Washington state megathread

[Alcon]

In Pam Roach news, someone noticed that she listed her brokering firm on her F-1 disclosure statement as "Les Schwab"



i'd believe it.

[Alcon]

http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/abstats/

I knew it was low, but is it lower than one would suspect for a special election in the early part of an off-year?

It's off-year primary low.  Which is kind of pathetic, since the only places where there are more than issue on the ballot are, I think, Enumclaw and Fall City.  It's probably slightly above average for election in the early part of an off-year, but considering how high-profile this race was (relatively) it's kinda low.  It always confuses me how many people vote in most primaries but absolutely ignore even special elections that get media coverage...but early returns are never really that indicative in King County, for whatever reason.

I'm having trouble envisioning Huff not winning at this point.  Who are Democrats going to split off with, the lady who got arrested for lying about ballots and now posts on HorsesAss?

edit: Oh yeah, the enumclaw/fall city thing is on what you linked.  heh.  I should really get eight hours of sleep one of these days.

[Alcon]

Did Toby Nixon endorse Kempf? My opinion of him would drop rather significantly if so.

He kind of double-endorsed Kempf and Irons, I think.

I don't really know much about the Kempf story.  I didn't read into that much micro-drama.  I just know that she was arrested for lying about late absentees, claimed she never did, and the arrest was eventually kind of dismissed as an overreaction.

I wish there was some kind of King County 2004: The Novel online to fill me in on what I ignored at the time

But I don't see why a Democrat (which she obviously is), or a non-partisan, would vote for her over Huff or Irons

[Alcon]

I was just toying around with the elections archives on Sam Reed's website and noticed something odd. Chris Hurst (D), the current member from the 31st District, Position 2, was elected to the Legislature in 2006. Prior to that he had been elected to the Legislature in 1998 and 2000, each time receiving about 55% of the vote. He also narrowly lost a race in 1996 to the man he beat in 1998.

Then in 2002, Jan Shabro (R) (past County Councilmember and current County Auditor) ran for his seat. She was unopposed in both the primary and the general.

So not only did Shabro win an open seat without any challengers, the Republicans picked-up an open seat without any Democratic challengers. Does anybody remember anything about the circumstances here? It just seems so incredibly bizarre.

Shabro pulled out at the last moment and the Democrats couldn't find a viable replacement.  I don't think there was much of a story behind it, but I don't remember why Hurst pulled out.  I'm not sure we ever found out the real reason.

[Alcon]

yeah, I meant Hurst and not Shabro

I think there was probably an interesting internal struggle going on there.  It's very rare that an open seat just comes up 100% empty like that.

Could Shabro have been that much of a shoo-in?  Weird district back around '96

[Alcon]

Eh, you could be right. My understanding of the Pierce County Democratic Party at that time though is that it probably wasn't big enough for internal struggles... it was pretty terrible. I really wouldn't be surprised if we couldn't find someone willing to cough up the $400 filing fee.

Except I think it was a more King County district back then.  Hurst has since moved from Black Diamond to Greenwater.  I don't know, though, maybe it was even intra-county problems.  I think they tended to avoid doing things at the LD level back then?

Way before my time

[Alcon]

Turnout was 17.0% as of yesterday.  At this rate, breaking 30% is a 50/50 proposition at best, and 33% would probably require a small miracle.  That's kind of pathetic turnout for a recognizable race.

Results in about five hours.

[Alcon]

15.5% turnout so far.  Even with institutional support, Irons is sucking.

Huff 44%
Assorted crazies 20%
Irons 19%
Roach 17%

Yeah, Huff wins.

In other riveting news, Fall City will probably have a parks district (59.3%), and the Enumclaw school levy is a nailbiter (51.6%).

[Alcon]

Apparently I complained enough back in November that they're putting up an unofficial abstract Neat.  And the final is only two days after certification.

There's a bill being heard in the House State Government Committee tomorrow that requires ballots to be received by 8 PM on Election Day. I suspect it's going to pass.

Bleh, why?  I know Oregon has that law, but I don't mind stragglers.  They never determine elections really, and I'd prefer if any ballot competently submitted before polling closes were counted.

[Shrug]

[Alcon]

The King County abstract will actually be an LD/CD breakdown, and was apparently not released today anyway.  right.

I take that back about the absentee ballot bill - the County Auditor's Association came out against it today. Basically it's just Sam Reed and a few House Democrats in favor.

On what grounds?  Speedy count?  Whatever.  I mean, if anyone should support the bill, it should be someone like me.  I like quick returns.  But I'd much rather not nitpick voters into being disenfranchised.

[Alcon]

Yea, they basically just want to be able to count quicker. It would be nice but I don't particularly see a reason why it's necessary (especially when the trade-off is limiting even slightly the amount of people involved in the process).

Would I be a total prick if I pointed out that a lot of the affected ballots (percentage-wise) would be military, and proportionately more Republican in general?

I'm sure that's not the only thing going on, but the Democrats should drop dumb crap like this.  It's bad for p.r.

I do like how the parties alternate between obsession with enfranchisement and electoral integrity, depending on whatever

[Alcon]

Has Randy Dorn always been crazy or are these shower stories a new development?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Alcon]

They appointed Grant's daughter, Laura Grant-Herriot (D-Walla Walla), to fill his seat. On the one hand her connection to her father might help her get retained. On the other hand the nepotism could be easy to attack. It'll be interesting to watch.

I think that was the right choice for the Democrats.  Bill Grant didn't keep winning because he was a Democrat.  And who is the Bill Grantiest pick?!

Plus, running negative on the LD level -- especially against the daughter of the recently deceased -- is a risky thing.  The GOP might not even have to bother to win this seat, though.  Hell, "Dayton attorney" (there's a high-octane job) might be enough.

[Alcon]

The marijuana decriminalization bill has become a small circus, because old white guys don't really know much about pot other than that it is frowned upon.

http://effinunsound.com/?p=1027

Not only does Jim Hargrove know nothing about marijuana, he's also for renewing prohibition.  Yes, for alcohol.  Since when is Jim Hargrove an idiot, or is this an isolated incidence?

Other exciting arguments:

Mike Carrell (R-Lakewood): Basically, "I've never been there, but I hear Amsterdam is a craphole."

Pam Roach (R-Auburn): Verbatim, "it is really a lot easier for parents when they can say ‘this is illegal.'" Note your own irony.

[Alcon]

Elections director maps tonight out of boredom/senioritis

[Alcon]

Best HA post... ever:

http://horsesass.org/?p=13147

That was teetering on the edge of the most awesome thing ever, until I noticed that the event's primary sponsor is the Stranger.  That pushed it over the edge.

[Alcon]

Question for my fellow Washingtonians: If Washington somehow manages to pull out an addition congressional district from the 2010 census (only possible if the DC bill passes and Utah gets its 4th before the census, I believe), what would the districts look like, and where would it go?

That is a good question.  I'll say this:  I have yet to see a district plan offered that doesn't have a trans-Cascades district.  Should make things pretty interesting.

[Alcon]

Question for my fellow Washingtonians: If Washington somehow manages to pull out an addition congressional district from the 2010 census (only possible if the DC bill passes and Utah gets its 4th before the census, I believe), what would the districts look like, and where would it go?

That is a good question.  I'll say this:  I have yet to see a district plan offered that doesn't have a trans-Cascades district.  Should make things pretty interesting.

Of course you haven't, because not having one would be impossible...

Maybe Hanford will explode before the next Census.

i win

[Alcon]

I've never understood how Murray manages to have identical approval ratings to Cantwell.  I mean, huh?

[Alcon]

deathdig - I-1000/Death with Dignity Cool one

What's the bright red precinct here like; it seems to stand out on a couple other maps as well?

Grandview.  Random spot of farmland, 10 voters.

Populated areas it failed:

1. Lutheran retirement complex (in the northwest of the zoom map)

2. A few scattered working-class precincts in South Seattle

3. A weird cluster of four suburban precincts (see zoom map) that seem slightly less Democratic than they should be.  bgwah and I decided that it might be because of a conservative Lutheran church in the area.  Only real explanation for it failing this we could come up with.

4. Some Bellevue precincts filled with a mix of Indian immigrants and olds.

5. A Kirkland precinct with a Catholic university, that also swung from Bush +37 to a tie.  3:2 against Death with Dignity, though.

6. A slightly inexplicable new apartment complex just south of Seattle, which voted 97%-2% Obama and 2-to-1 "no" on Death with Dignity, easily the biggest failure in the county.  No real idea there on either count.

7. A mish-mash of older and more socially conservative precincts to the South, plus the Muckleshoot Rez (on the southern county border, guess where fromthe turnout map!).

I assume (6) must include some Catholic areas, because I-1000 actually did fine in the most social con part of King County, the rural southeast outside of Enumclaw.  Yet another damn reason I wish the Census tracked religion.

[Alcon]

But why is it its own precinct? Oh, Washington State with its tiny precincts that make a mockery of the secrecy of the vote...

Kinda impossible to avoid.  It's wedged between SeaTac, Kent and Tukwila.  Don't hate though, privacy consolidations (and unnecessarily large precincts) turn into crap like this.

[Alcon]

1. Incorporated/unincorporated split precincts piss me off and are technically against Washington state law (doesn't stop about four counties), which is good, because they piss me off.  Even if it's just ten voters, it's not the right total, damn it!

2. They actually do that when they can (here), but they can't here.

3. I imagine that the Grandview people have intentionally avoided being in any of those cities.  That's generally how islands like this form.

4. No elections department actually cares about voter privacy.  They just start going with it if their elections software starts doing it automatically.

5. Small precincts are fun.

On Pierce, the gray precincts were consolidated in the sense that you can get their total by subtracting the given total from the county total

[Alcon]

They could easily either have them vote in one of the neighboring precincts except for city elections

Too complicated. They print one ballot type per precinct.

My precinct was split between the transit-zone thing that voted on the light rail and what not last November. I was on the side of the subdivision's street that didn't get to vote, lulz (the borders make no sense IMO).

There are places that don't split at all, but WA is not one of them.  In Clark County, Nevada, and New York City, you'll see pages of precincts that just contain a land parcel or two.  Some of them have no voters, some one house or a development, some just an apartment complex.  Pretty ridiculous.

I like the tiny-vote precincts but they do mess up maps.  Okanogan County is kind of fun -- its precincts are all between 40 and 150 voters.  But I think that the ideal precinct size in a populous county about 250-750.  To be fair to King, its precincts are optimally-sized otherwise, and they do a good job of actually making them neighborhood-relevant.

[Alcon]

Geoff Simpson really is kind of a dick, isn't he?

They caught him on Sound Politics posting under a sockpuppet account.  Seems to have one heck of a temper, domestic violence issues aside.

[Alcon]

Chirp...chirp...chirp.

Lame attempt at kicking some life back into this place (bold text makes it better, baby):

***

The State Senate has killed the two-years-late wet dream of New Urbanists: rezoning Olympia's "isthmus" (which is not actually an isthmus) into a condo-friendly area.  This was an interesting below-the-radar issue.  Opposition was staunch almost to the point of rejecting the suggestion of any change whatsoever.  Regardless of the merits of the project, it showed just how knee-jerk of an anti-development town Olympia is.

Personally, I think Olympia [the city, which was for the rezone] should be able to do virtually whatever it wants, and I have no idea why the State Senate is intervening.  I also have no idea why the "no" votes were a roll-call of mostly-horribles.  Maybe I should change my mind (at least there's Rodney Tom?)

***

As a cost-saving measure, the state is considering closing the freaking Peace Arch...well, the state park.  Also on the cutting board:  Dash Point, Saltwater, Millersylvania, Flaming Geyser, a bunch of other ones I've never heard of.

***

I think more politicians should have blogs like Pam Roach's, so we can tell how batsh**t crazy they are.  Pam Roach's latest is about a Senate ethics investigation into her.  Some choice quotes:

On the woman who filed the complaint: "Let's not forget here that this woman was touted by CPS as just being wonderful...they were wrong...I was right."

On why she filed it: "...she was coached to do so."

On who did that: "Who coached her? Someone or some entity that knew an ethics board even existed. And, someone who knew I was even writing a blog. I am guessing either a CPS worker or the evil CASA who railed against me in court when I showed an interest in the Stuth case and then quickly bowed out as soon as the press entered the picture."

Actually, just read the entire thing.  And the second comment below, which is like a cross between a Lord of the Flies study guide and the Bible Channel.

Bonus fact:  One of Pam Roach's favorite things is The Sound of Music.  Really.

***

In conclusion, I'm already sick of seeing Dale Washam's face whenever I look at property assessments.