As close readers of our endorsements may have picked up, there's a lot the SECB can't stand about the way the Washington State Legislature's been (not) doing its job the last few years. But even as we rage-type our sweeping condemnations and demands for immediate jailing of every motherfucker down there (still a good idea!), we're not so anger-blinded that we can't see how some motherfuckers in Olympia are better than others. Take, for example, Frank Chopp, the motherfucker who happens to be the Democratic house speaker.

His incrementalism drives us insane, he voted for the Boeing deal, and his inability to loudly brag, or even humblebrag, about his many accomplishments has left a lot of room for his challenger, Socialist Jess Spear, to run with the critique that he's a corporate toadie. There are two big problems with this critique. One, it's too simplistic, even for us. Two, Spear hasn't followed her critique with a convincing case for how she'd do better.

Spear promises rent control, which is currently illegal under state law, but doesn't explain how unseating a powerful house speaker and replacing him with a newbie with no legislative experience or pull is gonna move that ball forward. Chopp supports removing the state's rent-control ban so that Seattle can decide what it wants to do on that question, and in the meantime, he's focused on things that can make life for Seattle renters better right now. "I'm the strongest leader on affordable housing," he says, and he's right. Before he was a legislator, he was a low-income housing activist, and he's since used his public office to grind the ugly legislative gears in the right direction for low-income Washingtonians, getting money appropriated to build affordable housing all over this state. In Seattle, there are 70 affordable housing buildings in the 43rd District—Chopp's district—that owe their existence to his efforts. If you start counting the rest of the city, there are even more.

Spear was a leader of Seattle's $15-minimum-wage movement, but Chopp was behind a $15 wage well before it got hot in Seattle, supporting SeaTac's earlier successful effort to win a wage hike. He's also been a major force in expanding health care for the state's most vulnerable citizens over the last 10 years. What Spear has failed to explain is how Chopp's style of hard work toward meaningful, incrementalist progress in Olympia—yes, we actually typed those words—wouldn't take a hit if he's kicked out and replaced as speaker. Because let's be real: The new speaker wouldn't be Jess Spear. More likely, it'd be a "moderate" Democrat like Pat Sullivan of Covington. (As you're trying to find Covington on a map, keep in mind that Sullivan doesn't even support closing the gun show loophole—one more reason we gotta vote for I-594, people.)

When a radical candidate has a chance to wreck shop and make a difference (as Kshama Sawant has done on the nine-member Seattle City Council) it's worth sitting up and paying attention. When there's little chance of this happening (Spear would be just one voice in the 98-member state house), and when there's also real danger of progressive goals actually suffering, it's worth being pragmatic. That's a major reason Chopp beat Spear by 59 points in the primary. Sometimes an imperfect candidate is the best person for an ugly job. Vote Chopp.

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