Electing Progressives in Washington State

First off, thanks for responding. But I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss these candidates. Let me highlight some of them further: (from Progressive Majority)

John Lovick is running for the non-partisan Snohomish County Sheriff. Recently retired after 31-years with the Washington State Patrol, Sgt. Lovick was been named the ''Trooper of the Year'' and holds many awards for his service. John is a union member with the Washington State Patrol Troopers Association. Since 1999, he has served in the Washington State House of Representatives, rising to the position of Speaker Pro Tempore. From 1994-1999, he served on the Mill Creek City Council, two of those years as Mayor. If elected, he would be only the third sitting person of color elected at the county level in Washington state and the only outside of King County. In addition, he will be the first person of color in Washington state to serve as an elected sheriff.

Bob Kelly is running for the non-partisan Whatcom County Council. He is a member of the Nooksack Tribe in Northern Western Washington. Bob first became interested in politics with his work on salmon recovery issues as Natural Resources Director with the Nooksack. He is also heavily involved in his community, serving as treasurer with the NW Indian Fish Commission which is comprised of 20 tribes. Bob will be running for Whatcom County Council for a progressive-held, open seat in a progressive district. Currently, he has not yet drawn an opponent. His race is important in that he would not only become the first Native American to serve on that board, but also the first Native American to hold County office in Washington State. Currently, there are only two people of color of any race (Larry Gossett and Ron Sims) holding any county office in the state. Bob has participated in numerous individual sessions on fundraising, stump speeches, field plans, and other trainings.

Dan McShane is running for Bellingham Mayor, a non-partisan seat. Dan is currently in his second term on the Whatcom County Council. He is a geologist and small-business owner. Dan is a very prominent environmentalist; both he and his wife Lisa have served on numerous boards and commissions related to environmental issues. He also taught in public schools for more than seven years and is a former union member of both the California Education Association (NEA) and the Teamsters Union. This year the Mayor's race is ''open'' for the first time in 12 years and there is are seven candidates from across the political spectrum running. Dan is clearly the progressive front runner of the field, and has a proven ability to fundraise and well-known zeal for door-belling. Dan is an excellent pipeline candidate and could run for higher office someday.

And Port Commissioner:

Alec Fisken is running for re-election as one of the two progressive members of the non-partisan Seattle Port Commission. He works as a financial analyst for the City of Seattle, and is facing a tough re-election campaign. The Commission currently is split with 3 conservatives and 2 progressives; if Alec retains his seat, and we beat one conservative commissioner up this year, we will have a progressive majority on the commission for the first time ever. Despite its name, the Seattle Port Commission is elected by all of the voters of King County; more than 450,000 votes are expected to be cast in this race.

Gael Tarleton is running for the non-partisan Seattle Port Commission. She has a background in intelligence, having worked as a Senior Analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency -- a job which makes her immensely qualified for the office of Seattle Port Commission, with port security an increasing concern. She currently works for the University of Washington, becoming the first ever Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations for the College of Arts and Sciences. She is deeply concerned about the environmental issues facing the port as well as the security problems that the Port faces. The Port currently is split with 3 conservative commissioners and 2 progressive commissioners; if Gael wins and we retain the one progressive up this year, we will have a progressive majority on the commission for the first time ever. Despite its name, the Seattle Port Commission is elected by all of the voters of King County; more than 450,000 votes are expected to be cast in this race. She will be running against incumbent conservative Bob Edwards. It won't be easy, but Edwards' right-wing credentials and recent port scandals won't help him in the democratic-leaning King County.

And, oddly not on the original list I posted, is this gentleman:

Bill Sherman is running for King County Prosecutor, a position that was left unexpectedly left vacant by the death of Norm Maleng, the long-standing moderate Republican prosecutor, who was elected in 1978. The seat has been in Republican hands for over 60 years. Bill currently serves as a prosecutor from the Domestic Violence Unit of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and he brings the experience and perspective of those on the front lines of criminal prosecution. Prior to joining the Prosecutor's Office, he practiced civil litigation, serving on the legal team representing the victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in their quest for justice against Exxon Mobil, and in the 1990s, he worked in the Clinton Administration as an aide to first Vice President Al Gore and then to Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt. His general election opponent is Deputy Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, a Republican who was Maleng's chief of staff.

There are actually many more highlighted at the Progressive Majority website and most of them sound pretty damned good. So maybe people should be paying attention to these races.

First, Progressive Majority is not only active in Washington State, but in 7 other states across the country, including “swing” states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Colorado, Minnesota and Arizona.

As far as Washington, over the last 14 years, we have experienced more “swing” than any other state in the country – six of the nine congressional seats have been held by members of a different political party during that time, and the state legislature has experienced vast turnover. A look at Maria Cantwell’s less than 2,500 vote margin in her 2000 Senate election and Chris Gregoire’s 129 vote margin for her Governor’s race will only confirm that independent nature of Washington State.

To date, we’ve endorsed 40 candidates in Washington State running in 2007. Of these, over half are first time candidates, meaning they have never run for any public office before.

A complete list can be found at our website.

These are people like Ramona Fonseca, who is running to be the first Latina elected Mayor in Granger, a small town in the Yakima Valley which is over 80% Hispanic; Maria Osorio, running for an open seat on the Toppenish School Board; Ken Mann, 37, running against a conservative incumbent for the Whatcom County Council; Chase Gallagher, a 23-year-old candidate for Shelton (Mason County) Finance Commissioner, and 28-year-old lawyer Joshua Schaer, who would be the only progressive on the Issaquah City Council.

We have only endorsed three sitting incumbents for re-election, and that is because their races are so critical. They are two of the very few elected progressives in Eastern Washington, and Alec Fisken, running for reelection to the Seattle Port Commission – because to get a majority on the port, we must win that seat as well.

The other non-first time candidates fall into one of two categories. The first is promising up-and-comers who lost their last campaign, like Bill Sherman who is running for King County Prosecutor or Cindy Poysnick, who came within a handful of votes from winning a seat on the Puyallup School Board two years ago. The second category is progressive elected officials who are taking the next step to running for higher office, such as Rose Ehart, who is a member of the Pierce County Conservation District and is running for the University Place City Council, or Brian Sullivan, whom you’ve already mentioned.

Thank you for your interest in our work, CultureKitchen!