Washington 2020: The Calm Before the Drizzle

[cwt]

I wonder if McKenna could have won if he had come out in favor of I-502 and promised to do everything possible as governor to support it if it passed.
 

[cwt]

Here are the margins for the last 3 elections:

2004: Gregoire +0.005, Kerry +7.18

2008: Gregoire +6.48, Obama +17.17

2012: Inslee +3.08, Obama +14.87

[cwt]

Devil's advocate to you non-voters:

The more people who vote in the primary, the more humiliatingly high the turnout will be vs. the caucus system, and the more pressure on the parties to scrap the terrible caucus system.  Voting is going to send more of a signal than not voting.

Plus, fun election results!  Don't you care about fun election results?!

There's only one party in this state that still uses the caucus system, and it's not switching any time soon.

I agree, though. It's so easy to vote in this state, so why not do it?

[cwt]

 That's impressive, considering that the 2008 primary actually counted a little bit on the Democratic side.

It was also a beauty contest.

I remember voting for Ron Paul in that election, only because the Democratic primary was meaningless.

[cwt]

U.S. Senator – Philip L. Cornell (D)
U.S. Representative (District 4) – Doug McKinley (D)
Governor – James Deal (D)
Lt. Governor – Cyrus Habib (D)
Secretary of State – Tim Turner (L)
State Treasurer – Alec Fisken (D)
State Auditor – Mark Wilson (Independent)
Attorney General – Joshua B. Trumbull (L)
Commissioner of Public Lands – Mary Verner (D)
Superintendent of Public Instruction – David Spring
Insurance Commissioner – Justin Murta (L)
State Senator (District 12) – Jon Wyss (R)
State Representative Pos. 1 (District 12) – Dan Maher (D)
State Representative Pos. 2 (District 12) – Garn G. Christensen (R)
Justice Position 5 – Barbara Madsen

[cwt]

Here is how Western and Eastern WA were split (as of 11/11/16):

	Clinton	Trump	Other	Margin
Western WA	58.97	34.27	6.76	Clinton +24.7
Eastern WA	37.72	55.38	6.90	Trump +17.66
Total	54.94	38.27	6.79	Clinton +16.67

[cwt]

Ballot returns are lagging in Spokane County compared to 2014, despite the free postage and competitive House race.

12.15% of ballots have been returned, versus 14.35% at this point in 2014. In raw numbers, 38,062 have been returned, compared to 40,495 in 2014.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jul/29/spin-control-ballot-returns-lag-behind-2014-primar/

[cwt]

Is anyone else kind of surprised at Advisory Vote No. 23?

I know they don't actually matter, but as far as I can tell it's the biggest "maintained" vote any advisory vote has ever gotten, and by a pretty large margin. Pretty rare to see 36 counties agree on anything, let alone on approving a tax.

[cwt]

Tim Eyman, the initiative promoter leading early polls to be the Republican candidate for governor this fall, spent Saturday rooting for a political rally of 250+ people to “stick our finger in the eye of Jay Inslee.”

In an email blast to supporters, Eyman flouted public health restrictions and advice on slowing the spread of coronavirus, saying “251 is the # of patriots I hope will join me @ Oak Harbor today. I’m bringing a 6-pack of Corona!”

As with some other of Eyman’s publicity gags, it was more bluster than reality. In a phone interview Saturday, he said actual turnout at the event was “about 60.”

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/coronavirus-daily-news-update-march-14-what-to-know-today-about-covid-19-in-the-seattle-area-washington-state-and-the-nation/

[cwt]

Chris Vance: The GOP effort for the governor's office is futile

[cwt]

Looks like Lt. Gov. will be a two-Democrat race.

First ever in a statewide race here since switching to the top-two primary, if I'm not mistaken.  

Also, the two moderate/traditional Republican gubernatorial candidates did abysmally. WA GOP continues to fade into irrelevancy.

[cwt]

Actually WTF happened? Schrier has less than 43% of the vote in WA-08, JHB is leading 56-40 over Long, Inslee is going to dip below 50%. Pretty awful results for WA Democrats.

Also, Kim Wyman with a majority of the statewide vote.

She got more total votes than Inslee as of right now (1,009,382 to 1,001,363).

[cwt]

New SurveyUSA/KING-5 poll:

Biden 55%, Trump 34%, Undecided 5%

Inslee 54%, Culp 40%, Undecided 6%

Heck 31%, Liias 18%, Undecided 52%

Wyman 45%, Tarleton 40%, Undecided 14%

Referendum 90: Approve 52%, Reject 34%, Undecided 14%

[cwt]

https://www.khq.com/elections/loren-culp-announces-the-city-of-republic-has-defunded-the-police-department/article_4d303c88-1edf-11eb-b0d1-1b8597464345.html

So Culp not only lost the election, he lost his job. The City Council of Republic voted to defund their police department.

[cwt]

So if Inslee takes off for a role in the Biden administration how does the special election for Governor work?

Is there a primary or is there just one big free-for-all ballot?

[cwt]

New Crosscut poll for the SoS race:

Hobbs 31%
Anderson 29%
Undecided 40%