee Erin Jones. Jones also worked as a school district administrator in Tacoma and Federal Way and was in the area recently to attend the Highline College Foundation’s annual gala.
Finally, the usually low-profile job of Commissioner of Public Lands suddenly became high-profile as incumbent Peter Goldmark decided not to run again. The top names are all Democrats, with the front-runner likely being Hilary Franz, executive director of Futurewise in Seattle. Futurewise is a well-known environmental organization and provides Franz good connections. She also served on the Bainbridge Island City Council. Also in the race are two candidates with local connections: Dave Upthegrove, who represents the district next to Federal Way on the King County Council, and Karen Porterfield, who did some consulting work for the Federal Way Boys & Girls Club a few years ago.
All of the these positions have an impact on you and on South King County. Do your homework.
Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is the former mayor of Auburn. He can be reached at bjroegner@comcast.net.
