Rob McKenna didn't write this.

Over the course of my campaign for Governor I have been criticized here on Slog and within the pages of The Stranger for singling out David "Goldy" Goldstein by making him the only member of the working press to be physically barred from covering my media events. But nothing could be further from the truth.

For example, Dan Savage, who has contributed hundreds of dollars to my opponent, is also not welcome at my events, nor is Eli Sanders, who I thought I was talking to in confidence when I told him in front of other journalists at a public radio station that Goldy is a partisan hack. In fact, the entire staff of The Stranger is officially barred from all of my Attorney Generals Office and campaign events. So as you can see, Mr. Goldstein has not been singled out at all.

And it is not just the writers and editors of The Stranger who have lost their reporting privileges. I had Jerry Cornfield of the Everett Herald blacklisted after he disrupted a media conference call by asking why other members of the media weren't invited onto my media conference calls, along with Peter Callaghan of the News Tribune, who continues to describe me as "lanky" and "bespectacled" despite my repeated objections.

Other ex-journalists included on my official Attorney General's Office Enemies List (authorized under an obscure provision of RCW 5.68.010, the Reporter Shield Law I proudly authored):

  • Essex Porter, KIRO-TV: For stalking me through stairwells at the Olympic Hotel.

  • Danny Westneat, Seattle Times: Asks too many rhetorical questions.

  • Joel Connelly, Seattle P-I: He never includes me in any of his amusing anecdotes about Washington State political lore.

  • Brad Shannon, the Olympian: Nobody likes a know-it-all.

  • Ted van Dyk, Crosscut: I know he's for me, but even I find him incredibly annoying.

  • Brian Rosenthal, Seattle Times: Talks funny.

  • Tony Ventrella: Once spilled beer on me at a Seahawks game.

  • Knute Berger, Crosscut: His beard tickles my face.

  • Robert Mak, Elisa Hahn, Lori Matsukawa, Mary Nam, Stacy Sakamoto, Hana Kim, and Aaron Levine: I'm not sure why, but former campaign policy staffer Kathlyn Ehl assures me there's a good reason.

That's far from an exhaustive list of the partisan hacks who are no longer welcome at my events, in my office, or on my media conference calls. But don't worry, as Governor my door will always remain open to the rigorously fair Josh Feit of PubliCola and the entire Seattle Times editorial board, so the public can rest assured that they will always get all the professional, in-depth reporting they need.