In Washington State’s Governor race, the ballot has a bewildering array of candidates for this position. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jay Inslee is running for a third term, but who are his political opponents, and which of them are serious? Let’s take a closer look.
Trigger Warning: If you have already done your homework and made up your mind, then read no further. If you are easily offended or hurt by political commentary with which you disagree, stop reading now. I am not formally endorsing anyone, but I will support and vote for anyone who makes it on the ballot to oppose Inslee. If you think I missed something or am egregiously wrong – feel free to say so in the comments below.
Washington State Voting
By the time you are reading this article, you either already have your ballot (if you live in King County, you might even have three or four of them), or you will get it in the mail. If you don’t receive it shortly – go here to find out how to get one. Washington State conducts all of its elections by mail, so there is no “polling location.” You merely have to get the completed ballot in the envelope and drop it either in the mail or at a special ballot drop box. I strongly encourage you to mail it in a little early rather than wait to the last minute. Otherwise, it does seem to be easy for last minute ballots to be rejected (see here). Don’t be like tens of thousands of other Washington State voters who fill out their ballots, and then let them sit around un-mailed, buried under crap on the counter or fall behind your couch – only to be discovered later during spring cleaning. Mail it in. You don’t even need to use postage any more, so you can mail it without a stamp (see here).
Secondly, Washington State has a top two primary system. If you don’t know what that is – go here to learn more. Basically, this year’s primary race is going to take a field of 36 candidates and narrow them down to two finalists for the November election – regardless of party affiliation. There will be only two options for voters in November, which means your vote really does count in August. In fact with such a crowded field for the Governor’s race, your vote counts more than normal because small numbers of votes may end up sorting out who has the opportunity to face off against Governor Inslee in the fall.
A handful of serious candidates challenge Inslee
Incumbent Governor Inslee will be on the November ballot. Despite his lack of popularity and the general disgust his name seems to elicit in many quarters of Washington State, it is unserious to believe that two other people could both get more votes than Inslee in the primary. Yeah, theoretically it is possible in a jungle primary system, but that will not happen.
Inslee is running for a third term, he just finished a failed bid to be the Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate to oppose Trump in November, and he has millions of campaign dollars in the bank. One consequence of the Covid19 virus lockdown circus in Washington State was the decision by the Washington Secretary of State’s office to allow candidates to register and file for office without paying the filing fee, which led to the avalanche of a variety of last-minute unserious candidates which has made your ballot multiple pages long and very confusing. The reason this decision was made had to do with a more obscure provision related to indigent candidates being allowed to register without paying the filing fee so long as they could gather enough valid signatures to qualify (see here). In the Covid19 social distancing era, this was unlikely and viewed as possibly discriminatory, so they allowed the free-for-all no-filing fee candidates to all jump in, which is why 40 candidates are listed for Governor’s office on the Public Disclosure Commission website (see here) and 36 of them are in the Washington State voter’s guide (see here). Most of them are not serious candidates, but they can save a copy of the voter’s guide and Instagram/Facebook this to their friends, which is cool for them and probably a bit annoying for some voters.
Life isn’t fair, neither is politics. We all create idealized images of the perfect political candidate for office. Then we wake up and realize real humans are running for office and they are not perfect, nor do they fit our perfect image of the perfect politician. My approach with this article, I hope, is to be as harsh and realistic about these candidates as possible with the clear, obvious, and open bias that Inslee needs to go. I know all but one of these candidates personally (I knew them or had interacted with them before they ran for Governor), and on a personal level I get along with all of them, but ultimately the voters will need to make this selection.
So who are the serious candidates, and how did I select them for this article? Easy. They had to demonstrate they could raise some money (reported to the PDC here), and they had to demonstrate some evidence of a statewide campaign. This de minimis level of political activity narrows the field down to six. I’m writing about them in the order on which they appear in the Washington State Voter’s guide (see here). Let’s see who they are.
Inslee’s challengers – the List, the Choices, and the hope
Senator Phil Fortunato
Campaign website linked here. Link to Public Disclosure Commission campaign information here.
The second candidate listed in the Voter’s Guide, Fortunato is one of two “traditional” Republican candidates for Governor. “Traditional” meaning that he currently holds public office (he is a Republican State Senator from Auburn in the 31st Leg. District, which spans parts of southeast King County and Northeast Pierce County), and he has been in the public eye for several decades taking tough votes, writing legislation and going on the record. Fortunato served in the state legislature from 1998-2000 when the Democrats threw almost $800,000 at him and narrowly removed him from office.
I first met Fortunato during his 2014 quixotic election campaign against incumbent Representative Chris Hurst, where Fortunato with almost no financial backing came close to unseating this well-funded politician. Fortunato campaigns hard, innovatively, and he is very down-to-earth and likeable. Hurst decided to “retire” after that close call, and in 2016 Fortunato was decisively elected to office. I’ve worked with him on pro-Second Amendment causes, property rights legislation, and he has always been someone who could craft innovative solutions to bureaucratic logjams. The bureaucracy doesn’t like him, and he often rubs the political establishment the wrong way.
Fortunato was the second Republican candidate to launch his campaign (after Loren Culp). He did this back in early August 2019. This was after it became apparent than none of the Republican Big Guns were going to run against Inslee because they felt that 2020 would be a rough year for a Republican on the ballot. Fortunato’s announcement (combined with Culp’s earlier announcement) offended the more traditional mainstream established Republican crew, who were “embarrassed” that they didn’t have an “acceptable” candidate on the ballot. This even caused Fortunato’s legislative district seatmate – Republican Drew Stokesbary to consider running for Governor for a few weeks last year before he decided it wasn’t such a good idea.
Positives/Strengths: Fortunato has raised a little over $200,000 for his political campaign so far (see here). He has a good outline where he stands on the issues on his website (see here). Fortunato is a serious and capable campaigner, limited only by his fundraising. In the few polls which have been conducted so far in this race, Fortunato has placed as high as 6%, which ties him for 2nd place in the Republican field (see here), which makes him a serious candidate in the scrum for the honor to run off against Inslee in the fall.
Challenges/weaknesses: Forunato is not well known outside King and Pierce Counties. Part of this is a function of fundraising with a crowded field of candidates. Fortunato also tends to offend a large part of the Republican establishment – this is viewed as a positive by conservative activists, but probably a negative from some of the donor class.
Tim Eyman (The Initiative Guy)
Campaign website linked here. Link to Public Disclosure Commission campaign information here.
Candidate Tim Eyman is the sixth candidate listed in the voter’s guide, right after the Socialist Workers Party guy and just before the Green Party candidate. Eyman probably has the highest name recognition of the Republican candidates in this race, but he is certainly the least traditional of the serious candidates running for office. Eyman is well known for his state-wide initiative efforts spanning two decades in Washington State. He has successfully placed 17 initiatives on the ballot, 11 of them have been passed by the voters, and it is generally accepted that these initiatives have resulted in reducing the tax burden on Washington State residents by about $43 billion over the past few decades. In the process of doing this, he has become a hero to many but has stepped on the toes of important political insiders.
Eyman was a latecomer to the governor’s race, making a very public announcement in late November 2019 while confronting the Sound Transit board of directors over his recently successful $30 car tab initiative effort (the Sound Transit bureaucracy hates Tim Eyman). I’ve known Eyman for many years, and we even toured the state together a few years ago during a “Full Contact Activism Tour.” However, I was initially surprised by his announcement. I wrote about his chances last year in this article. Since that time, I still believe the article captures the essence of the Eyman campaign.
Like most Republicans and conservatives in Washington State, I’ve supported and voted for most of Eyman’s initiatives. These included capping the growth of property taxes to no more than 1% per year, supporting a 2/3 vote requirement for the legislature to raise taxes, reducing car tabs to $30, creating government performance audits, and others. My personal favorite initiative campaign Eyman ran was the successful effort back in 2004 and 2005. Eliminating 4 highly compensated elected offices by attacking the “Cadillac King County council” was such an affront to the elite political class I remember laughing about it at the time. Although I didn’t know Tim Eyman back then, I remember this being one of the last votes I made before moving out of King County.
Eyman brings a history and some obvious baggage to his campaign. He has been legally tortured and harassed more than any other political activist in the history of Washington State. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has prioritized the personal destruction of Tim Eyman for historic campaign finance violations and there is no limit to the state resources the AG has dedicated to destroy Eyman forever(Ferguson was one of those King County Councilmembers who had to defend his seat on the King County Council 15 years ago because of Eyman). The political establishment loathes and hates Tim Eyman with a passion that can’t be adequately explained in a paragraph or two. He has committed unforgiveable crimes against bureaucracy by reducing the tax dollars they would otherwise just squander or send to Nigerian Fraud scams. No matter how much he has been personally attacked, maligned, sued, or personally destroyed, he just keeps coming back with some new campaign they despise.
Eyman has raised just over $400,000 for his campaign so far, which is amazing in itself considering the endless media attacks on him and the AG’s personal pet project dedicated to destroying his life. While this ranks him third in fundraising by the Republican candidates, he still has the highest name recognition of any candidate in the race. Partly this is because of his endless initiative efforts over the years, and his traditional media exposure (which is far more effective than all the other Republican candidates combined), and partly this is helped by the fact those who hate him have spent millions of dollars in mass media campaigns attacking him by name (in 2019, they spent over $5 million with his name on every sign, mailer, brochure, radio, and TV ad opposing his $30 car tab initiative, which the voters approved regardless). He has led the fight on many high profile efforts like eliminating red-light cameras, preventing facial recognition software from being installed by government, reducing politician pay raises (“Give them Nothing”), and others. He is the only candidate with a documentary movie which was produced about him back in 2010 titled the “Battles of Tim Eyman” (see here). Nobody else has had as many political cartoons, negative editorials, or rabid personal attacks against him as Eyman.
Positives/Strengths: Eyman is the closest thing to a public celebrity running as a Republican in this race. He has managed to survive over 20 years of endless media attacks, litigation, personal destruction, and mistakes. The fact he is still fighting “the system” or willing to take them on tends to inspire non-partisan voters who feel abandoned by the political class in this state. Eyman is experienced in getting traditional media to cover his actions, and he has an instinct for staying on message most of the time (a skill lacking with most Republicans). Republicans and Independents are likely to vote for him. If he survives the primary, he is also likely to inspire a segment of voters who feel ignored or abandoned by the political establishment to vote for Eyman, if for no other reason than to vent anger and frustration at the elites who don’t care about regular people anyway.
Challenges/Weaknesses: With 22 years in the public eye, and being recognized by the bureaucracy as Public Enemy #1, Eyman has a lot of public hatred from powerful people with lots of resources to bring against him. He has made mistakes, and they will be publicly broadcast by his political enemies. He has never been elected to office before. He has greatly offended the Republican establishment and not just the traditional mainstream crew. His legal fights with the AG has reduced his ability to fundraise (it is amazing he has done as well as he has). He will need to step up his campaign game, his ability to inspire the grassroots, and he will need to reassure some that he is more than just the proverbial monkey wrench to be tossed into the machine of government. His ability to govern a state will need to be conveyed in order to convince more traditional voters to shift to Eyman.
Dr. Raul Garcia
Campaign website linked here. Link to Public Disclosure Commission campaign information here.
Dr. Raul Garcia is a physician from Yakima and one of only two candidates on this list who hails from Eastern Washington. Garcia is listed as the 12th candidate for governor in the voters’ guide (see here).He has a compelling and attractive resume as someone who escaped from Communist Cuba when he was 11 and who personifies the story of an immigrant who came to America and through his own abilities and hard work has become a successful doctor and in a time of pandemics, lock-downs, and health scares, having a medical professional in the Governor’s mansion is attractive.
Garcia is the only candidate on this list who I didn’t know before filing week in May. However, he was apparently known to former Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed, who has come out of retirement to be Garcia’s campaign manager. Additionally, despite Garcia’s relative unknown history, he was able to collect an unusual list of endorsements from Mainstream Republicans like former Republican Governor Dan Evans, former Republican Senator Slade Gorton, and others (see here). This was a very impressive endorsement list considering Garcia had little to no political involvement in Washington State or anywhere else in the past.
As Sam Reed’s letter explains (linked here):
“Garcia’s warts are being convicted of reckless driving after being pulled over for driving under the influence. He also has a dismal voting record.”
Political insiders have speculated that Garcia was recruited to be the more mainstream Republican alternative candidate to Josh Freed because many Mainstream Republicans were offended by Freed’s pro-Life and open Christian advocacy. It is possible there was some rush to launch this campaign because as Sam Reed (the campaign manager) implies, usually statewide candidates are vetted a bit more carefully before they get the traditional Republican establishment behind them. The challenge, of course, is the fact Garcia has raised just slightly more than Senator Fortunato (with $208,000 raised so far), which puts him in 4th place financially among the Republican contenders, and starting a campaign in May sets Garcia up for a big political mountain to climb due to the calendar running out before anyone even knows who he is. Garcia has been set up for the classic “Start Late, Lose Early” scenario, unless he can overcome these obstacles.
Positives/Strengths: Having a doctor on the ballot during a pandemic is likely a positive. Garcia’s outreach to Hispanic voters (at least in Yakima) will probably be more effective than typical Republican efforts. Strong support from the Mainstream Republican establishment helps on the fundraising and some word of mouth for a political newcomer. For Republicans less suspicious of Big Government, less comfortable with 2nd Amendment issues, and who want to avoid all social issue controversy, Garcia will probably have strong appeal.
Weakness/Negatives: The lack of political involvement (even voting) over the past few decades is not optimal. The very public (reckless driving) and sobriety dash cam video do not reflect well and will be used viciously by the opposition to attack Garcia. Starting so late in the political cycle is a handicap, not an advantage, so it isn’t clear many voters will know who he is and it appears he has not raised the money necessary to change this situation at this time. The conservative base (which usually comes out strong in the primary cycle) will probably be un-swayed and even turned off by Mainstream Republican endorsements.
Anton Sakharov
Campaign website linked here. Link to Public Disclosure Commission campaign information here.
In the Voter’s guide, Anton Sakharov is the 23rd listed candidate and one of two legal immigrants in this list who have escaped Communist oppression where they were born to come to America. It is significant that 30% of the serious Republican candidates challenging Inslee this election cycle are immigrants. Sakharov came from the Soviet Union and has a very compelling personal story (see here). He is a businessman and well educated, mainly with a background in technology project management.
I knew Sakharov as a Republican activist before he ran for Governor, and while I can’t claim to know him well, I have always enjoyed chatting with him about politics and political activism in the handful of times we met. According to the PDC, he has raised about $31,000 so far, and has been in most of the candidate debate forums since last year. While traditional polling has not placed Sakharov in close contention to the front-runners in this race, I have appreciated his perspective and the fact that he was willing to jump in early and run a campaign like this.
Positives/Strengths: Many people and some voters are understandably attracted to candidates who do not have a political background. Anton is personable and friendly. He has a network of supporters who are not always visible to the traditional Republican organizations. His personal story is very compelling. His strong and vocal support for Trump will encourage some voters to vote for him who might otherwise vote for someone else.
Weakness/Negatives: Name recognition is difficult to obtain if you can’t fund a media/outreach effort. Anton’s struggles with fundraising are understandable, particularly during a pandemic/lock-down scenario. Anton should run for office and be elected, but he will have to start with an elected position closer to home and more local than governor in order to demonstrate his political abilities later. Everyone claims they don’t want career politicians, but voters tend to be more conservative and vote for people who have demonstrated their civic skills first.
Joshua Freed
Campaign website linked here. Link to Public Disclosure Commission campaign information here.
Joshua Freed is the 31st candidate listed in the voter’s guide for state governor, right after Governor Inslee. Like Senator Fortunato, Freed has a more traditional political resume because he has held public office before and was Mayor of the City of Bothell (population 46,000) after being on the City Council there for a number of years. Freed has run for office before, and is probably the most polished Republican candidate running to challenge Jay Inslee this cycle.
I was a huge fan of Freed’s efforts to support and fund I-27, which was a local initiative in King County to prevent government run heroin injection sites in King County. This local initiative had over 90% support (according to local polls) in King County, and after collecting far more signatures than needed to place it on the ballot, an activist judge in King County tossed it out (and the WA State Supreme Court agreed) and would not let the people have a say in a common sense decision like this. I was personally involved in making sure Freed spoke on a panel at the Roanoke Conference a few years ago to discuss this experience. I’m always a fan of someone who is willing to get involved in activism like this and Freed’s willingness to fight some of the absurdity in local government has been inspiring.
funded heroin injection sites in King County
Two other actions this year by Freed are worth knowing. The first was the fact he was so involved in sponsoring Referendum 90, which was recently approved with over a hundred thousand more signatures than needed to qualify for the ballot this year. This is the referendum that rejects the very controversial sex-ed bill passed by the state legislature this spring. This accomplishment was particularly significant because it was an all-volunteer effort that had to collect these signatures during a pandemic and state-wide lockdown order from the Governor. Innovative drive through signature gathering and other techniques have empowered more activists than ever to start engaging in local government. Additionally, Freed was one of the first people in the state to sue Governor Inslee over one narrow aspect of his lockdown order which infringed on religious freedom in Washington State. Governor Inslee was forced to abandon some of his policy overreach in order to avoid an almost certain legal defeat in Federal Court a few months ago.
At this time, Freed is the front runner in the Republican field when it comes to fundraising. He has raised $1.4 million raised so far (over $700,000 from Freed himself). This is enough money to run a decent primary media outreach campaign including radio ads, mail, signs, and some TV advertising. This helps with name recognition.
All Republican primary races have infighting, and the 2020 race against Governor Inslee is no different. The Culp and the Freed campaigns have been involved in fighting each other, and this has been distracting to some activists. Freed has been attacked by some conservative activists as a “Mainstreamer” or “RINO” (Republican In Name Only), yet it is well known that his very open Christian activism has offended the traditional Mainstream Republicans (which is why they recruited and financially supported Garcia’s campaign). Most political insiders recognize that the Garcia campaign poses a real threat to the Freed effort, but nobody can quantify the significance until the August primary numbers become known. Having Republican activists attacking Freed from the conservative as well as the Mainstream side of the political spectrum probably is viewed positively, if a little risky and annoying by the Freed campaign. If Freed is the voter’s choice to face Inslee in the fall, he would still need to unite and inspire support from all sides.
Positives/Strengths: Freed is a very capable campaigner and he is running a serious campaign. His willingness to self-fund half his expenditures has ensured he is the fundraising leader, and this gives him the ability to improve his name recognition. His civic engagement as a former mayor of the 26th largest city in the state as well as work on the I-27, R-90, and federal litigation against Inslee will help him. Freed has made strong inroads and allies in the traditional Christian religious community, and this will probably help his primary results. Despite lack of official Mainstream Republican support, Freed has not overtly antagonized this slice of the Republican Party.
Weakness/Negatives: Just like Senator Fortunato, Freed has history as an elected official, and inevitably this will produce fodder for future political attacks. While he leads in fundraising dollars, he trails both Culp and Eyman in volume of small donors, which is something he would need to change in order to prevail over Inslee in the fall. Freed’s support is weak in Eastern Washington, and while the 20 counties east of the Cascades only represent 25% of the total Republican voters in the state, enthusiasm and turnout there is necessary for a successful campaign and requires more grassroots outreach.
Loren Culp
Campaign website linked here. Link to Public Disclosure Commission campaign information here.
Loren Culp is the former police chief from Republic, Washington who made national news in November 2018 when he formally refused to enforce the anti-gun provisions of I-1639, which had just been passed by a billionaire-backed and funded political campaign. This launched his public profile as he made media appearances and published a book (American Cop – see here). I had been involved in the I-1639 campaign when I filed a ballot title challenge in 2018 (see here) and when I was debating against the supporters of I-1639 at a variety of public forums that year. I was supportive of Culp’s stance on I-1639 when he first went public. Culp was also the first to declare his candidacy for Washington State Governor a few months later in July 2019.
Before Culp moved to Republic, Washington (population 1,100) and became it’s police chief, he lived in Thurston County and ran a small construction company for several decades. He still has a large extended family who live in the Thurston County area, and his grandkids go to school with my kids. I’ve introduced him at some of his early speaking engagements in Lewis County, and I find Culp to be very grounded in both his political philosophy and very approachable. He is obviously not a career politician, but the last 18 months of intense public and media attention have helped him become more familiar and comfortable with public presentations and media.
Culp is probably running the best organized non-traditional grass roots campaign for governor in many years. This is evidenced by the high visibility throughout the state of his campaign signs, car magnets, bumper stickers, and the large volume of small dollar donors to his political campaign. He has raised over $862,000 so far this campaign which puts him in second place to Freed, but in first place by the number of contributors. Additionally, he has been attending a large number of small rallies throughout the state for months now, and when combined with his online video broadcasts, this has helped him cultivate a very robust grassroots effort.
Culp’s base of support comes from his strong Second Amendment public positions, and the fact that the pro-gun, pro-2nd Amendment movement in Washington State is growing in strong opposition to recent attacks directed at gun owners by Governor Inslee, AG Ferguson, and by the Democratic Party in Washington State. Culp became an early candidate around whom to rally, and the volume of grass roots support demonstrates this.
One distracting and avoidable controversy has embroiled the campaign in the last few weeks and involves the voter’s guide statement submitted by the Culp campaign to the Secretary of State’s office. It was weak and not very effective, plus it left out a lot of information. Additionally, alone among the candidates for Governor (even the unserious ones) the Culp campaign failed to submit a video for the video candidate’s guide. This is problematic because under the rules, the candidate can’t change their voter’s guide statement from the primary to the general election and this is free advertising. The voter’s guide is one of the best ways to promote a candidate without spending hard earned campaign funds. This could be written off as an amateur error, but instead it has evolved into an unnecessary and fairly pointless fight with the Secretary of State’s office which even required the State Republican Party Chair to weigh in on the drama.
Positives/Strengths: The grassroots campaign organized by the Culp campaign is large, growing, and enthusiastic. If it can penetrate the general population deep enough, it could influence the primary results. The rapid increase in small donor fundraising bodes well and shows enthusiasm. Starting the campaign early was beneficial, and Culp’s campaign skills have greatly improved since he first declared his candidacy a year ago. His strong, unquestioned 2nd Amendment pro-gun support helps cement a strong core of campaign support. Culp’s video and online communication has done well to support his campaign. Many people concerned about the recent lawlessness in Seattle and elsewhere might be inclined to support someone with a law enforcement background.
Weakness/Negatives: Culp has been working in the public eye as a police chief for many years. Just like Fortunato, Eyman, and Freed, this means there are always choices and decisions you made which can be used as the basis for political attacks in the future. It is a challenge for a candidate to avoid becoming a single issue candidate like being pro- Second Amendment, when a single issue so strongly influenced the launch of your campaign. Culp’s ability to expand his appeal to urban and suburban voters who might be more focused on the lack of political experience could be a challenge when the media is obviously going to pigeonhole his appeal. The recent dust-up with the Secretary of State and the voter’s guide screwup has prevented this campaign from maximizing positive exposure to voters.
Voting and Election Results Matter More than your Apathy
It seems likely one of these candidates running for the office of Washington State Governor will come out of the primary to face off against Inslee. Regardless of who it is, it will be considered a longshot by most political observers to beat Inslee in the fall. The following issues will really matter for the final general election for this office in the fall:
- How Strong was Governor Jay Inslee in the primary election results? Did he get more than 50%. If Inslee’s numbers are low enough, this could encourage out-of-state money to play in Washington’s Governor race. Therefore a strong showing for Inslee in the primary election is still a priority for the Democrats.
- How much of a lead over the other Republicans on the ballot will the challenger have? If it is narrow (which seems likely), are they able to consolidate their victory with the others they defeated, or will the losers take their toys and go home brooding until after November?
- If Inslee’s numbers and support look weak, and if the Republicans/Independents are able to rally around the challenger to Inslee, can they raise the fundraising bar to compete with Inslee’s likely fundraising juggernaut? They don’t need to match the Inslee campaign cash stash (they can’t anyway). Inslee will spend his money inefficiently as always. However, they do need to get enough to run a real statewide campaign including targeting areas and groups the Republicans tend to ignore.
- Can the Republican Party avoid the typical self-immolation they usually inspire post primary season? Will those who supported someone else or who pine away for a mythical perfect candidate shake out of their pity party mode and join forces to provide an alternative?
- How crazy will Inslee get as he goes all-in on the I hate Trump bandwagon? How much destruction will Inslee rain down on the people of Washington State because he is following California Governor Newsom’s orders? How many more Nigerian Fraud Scheme scandals will break between now and November? How many gaffes can Inslee commit and keep hidden from the general public with help from the traditional media?
We are living in interesting times. The pace of life and politics seems to have picked up and made the future very unpredictable. Regardless of everything else, get your ballot in as soon as possible. Do not delay. Don’t wait. Don’t get apathetic. Those who have the political power today want you demoralized and apathetic. It is a little step to be involved. I hope this article helps those who were willing to do the research and read this far.
OUR CONSTITUTION BEGINS WITH THE PHRASE “WE THE PEOPLE.” IT WAS THE FOUNDER’S INTENT THAT GOVERNMENT BE CREATED BY THE PEOPLE, TO SERVE THE PEOPLE. IT WASN’T THEIR INTENTION FOR THE PEOPLE TO SERVE THE GOVERNMENT. IT WAS ALWAYS INTENDED THAT GOVERNMENT WHICH FAILED TO SERVE THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE “ALTERED OR ABOLISHED.” UNTIL WE RETURN TO THE FOUNDER’S INTENT, WE REMAIN WE THE GOVERNED…
We don’t need a Republican they won’t stand up to Trump. They just lick his boots like all the rest. They forget like Trump they work for the people. Not Trump.
Yeah, and Inslee is so awesome. Releasing thousands of hardened criminals early on society because he can’t be bothered to fix a “computer glitch” at DOC. Yeah, that was so great. At least two people were murdered by this well-known, well-documented glitch, but Inslee didn’t care. Couldn’t be bothered. Then there was the genius work of one of his biggest campaign donors who runs Employment Security Dept who thought it was just fine and business as usual to send at least $600 million to an overseas Nigerian Fraud Scheme. Nobody fired. Everyone gets raises. So awesome. Pure incompetence on display every day and the clown show goes on, oh yeah, but he is so great because he claims he doesn’t like Trump. Yeah, that makes the clown show all right…
Why is it that King County can never provide results of any significance on election night? Or should the question be…what is the excuse KC is providing for holding back their election results until they determine how ma…oh, sorry. They wouldn’t think of it.
All I see at Republican rallies is a lot of people in close proximity with no masks on during a pandemic! And you all want to run for governor? Yeah right. You won’t get my vote. Go Inslee!!!!!!
Nobody expected to get your vote (or, if you live in King County – your multiple votes). Inslee owns you.
Hello Kat,
I read your comment to Glen and that is exactly how I feel, you said it in the best way. I am still overwhelmed at even these 6 options. There is not one candidate that really speaks to me. There are bits of each that I agree with and bit of each that I totally disagree with, I just dont know. But I am also, not, not going to vote.
I am very curious who you ended up voting for in the primary or at least who the 2 candidates Glen narrowed down for you.
Hi Laura! (That was my mother’s name!) =)
I know what you mean. It is hard to have a crash course on politics and the people in it. Big learning curve for me, especially being new to state. And hey, getting to know people takes time. But between this site, a couple others, keeping one eye on news, and just reading their websites I have learned a lot.
But to be honest, what taught me the most was their debate at some republican thing, I believe it was back in May, helped me the most. If you search youtube for Washington state governor republican debate, it will probably be the first couple of results. It was seven debating. I really liked what they all had to say and found good merits for all of them. When it was done my biggest wish was one could win and then hire the others to help him get this state straightened out. (Pipe dream likely, but hey you never know.)
Anyway, watching these guys speak, hearing how they saw things, what their priorities are, watching body language, energy, etc. really helped me a lot. Anyone can have someone write out paragraphs in the voter pamphlet, but responding to questions and telling you what they care about really gets to the meat of things.
That being said I still fall back to my original theory. While I like Culp a lot, and he seems to care most about following the Constitution, which is what I care about, along with the horrible homeless problem, I have family who are police and so him being a former one speaks to me. But my concern is can he beat Inslee? In this terrible environment, and Inslee already having too much support, I just don’t have the hunch that a former cop can pull it over the finish line against an incumbent in a seemingly largely left leaning state. I just want a win and getting Inslee out!
So my criteria were Constitution supporter, placing homelessness reduction in forefront, caring about crime, having more balanced approach to the pandemic, caring about small business, and having experience in political waters! Even if you care and have a good heart, still does not negate need for experience in navigating political waters and getting stuff done. Eyman sounds like a good guy, but the negative energy following him means good chance he won’t beat Inslee.
Like I said, I liked so many things about most of them, if not all. But thirtysomething candidates later (how exhausting,) my mind kept coming back to, who will have some ability to pull undecideds over to them, knows what they are doing, cares about Constitution, and can beat the long incumbent dems? No republican in gov seat since the 80’s! (yikes!)
With Fortunato being in Congress for awhile, the lengthy experience, the many bills he has supported, his emphasis on the Constitution, and acknowledgement of need to address homelessness, I feel he has the best chance of beating Inslee. Unless a large part of state votes in droves and goes with Culp, I just think Fortunato has better shot of beating Inslee. In a red state, I would vote for Culp.
But sadly, the reality here is much different!
Good luck to you, and I hope this helps, =)
Kat
Very thought out answer, with a lot of detail. Thanks for posting this. Phil Fortunato is a great guy, and I have enjoyed working with him on bills in the legislature. Just for semantics sake (not judging or trying to be nit-picky here), if the politician serves back in DC, then he serves in Congress. If the politician serves in the part time state legislature in Olympia -they are in the legislature. What tends to get confusing at times is when someone is a “Senator” since that same title is applied to the Federal Senators (two for each state) and the State Senators (one from each district – for a total of 49). Both the Federal and the Washington State government are organized with two elected bodies of people in their respective Legislative branch of government. Congress/Senate in DC. Legislature/Senate in Olympia. Sometimes I try to make sure I add “State Senator” to the title just for clarity, and hopefully it isn’t as confusing to readers. For what it is worth – you obviously are paying close attention to the political process, so thought you might appreciate this.
I do appreciate it, thanks! I was of the impression that the term Congress encompassed the terms senator, legislator, house and senate. The semantics and ordering of the terms always did confuse me a little, but not enough to research more specific, when just following politics was enough to burn away the little time many of us get. lol
However, the older I get, the more interested I get, and more importantly, the more I care about what’s going on. Must get this world better for my son, and his kids, and so on.
I tend to be one of those that knows what they mean or what they think, but not find the most precise/concise words to convey it.
That helps, thanks!
Frankly your articles help a lot! Oh and to also correct my comment, I went back to debate video, and I believe it was actually in July. Either way, the debate told me so much more and led me to my final decision. But you started me down the path! From thirtysomething to six took quite the load off! =)
Ballots on their way to a box (not the PO) and now it’s just a waiting and hoping game!
Here goes!
{{crosses fingers}}
Thanks,
Kat
Tomorrow night, I’m sure many people will be watching.
Thanks for posting a link to that debate.
No women? REALLY? I’d like to invalidate most of what you just typed here simply for that reason.
I didn’t invent or fake who filed to run for office. I can only report on who filed. I believe it is a valid critique to question why there are no leading candidates for Washington State Governor who are women this cycle. Washington State has had two female Governors in the past – Gov Gregoire from 2005-2013 and Governor Dixie Lee Ray from 1977-1981. Additionally, the Republicans have had women candidates as their standard bearer for Governor candidates in the past – Ellen Craswell from the 1996 election, for example. However, this election cycle, the candidates are who they are. I can’t make it up, I can only report on who is on the ballot.
Brooke, it is important to note that in the entirety of the voter pamphlet, of all the 36 governor candidates, there were only two women running. One had supplied no information whatsoever and never even heard of her name, and the other is basically akin to an extreme socialist. As this website is largely from the perspective of a republican, there is not much to say about a very far-left socialist.
Going by the other articles Mr. Morgan writes, he definitely supports women, but only if they are not just serious candidates, but have strong values and platforms. I can’t speak for him, just making an observation. If you read his Lieutenant Governor article, he speaks very highly of the woman candidate there.
I could possibly see thinking he has bias about republicans over democrats (I do too frankly,) but saying bias about male over female does not seem to be warranted here. I do not know Mr. Morgan at all, save for the exploration of this site about this election, so I have no personal interest. But I see no evidence of that upon exploring this site…quite the opposite.
That being said, as a woman, I can tell you from my point of view, voting for someone based on the fact that she is a woman, is just as bad as people voting for someone just because they are a man. While I do believe having balance of male and female energies and perspectives is healthy for political offices, voting on that alone would just be prejudice. For me, personally, they must be good people, have good values, and most of all, uphold laws and the Constitution of state and country!
~Kat
I am an overseas voter. as I review how is who for my vote tomorrow, you have been a big help cutting through the noise.
Thank you. I am glad I could help
I am a moderate voter. I find the extremes of both major parties are not in the average persons interest. In fact I have heard reports say that the two major parties are the big problem in our county. I believe this as it seems we have become more polarized and against one another. I have voted for Democrats & Republicans in the past but wanted to know who is the most moderate? Let’s get politics back to the days when it was ok to cross party lines to get deals done. States need to pass anti corruption acts as the feds won’t do it.
Thank you for this review. Looking at the daunting list of candidates was overwhelming as I was reviewing it with my son who is now old enough to vote for the first time…..now I know why there are soooo many more than I anticipated before opening the ballet.
I follow the news and politics, but living in Clark county (just on the border across from Portland, OR) 98% of all of our news here is massively overrun by Portland and Oregon politics and even after living here for over 20 years I still find it challenging to keep up on WA state politics and candidates because all local news on TV and even local papers are focused on Portland or Oregon related issues.
This article did help fill in many of the gaps for the candidates that will help us decide who we will vote for.
Do you have a similar article on the LT Governor candidates?
Culp not only did not bring charges against a pedophile, he did not report it to Child Protective Services which is mandated by law. The child abuser confessed later. He didn’t believe the accuser because she didn’t look him in the eye while he grilled her on the specific sex acts.
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spokesman.com%2Fstories%2F2020%2Fjul%2F05%2Fwashington-governor-candidate-loren-culp-faces-law%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C19e699dfced34b97947c08d83507ab31%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637317654330049376&sdata=Hxdqt52qandHLOgSFTGPYOR%2FjLB0xvLHmFqJiwgGdJ8%3D&reserved=0
I’m a proud independent (basically, I believe the extremists on both sides are destroying the country), and this seems like a good place to gain the perspective of the folks who value the 2nd amendment. It seems like a lot of folks on this side are upset about the current governor acting as if he were above the law? My biggest pet peeve is hypocrisy. It seems like arguments could easily be made that leaders on both sides of the aisle act as if they are above the law, just violating different laws, no?
I agree with you about the extremists. Use to be respect for each other even if they didn’t agree.
I think there tends to be some type of nostalgia for a time that may never have existed. Sometimes if you were not involved in the political process back in the day, it might have seemed like a rosy nirvana where people agreed and were respectful, but when I talk to people from those different eras, I’m not so sure that was true. What is different today is the online world where some conflicts become more publicized than they would have been in the past.
Glenn, thanks for this list it helped to see some differences to make a decision.
I have to agree with you Glen, in my early good ole days of 3 maybe 4, TV stations and the networks pretty much controlled popular radio, the media went for who was the loudest squeaky wheel. That was typically extemist or the screw-ups. In this relatively small arena it was easier to remember the FAKE, so it wasn’t as prevalent, but it was there. They just recovered slower.
NO NEWS = FAKE NEWS. When things are going good news doesn’t sell, FAKE sells, extreme sells. Good politics doesn’t sell.
Today with an infinite number of news media and an equal ways to get it, those in media virtually live in anonymity. Its easy to stir things up with FAKE and/or call every comment FAKE, simply to compete. No one will remember. The same but like everything else, more to overwhelm and cause kaos.
Kaos sells.
Thank you so much for this. Reading more I realize whether you like him or not the lawsuit against Culp will hinder him and he would not be able to win in Nov. our priority is to win in Nov. I will say my husband loves the Culp but a majority of women have either been abused or are close with someone who was. He handled that poorly and he is still in denial about it. He wouldn’t be able to get the votes needed in Nov.
Great summary…helped me find my candidate, who I’ll vote for. Thank you!
I’m glad I could help…
Do we know how they feel about vaccines?
No, I don’t.
Sad but probably true, one reason i moved from Olympia Wa. to Michigan last year & ran into another corrupt Gov Whitmer!! Can’t seem to get away from these Liberal idiots!!
Great Reply!
Culp2020
This has been a refreshing group with many opinions to chew on, and it seems like most of the people commenting thought things out before posting. Thanks for the rundown, Glen, and thanks to all who have posted.
I was a democrat but woke up to how insane they are with ideology. I’m voting straight republican. Culp is strong on 2nd amendment. I don’t want defunding of police either. Insane.
I have my mind made up but am still glad I read this article! Very informative and I learned a bit about each candidate. Even the ones I’ve been following. Thank you!
Thanks for commenting.
Would you know how Culp and Eyman stand on abortion?
They have both stated they are pro-Life. Eyman more in narrative form because his dad was adopted, he was adopted, and his kids are all adopted.
I voted for Tim Eyman
I want Jay Inslee VOTED OUT!!
JAY HAS TO GO!!!!!!!!!
Anything to get Inslee out of office… What a snake. That guy is horrible.
I was looking for an unbiased article explaining some of the major candidates but I guess I will keep looking…
Good luck. I explain my bias in the first few paragraphs. Every other article that you will find – the authors will not.
I found this article very informative and really non-biased for those of us who already not voting Democrat. Your choices were pretty much the names I had highlighted after reading over the masses.
What is your gut feeling on Dems running against Inslee? Will there be enough votes in their corners to make it an all-Dem November ballot?
I don’t see that happening in the Governor’s race, but it could happen in the Lt. Governor race
What about Leon Aaron Lawson?
I don’t even know who that is
Me as well John. Mr. Morgan did not claim a party affiliation and hinted at being unbiased. I was a bit skeptical by his criteria on choosing who made the cut but I wanted to find another educated opinion. I too will keep looking.
Good luck. As I was pretty crystal clear in the beginning of the article – I do have a bias which I clarified in the article, and I defined my criteria which I also clarified in the article. It is possible you could use different criteria, but I’m not sure how you would be objective about it. Nate Herzog would be the #7 on the list if you drop the thresh hold of fundraising, I guess, but I can’t see how you will get much else. If you really think someone else out there is going to be less biased (and they are unlikely to provide you the same clarity), I’d love to know who you find. That would be interesting to see and share with others.
Thank you John – I can’t believe I wasted my time reading this garbage… How do people even get paid for partisan crap while claiming to be informative. Disgusting
Thank you for reading and commenting. I always value different opinions.
Great Reply!
Thank you for this article Mr. Morgan.
I find it very helpful. But it is missing something important, I as a new Washingtonian, need to know.
I am originally from NY (over 40 years born and raised.) I love what Giuliani did. NYC was a hell hole before he came along. I lived on the border to NYC and it effected even my life. Going from the top ten worst cities especially in crime, to dropped off to one of best cities is a huge accomplishment, and I want to see that done everywhere, especially now when we need it most.. We need someone like him here.
That being said, I am still a bit in the dark because I am not familiar with the political waters here. In a perfect world, you could vote for the almost perfect or right guy, and that would be that. But it is not a perfect world. I don’t know the players here (but I definitely don’t like Inslee,) but I certainly know you just cant vote for the guy you think right, but you also have to vote for the guy who has the most potential to win…especially against an incumbent who seems to be liked (not sure who would.)
Culp sounds good because I like that he has been in trenches, is a cop (had two in my family,) and believes in constitutional rights. But in this nasty environment, I am not sure a cop can carry it over the finish line against Inslee. (I wish that were not true.)
A couple others sound good also, because I like the qualities you mention. But again, they need to stand a good chance to win. Just because you or I might like them, does not mean they can get the victory. Even if perfect for the job.
If someone is to defeat Inslee, they are going against a very strong liberal voice (at least what seems overwhelmingly loud to me being in a smaller city. I feel like an odd duck around here, and I am just a right leaning independent, no less conservatives.)
Inslee has so many things going for him right now. The money, the incumbency, the far left leaning media, the pandemic, the craziness going on in the big cities, and definitely the left leaning population (again that I see around here.)
So, without “endorsing” a candidate, please give me the nitty gritty here? If possible, I need it plain and simple, because I don’t have much time to learn. I want to learn, but the real “political waters” education takes at least months or years to get a real feel for, to sense who has a good shot, who is liked, who has the right kind of strategies, etc.
Even if you have to name at least 2, who do you think stands the most chance of winning against Inslee, based on all these factors? I mean seriously being realistic here.
Because I want to vote for someone who I think truly gives a damn about the average person, who does not want to micro-manage every aspect of our lives, who RESPECTS the constitution, and who can just beat Inslee out of the office most of all. But I also want them to have a real good chance of winning, because this is a unique time, and very odd territory.
My other half and I will be putting in our votes in the primary, hoping to get Inslee out of there. But I want this candidate to have a real shot at it. So a little further insight would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much, great article,
Kat
P.S… TLDR; Who can realistically pull off beating Inslee? Because even third best of this list is better than Inslee.
P.P.S We did not get ballots yet. Is that normal?
You should have your ballot already. I would check on that. Thanks for your kind words. I lived in New York City as a student – pre-Guilianni. I brought him to campus to speak (I was chair of the College Republicans at the time). It was fun to hear him talk, but I remember thinking he had no chance at winning the Mayor seat. I was actually invited to work on his campaign, but I was done with New York, and I just wanted to get home to Washington. This is a much longer conversation. Feel free to PM me on FB and I can chat more there.
Hello fellow New Yorker! I lived in NYC for 33 years and few know of the impact Mayor Guiliani made on that city which had become a mess (we had homeless living in front of our building with all that is implied and one eventually started a fire in our bld which killed many people). The police were not allowed to move them to shelters.
I am now in WA and have no idea who to vote for against Gov Jay Inslee. Like you, I know it must be the most probable to win against him. I have been reading each and without knowing the “politics” of the State (and I am in the Tri Cities area which I am told is not the same as the West side???)
Anyone with an idea or thought please inform. Thanks
Hi there! Nice to feel like I am not alone here! =) From NY to WA (with pitstop along the way in OR,) is not something you hear of often.
Aside from Mr. Morgans articles (which got me started,) I found the debate the most helpful! If he does not mind me posting a link, it is a video on youtube which has this debate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiImj_1XcNY&t=1s
Hearing them speak and respond to questions, along with my theory about going for the guy “most likely” is what helped me make my choice.
Hope it helps you too! =)
~Kat
Thank you Glen! This was very Helpful.
I’m glad this helped. Feel free to share with others…
This is excellent!
Thank you, Glen!
My husband aided the recount with Rossi in the early 2000s. Remember- they “found” a box of votes and Rossi (who won) was out. I do not believe there is any way to get a rational Governor in WA state. My vote has not counted for years and I’m in Seattle. I’ve decided after all of this lockdown, tyrannical nonsense, I’m OUT. So I won’t be able to help in Nov but I voted Culp in the primary. Best of luck to all. I’m leaving this hell bound state of insanity.
Living in Seattle would be particularly tough right now, and Seattle certainly seems to be on the downward descent. We will miss you, but if we don’t defeat the insanity here, it only spreads like a disease and infects everywhere else. Idaho, Texas, Nebraska, etc are all going to be dealing (or already are) with the exact same thing unless it starts to get pushed back and exposed.
Not necessarily. Other states have different demographics. According to the WA DOL, 1,500 people move to Washington every month. Most of them from California. And those Californians are not voting GOP, I can assure you.
Some of the best conservative activists in this state are California refugees who come to escape the taxes, and who were fighting the good fight down there first. Demographics change all the time, but I agree that the free-eattle sort of scene – free drugs, needles, tents, handouts, etc to be a druggie in Seattle could be one good example of a problem. If that policy changed, I suspect you’d see some different changes…
California ‘conservative activists’ who moved to Washington? All five of them? Seriously, Glen, any conservatives from California are moving to Texas and Idaho, not Washington.
Yeah, that just isn’t true. Absolutely, everyone is fleeing California, and the current crop is heading to states further west, but there were a number of decades when they came up here and some of the better activists in this state are former Californians. Also former Democrats. Because they know why the fight matters, and they are often used to this fight.
I moved to WA from CA back in 1989
and I know im damn tried of other Californians moving here that bring their progressive policies to WA and keep voting for democrats
I want to see all of these progressives and corrupt democrats and some republicans voted out
There you go. You proved Mr. Clark Kent wrong.
One person proved me wrong? On the contrary, they just confirmed what I stated. Few jump from the frying pan into the fire, Glen. Nice try; no cigar.
This 6th, 7th and 8th Californian who moved to SW Washington votes GOP and look forward to helping clean house in my new state…I “assure you”
I agree Glenn. We need to drain the swamp in Washington State!
It is really more like an ocean…
FREED for Governor!
Thank you for writing this article, Glen Morgan. I, greatly, appreciated this article being I didn’t know a lot about several of the people running.
I hope it helped. Feel free to share with others.
Culp 2020 for our constitution!!!!
You should post this stuff on Instagram. Powerful medium, although they censor conservatives. Also, republicans should campaign at Slavic churches. Josh Freed would get thousands of votes. Very conservative people that were persecuted by communists.
Connect with the organization Slavic Vote. Let’s get some conservatives in office.
Great suggestion
Anyone can post it on Instagram, I’d appreciate it if people did.
If you create posts on your profile we can start sharing them.
Nice write up. I’m a center of the road individual. The type of candidate I see doing well against Inslee is someone who is relatively unknown, talks well, has clear plans to fix infrastructure, immigration, police reform, sensible climate change policy, etc. Any candidate that says Trump is doing a good job in the primary or general will be sunk immediately because one needs westside Democrat support in the general. Most of the well funded Republican candidate are too polarizing to win in the current political climate. The Achilles heel of politics of the past 20 + years is you have to be well funded and extreme to win a primary, then flip to moderate to win the general.
Brett, your comments are spot on! Hope you’ll give us a look.
With friends like Brett and Nate, who needs enemies?
#CULP2020
Culp2020🇺🇸
It’s like you almost left out the candidate with the most comprehensive website of everyone in the entire field, (resetWA.org) who has been elected to office twice having never lost, (unlike Fortunado and Freed = multiple losses each,) and is already running TV and radio ads on both sides of the Cascades just because he’s the most moderate in the field, (and appeals to Democrats since he is not a Trump guy!) Hmmm…
Oh and if it’s for fundraising #’s, don’t we want a Governor who is efficient and can do more with less? I don’t see Phil Fortunato running any statewide TV spots yet!
Nate, good point, and point well taken. From what I saw on the PDC, you had about $10k raised, which was better than the Green Candidate, for sure, but less than half of what the lowest amount of the 6 I profiled. I actually found a sign you posted near Exit 99 (I-5). That was a good sign. I drew the line at $25k raised, and I didn’t know about your website at the time I wrote this, but I appreciate the feedback…
The LAST thing we need is another ‘moderate’ in office!
I agree on that in the sense that the spinelessness that seems to come along with being a “moderate” today is just not functional in government. If all you are going to be is a watered down version of the insanity already spiraling the state and its’ policies into the ground, why would anyone be inspired to put you in office? That doesn’t mean you should be a wild-eyed person meeting the crazy insanity in office today with just another version of the same. But, you have to provide dramatic reasons to change. Otherwise, there is no reason for anyone to help you get there.
Love this by the way. Thanks for explaining why there are too many candidates. More discussion is better, and you’re very honest about your bias. Can you update your article and add Herzog? I’m not liking anyone on this list so far. Not Eyman because $30 tags make no sense. Yes, the ballot should be illegal the way it was worded, but $30 is reactionary, not leadership. The government needs money and a brand new SUV paying the same as a old Prius makes no sense. Not Insley because he’s too controlling, and to willing to limit our freedoms. How Inslee decided who had to shut down (and stay shut down) was more of the same. Not Republicans in general because they make laws when it should be my choice. So I might like a moderate. Thanks again.
Nice analysis! Regarding Culp’s candidate statement issue, I wasn’t able to copy and paste my statement data into the submission form. I tried in three different browsers, but I still had to type out the whole statement. All of the fields were the same way. This design seemed intentional, since the portal was calculating the letter limit as I typed.
Candidates also weren’t given an option to send the statement info in by email, or attach a file for upload. Culp probably needs to reassign tasks like this to a better handler.
Yes, usually these things are handled by campaign staff (at this size of a campaign). Mistakes happen.
Thank you very much, Glen, for this great article. I just opened up my voter’s pamphlet and didn’t know anything about most people on the Governor list, but after reading a lot of your article, I know who I want. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
Glad it was helpful.
Excellent tool, Glen. Now for one regarding the Judiciary? Hopefully people will realize with the top two going to the November election it almost makes the primary vote more important the general. Turnout in this State by conservatives, even moderates, is quite sad – especially in the primary.
The Judiciary requires some serious scrutiny. I agree.
[…] The Web site We the Governed has a great article describing the pros and cons of each candidate and the outcome in each candidates case. They also; like The Fourth Corner; urge you to vote. And don’t delay […]
I just received my ballot and have been looking for information on are race for governor and really enjoyed your article thank you.
Thank you. I hope it helped. Feel free to share
All for naught. Inslee will get his third term. Nice exercise in ‘what -ifs’. ‘I can see all the votes I need from the top of the Space Needle’ – former U.S. Senator Henry ‘Scoop’ Jackson.
Scoop Jackson’s famous quote has some statistical value and the math doesn’t lie. However, there have been times when Seattle votes just weren’t enough. The recent $30 car tab vote on I-976 is just one example. Here is another statistical fact. For the past 15 years or so (the trends change slowly), in state-wide races, roughly 25% of all Republican votes come from King County, 25% from the 20 counties in Eastern Washington, 25% from Pierce and Snohomish County, and then the last 25% from the other west side counties. Democrats rely, largely, on the votes they can extract from King County (particularly Seattle) with pockets of concentrated voters in Spokane, Bellingham, Olympia, Tacoma, Vancouver, etc. The trend over time has been the rural areas becoming stronger Republican, and the urban areas stronger Democrat. When inroads are made respectively into each other’s “safe zones,” that is when state wide political control shifts strongly. It is not easy. It is rarely sudden. Insiders rarely see it coming. I lived in New York pre-Rudy Giuliani. The change doesn’t come because of a “hail Mary” miracle. It tends to come by hard work, serious relentless effort, and the other side getting complacent.
Inslee will still win. But thanks for playing.
He certainly will if people don’t vote or are too apathetic to try.
Nope, he will win regardless of initial vote count or apathy. The fix is in. You should know this by now, Glen. Just ask Dino Rossi.
Sad but probably true, one reason i moved from Olympia Wa. to Michigan last year & ran into another corrupt Gov Whitmer!! Can’t seem to get away from these Liberal idiots!!
One thing is for sure: Whichever candidate goes up against Inslee, we the people need to stand behind them; or we’ll suffer more loss of rights, higher taxes, and continued Inslee Insanity. Is that what you want?
Probably not many people reading this article would want that.
No no no. We need a strong republican candidate to run against Inslee. All of us need to stand up and VOTE for once. Not just watch the same thing happen again and again. But we need to really get behind ONE candidate and push for his success so Inslee won’t have the numbers in the end. There are too many Republican candidates to chose from and I’m not even confident with any of them yet. Can anyone push me toward the RIGHT one for the GOVERNOR position or narrow the field for me to at least the two most likely candidates? Because if our votes are all over the place, we still won’t overcome one Democrat in November who has no real competition.
To some extent, the jungle primary system (Top2) will do this for you. This is the purpose of the primary election. Inslee is certain to make it to the final ballot. However, it is then a question who the highest vote getter will be out of the Republicans running against him. This is largely what voters will be determining this summer with the primary election. Which one of these candidates makes it to the fall ballot. Only one will. After that happens, then the choice for those who oppose Inslee is clear and obvious, and it won’t matter if there were four, 10 or 100 Republicans on the ballot in the summer. Only one is coming through.
The minimal information on Culp in the voter pamphlet is not the fault of his campaign. Information was submitted three times to correct what what printed erroneously and was still never printed correctly. He has graciously put out a statement publicly giving the Secretary of State the benefit of the doubt. Smart move on his part. I am not so gracious.
Listen, I like Culp. However, the voter pamphlet mistake looks like it is the fault of the campaign. If you file a records request for the emails, when given a chance to submit the “missing,” “already submitted twice” versions of the campaign information for the voter’s pamphlet, the campaign was unable to do so, and instead only submitted this partial version we see now. If it had already “been submitted twice,” it wouldn’t be hard to resubmit the same email that had supposedly been sent. This was just a dumb amateur error. Not the first time this has happened to someone, and it is unlikely to be the last. However, it was a bad choice to get into a fight about it. Plus, this also doesn’t explain the missing video for candidates which, alone among the Governor candidates, Culp’s campaign missed. This isn’t the end of the world and I wouldn’t obsess about it, but it is annoying to see these types of easily avoided mistakes.
“The dog ate my homework”. Who do you trust, Glen? The bozos in Olympia who are in the pocket of Inslee or Culp? Who deserves the benefit of the doubt? My money is on Culp. And yes, calling out government errors is FANTASTIC. In fact, I believe you do the same thing.
Trust, but verify my friend. I’ve caught government plenty of times playing favorites and been exposing the truth, but you have more credibility when you catch real actions. People often try to set me up with false data or unverified stories. Anyone but Inslee should be obvious…
Ask Culp if he experienced ‘real actions’.
#CULP2020
You left out that in the line of duty Culp believed a child molester instead of his victim and Culp is involved in an ongoing lawsuit to that regard. It is a valid complaint as when the victim told a different officer that officer believed her and the child molester was arrested. The molester was sent to jail and is now a registered sex offender. As I stated this is an ongoing lawsuit that speaks to Culp’s character and is definitely in the Weakness/Negatives category.
LA Croft you are wrong! Request the information from the state and learn how you have been lied to.
Stephen
Sounds like you already have… have you made it public? The only way that others will see or hear truth is if it is easily obtainable. Telling people too ‘go look for it’ is asking for them to continue to be lazy and believe the ‘mass media’ narrative that continues to be strewn for the public to see, read, and ultimately believe!
I just read this in it’s entirety – Culp did in fact believe the child molester over the child.
Not only did they not believe the child but interrogated the child as if the child was a criminal and finished the interrogation of said child by calling them a liar.
As someone who was raped as a child – I find you both disgusting human beings – you have the evidence right in-front of you and you paint a very different picture in your comments. I hope you are not religious because if you are, you didn’t make it.
Say hello to the devil for me, I met him as a child…
It’s not a lie and the complaint & lawsuit are filed here in Ferry County WHERE I LIVE. There are only 6 of his signs in and around Republic there is not much local support because we have had to live with him. But he sure has a lot of support from people who don’t know him. Below is the web address to the complaint the victim filed & released . READ IT and ask your candidate why he won’t release his response. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KZCuYJUzaHXywYXsE6pVXBN_DFyTsv62/view?fbclid=IwAR1G4V5IvcQJlzl61TjU_RdARCZfDrQAltEktxLG11JTCsBCaokB6hmDrhM
I just read this in it’s entirety – Culp did in fact believe the child molester over the child.
Not only did they not believe the child but interrogated the child as if the child was a criminal and finished the interrogation of said child by calling them a liar.
As someone who was raped as a child – I find you both disgusting human beings – you have the evidence right in-front of you and you paint a very different picture in your comments. I hope you are not religious because if you are, you didn’t make it.
Say hello to the devil for me, I met him as a child…
I realized you were the only arguing the case – this was meant for stephen howell and radar
I just read this in it’s entirety – Culp did in fact believe the child molester over the child.
Not only did they not believe the child but interrogated the child as if the child was a criminal and finished the interrogation of said child by calling them a liar.
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