Washington state megathread

[KingSweden]

Apparently the Brits over at The Guardian wrote a piece about how Spokane sucks and has no hope but Gonzaga basketball. The Spokesman Review ripped them a new one.

The Inlander went off on them too. It was a terrible article, made worse by the fact that the author is a Spokane native who graduated LC as recently as 2010!! Should know better!

BTW, speaking of GU - pro-tip don't pick them to go anywhere near the Final four in your bracket. They will screw you somehow. Always have always will

[KingSweden]

Our long Spokanite nightmare is over... the Guardian's editors issued an apology for the GU article!

[KingSweden]

This has probably been asked before, but why is it still '15 and not '17?

Also I really wish I knew more about Washingtonian politics since I was born there.

We need a good pithy name for '17...

My fave was still in '13: "Mike McGinn is a GMO"

[KingSweden]

The '13 continually cracked me up.

'17 could be something related to car tabs in honor of the Republican anti-transit crusade against Sound Transit and Seattle.

Or perhaps something about our future governor, Dow Constantine, and his immaculate hair.

The new car tab prices are wayyyyy higher than I expected, to be fair. I helped my Texas-bred coworker find out who her legislators were so she could write complaints haha

Dow is immaculate, but I think a thread title about his perfection needs to wait until 2020

[KingSweden]

Miloscia and mayyyybe Angel are the low hanging fruit, IMO. Erickson and Fain will be tougher outs, especially since Fain's brother is a big sports radio personality. Baumgartner - in a narrow Trump district - will be a difficult man to defeat

[KingSweden]

Ugh, Jon Grant...

Wasn't O'Ban up in '16?

[KingSweden]

Ugh, Jon Grant...

Wasn't O'Ban up in '16?

He was. He defeated Marisa Peloquin, a colonel in the Army Reserve, by a 4,000 vote margin. 52-47

That's too bad. No cracks at that tool til 2020

[KingSweden]

So, uh, yeah...

JFC! This could have legs. Seems almost Jim West-Lite (similar circumstances in Spokane that took down a mayor).

Shame if it's true, I rather like Murray

[KingSweden]

Yikes. This could be big... I hope this doesn't mean Nikkita Oliver comes out as the front runner in whatever happens next.

Mike McGinn Part II: The Redemption

[KingSweden]

IMO - Nikita Oliver is in the race because nobody else has the cachet to take on Murray. If this thing sinks him or wounds him to the point that he's a McGinn or a Nickles, I'd expect the deep bench in Seattle to take a run. We could be looking at ASOIAF, Seattle style... A Clash of Candidates? A Storm of SJWs? (I kid!)

Sally Bagshaw has been thought of as somebody with mayoral ambitions. This would make me barf, as she went from being one of the best CMs to a Port flak who became the ringleader of the obnoxious "Fem Five" that made their anti-sports fan victory lap on Samantha Bee last year. Bagshaw is establishment enough to probably pick up significant institutional support, but she'd be the worst option to build on Murray's good work in this neoliberal hack's opinion.

Gonzalez clearly has ambitions bigger than At-Large CM. Question is if she'd risk her seat, where she'll have a tough reelection campaign as is, for a run in what promises to be a wild jungle for Mayor. Burgess is walking this fall from the other AL seat, but could he win 50% in November with his reputation as a conservative (obviously by Seattle standards)?

Rob Johnson would be my ideal choice for literally any office - a great urbanist. Doubt he runs, along with the other CMs. Sawant is a wild card but after four years of her antics on the Council I doubt there's a winning coalition for her in a Top Two. Besides, I imagine she commands more influence in her current perch where she can grandstand for her diehards but isn't responsible for governing. Sawant for all her faults is a sharp lady and probably gets this.

There are a number of state leg types I could see coveting the office. Jamie Petersen is a Murray acolyte and has the same base, plus would keep the LGBT community happy. Jessyn Farrell has strong urbanist bonafides but would still be acceptable to the more hard-left crowd. I actually think she'd be one of the strongest contenders. Walkinshaw is an interesting case - name rec after his Congressional run, and he'd obviously be to the left of Murray, but is there still bad blood between him and Jayapal's contingent, with
Whom Sawant is obviously a respected voice?

[KingSweden]

If Murray becomes nonviable, I expect Walkinshaw to run on an urbanist platform. He's got nothing to lose, and would be my ideal candidate (Rob Johnson needs to stay on the council, he's doing good work. Plus, he seems more like a legislator than an executive).

I don't dislike Nikkita Oliver, but her comments on supporting 25% manditory affordable housing in all developments is scary- unless you want to see Seattle reach SF levels of affordability. She also seems to be focusing more on the affordable requirement side than the more important upzone side, which further puts in to doubt her commitment to actually tackling the affordable housing crisis.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of her. Too illiterate on urban issues, though I know she's coming from a well meaning place (rather than pure NIMBYism). Again, I suspect her running is because anti-Murray factions need a warm body to run against him. Walkinshaw would be favored in a race with her IMO

[KingSweden]

Spokesman-Review wrote an article about my maps.

Congratulations! Good luck on your dissertation

[KingSweden]

Per Chris Daniels, Murray to make announcement at 5:30 related to the allegations

[KingSweden]

Per Chris Daniels, Murray to make announcement at 5:30 related to the allegations

Murray denied the allegations, and said a medical exam has shown that his penis does not have a mole like the accuser said he did.

Really? (Was indisposed to follow this tonight). If you'd told be in Jan that a politician would call a news conference and discuss what his penis looks like I would have bet it was Trump rather than Ed Murray

[KingSweden]

Per Chris Daniels, Murray to make announcement at 5:30 related to the allegations

Murray denied the allegations, and said a medical exam has shown that his penis does not have a mole like the accuser said he did.

Really? (Was indisposed to follow this tonight). If you'd told be in Jan that a politician would call a news conference and discuss what his penis looks like I would have bet it was Trump rather than Ed Murray

Remember: Bill Clinton's penis curves slightly to the left. That's on court record.

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In non-penis related news:

Republicans have chosen their candidate for the LD-45 special: Jinyoung Lee Englund.

Englund is a former staffer for Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and a major advocate of Bitcoins. In 2015, she made The Hill's "50 Most Beautiful" list. (Yes, The Hill is that trashy).

Englund has received Rossi's endorsement.

Well TBF she IS very pretty, I do have to say.

[KingSweden]

Really remarkable how much 45th has changed. Both top candidates are POC women.

I'll be moving from the 45th to the 1st soon, but if I remained in the 45th Dhingra would easily have my vote

[KingSweden]

The fact were talking about Murray's penis probably means he's toast, right?

TBD. The loony left in Seattle probably can't beat him with Oliver (Sawant knows she commands far more influence from the Council than she would as an executive and will never run for Mayor) and if he became toxic the "establishment" would find somebody viable instead. I would imagine one of Petersen, Walkinshaw or Farrell become the choice. Two are LGBT, ones a woman and all are sufficiently progressive to win more mainline liberals as well as the lefties,, but not as out to lunch as the SAP or hard activist crowd

[KingSweden]

Please everyone email your representatives and senators today to ask them to vote NO on the knee jerk car tab bill. It isn't ST's fault voters couldn't be bothered to study the MVET calculator on their website. I agree that the jump in tabs was a bit steep but figuring out a better calculation deserves more study and debate than this crap going down in olympia right now

[KingSweden]

We should rename this thread either "The Saga of Ed Murray's Penis" or "Car Tabs are Literally Hitler"

[KingSweden]

No kidding. Maybe ribbon cutting

[KingSweden]

Englund is a decent recruit. Still think Dhingra has to be the favorite at this time

[KingSweden]

Englund is a decent recruit. Still think Dhingra has to be the favorite at this time

Interesting. Republican candidate in districts like this must be very moderate (on Litzow level, or even higher), at least on all social isuues, to simply have a reasonable chance... And even that (again - Litzow) may be not enough...

My understanding is Englund is right of Litzow

[KingSweden]

Mike McSchwinn just tweeted "Keep Seattle. McGinn 2017"

This may surprise many considering my fairly centrist views but I'd be very happy to see McGinn back in the Mayor's office. For as much of an abrasive weirdo as he is he had serious backbone on urbanism and the arena.

[KingSweden]

Bit OT but does anyone know who draws Council districts for 2021 and onwards? IIRC the districts now used came with the initiative that switched to the district system. Have to imagine uneven growth patterns in Seattle will leave us a radically different map

[KingSweden]

It's official: McGinn is in.

MY KING IS ALIVE

Murray releases statement. I'll say this:: was hoping for this, but did not expect it. McGinn, for all his eccentricities, was a great Mayor. This probably kills Oliver's oxygen and gives the same progressives a champion in case the Legend of Ed Murray's Penis takes a serious bite out of him.