Politics The Stranger Election Control Board’s Top 3 Primary
Congratulations, Jim Street, Stephanie Pure, and Jamie Pedersen. You’ve made it through the first round.
As you probably know by now, our state’s beloved blanket primary system was tossed out by the federal courts a few years ago. After a flurry of legislation, vetoes, an initiative for a “Top Two” primary system (meaning you don’t have to choose a party and the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, go through—a proposal I blasted in a 2004 endorsement), we’ve now got a party-line “Montana-style” primary. You pick a party ballot—presumably, most voters in the 43rd District will choose the Democratic ticket—and then the top Dem vote-getter floats on to a basically uncontested race in the general… at least here in the Commie 43rd.
What that means for you, 43rd-District voter, is that your representative to the state legislature will be chosen in the primary. There are six (6!) candidates still in the race, so that primary will be very messy. (I blame the local Dem leadership, which should have had the discipline to winnow down the field before we ever heard of Jamie Pedersen.) Here at the Stranger, we’ve decided to winnow the candidates down in a primary of our own (held yesterday), and we’ll shortly be inviting our Top Three vote getters—Jim Street, Stephanie Pure, and Jamie Pedersen—back for another round of vigorous debate.
Candidates we’ve eliminated & why:
Lynne Dodson: Despite her relatively commanding performance at the 43rd District “debate-format program” (whatever that means), Dodson did not give us the meaty answers we were looking for in the endorsement interview. From her call for more process-style nattering before dealing with the crumbling viaduct to her evasion of a question about where her agenda differs from that of teachers’ unions, she was uniformly unimpressive.
Bill Sherman: Slick Willy 2 has not smoked marijuana since the early ’90s, which disappointed some of our Election Control Board Members (not me, though: I haven’t smoked pot since the early nevers). He also can’t quit yapping about his young kids. On some issues (marijuana legislation, notably), he seemed slightly to the right of his opponents; on others (his preferred solution to the viaduct is, unequivocally, a cut & cover tunnel), we just plain disagree.
Dick Kelley: The former 43rd District Chair is a boring speaker, too caught up in regulatory nitpicks to bother addressing the biggest concerns of the voters. He’s running what is essentially a one-issue campaign—on campaign finance reform—that’s impossible to get excited about.
Advancing to the next round….
Jim Street: Though he can be pretentious at times, Street is obviously the best informed on the issues, including transportation policy (he’s hardcore and specific about reducing our dependence on the automobile) and drug policy reform (as a judge, he’s got a strong rap against buy/busts, and he was on the 2001 KCBA drug reform task force that set the stage for the group’s radical follow-up proposal to legalize drugs in 2005). We’re also excited to see if his contentious style will be able to draw out our two other top vote-getters.
Stephanie Pure: The blue-hairs populating the pews at the candidate forum notwithstanding: The 43rd is—probably more than any other district in the state—the home of urban young people. Pure has tremendous energy, and when she’s locked into an issue, she’s eloquent (she gave a great, informed answer on the viaduct, quickly zeroed in on a Puget Sound cleanup bill she’d propose if she were elected, and was the only candidate to bring up the recent pharmacy board snafu regarding refusal clauses). She’s going to face a steep learning curve if she’s elected, but the state legislature is usually considered a good place for a promising, young politician to start her political career.
Jamie Pedersen: There’s no argument—Pedersen is a drip. But as Stranger Election Control Board member David Schmader pointed out, yesterday (the day the rotten WA Supreme Court gay marriage decision was handed down) was Pedersen’s “sad day,” both for personal and professional reasons. Certain members of our board suffered sympathy pangs. I personally wanted to see a bit more fight in the guy, but we’ll see what he has to say next time around. It’s obvious that Pedersen would be a strong advocate for marriage equality in the legislature, and since the court option has now been exhausted, that’s what we need.
—Annie Wagner,
Stranger Election Control Board Member
You spelled Big Gay Jamie's last name wrong.
Street OK, Pedersen, OK but you're tacitly showing supporting for his flip-floppy gladhanding CYA approach to campaigning, and Pure is the Stranger's pet candidate so obviously she was making a cut, though I'm not too impressed with her at all.