History, politics, people of Oly WA
Two recent ideas pointing to the Top Two primary making things more interesting for representatives in supposedly “safe districts.”
With Jim McDermott and Dan Swecker the theory goes that the districts would remain blue and red, but the actual office holder would be in trouble.
Michigan’s law was struck down because voter lists would only be distributed to the parties, not to anyone who wants them.
For a political party that requires a specific voter declaration under this section, the secretary of state shall prescribe rules for providing, to the state and county committees of that political party, a copy of the declarations or a list of the voters who participated in the presidential nominating process of that party.
(3) The secretary of state shall develop a procedure for city and township clerks to use when keeping a separate record at a presidential primary that contains the printed name, address, and qualified voter file number of each elector and the participating political party ballot selected by that elector at the presidential primary.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the information acquired or in the possession of a public body indicating which participating political party ballot an elector selected at a presidential primary is confidential, exempt from disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246, and shall not be disclosed to any person for any reason.
(5) To ensure compliance with the state and national political party rules of each participating political party and this section, the records described in subsection (3) shall be provided to the chairperson of each participating political party as set forth in subsection (6).
(6) Within 71 days after the presidential primary, the secretary of state shall provide to the chairperson of each participating political party a file of the records for each participating political party described under subsection (3). The secretary of state shall set a schedule for county, city, and township clerks to submit data or documents required under subsection (3). The secretary of state and county, city, and township clerks shall destroy the information indicating which participating political party ballot each elector selected at the presidential primary as recorded in subsection (3) immediately after the expiration of the 22-month federal election records retention period.
Anyone? Citizen Steve, what say you?
Update: Ballot Access blog has their say. And, as usual, its a good one.
Two new entries today:
1. Get your voice on the draft county platform.
2. What should the party do in a post Top Two world?
First off, some bad predicting from Andrew up at the NPI blog:
They haven’t won anything yet. If they lose – and they’re likely to – the door will be slammed for good on that lousy system that no other state, save for maybe Louisiana, uses. The leaders of both the state Republican and Democratic parties have expressed confidence that the Supreme Court of the United States will uphold the lower court rulings invalidating the “Top Two” primary.
That hour of oral argument will be heard tomorrow morning, and in a few months, the Court will announce its decision in Wash. State Republican Party, et al. v. State of Washington, et al. If history is any indication, Reed and the Grange are bound to be disappointed when the Court’s opinion is issued – and the rights of those who belong to a political party will be upheld.
The Other Side points out the funny election we would have had in 1996:
In 1996, the top candidates were Gary Locke, Norm Rice and Ellen Craswell. Under this new system, Gary Locke and Norm Rice would’ve made it to the general leaving no GOP candidate.
So, who were the real choices in 1996? A farfarfar right-wing Republican who eventually abandoned her party or a two King County political chieftains, one moderately progressive and other a center-left business Democrat? I’d say the Top Two would have had it right in 1996.
And, Goldy is swearing a lot, but here is one of his clearer points:
The whole purpose of a primary election is to enable the parties to choose their candidates through more democratic means, rather than via smoke filled rooms. Now that you’ve done away with that, and entirely removed the parties from the nominating process, we might as well skip the primary and go straight to a general election… that way the ultimate winner can be chosen on a ballot that folks actually turnout for.
He’s right in the sense of the historical meaning of primaries, though the original intent of the traditional Washington primary was to remove parties and their smoke filled rooms from the primary election. Though he is wrong about the Top Two taking the power of nomination away from the parties.
They can still nominate, it just means that their nominee might not make the general. I’ll write more about this later, but parties just have to make their nominations mean something.
And, some stuff I wrote back in the day:
The best argument against a closed primary
Open primary grandstanding
Participatory democracy and caucuses
So, who’s to say that the parties can’t live with the Top Two
Key Arena is owned by the City of Seattle. Qwest Field and Safeco are both owned (to some degree or another) by the people of Washington State through Public Facility Districts.
So, all three major sports venues in Washington (not including obvious college venues) are publicy owned, one more directly.;
Not really any facts here to back this up, but I think this makes the situation with Key more volatile. I’m all for more democracy, but that Key Arena is directly managed by elected officials, rather than a board appointed by elected officials, makes it more likely that folks will have problems with the arena’s management.
More of a public issue, if you know what I mean.
$75 million is a lot less than $300 million, which was how much Clay Bennett wanted for the Renton arena. But, how much is it compared to the stadiums and public financed sports venues the legislature helped finance last year?
Can’t you see the beauty in that?
Last year’s session saw the financing of a horse venue in Lewis County and a new hockey arena in Kent and a community theater down in Longview. I couldn’t find hard numbers for all three projects, but the financing for the hockey arena comes to $30 million public dollars.
$30 million for a minor league hockey arena and no $75 million for Key?
…when I cheer for the Sonics, I am cheering for the city of Seattle. I’m a small-town kid who, through his basketball love, has changed this metropolis into my community. You are my family.
This is a love story, damn it.
Once, in KeyArena, after a big Sonics win, I hugged a stranger and he hugged me back. We were men crying in each other’s arms.
Previously, by me: Why the Sonics Matter
1. Ross Hunter’s Key Arena Task Force is as good as it gets when we’re talking to Sonics fans about the legislature’s reaction to the new group of local rich guys.
Problem is that I can’t find the task force in the capital budget (beware large pdf), where Hunter’s press release says it is.
So, deal with it and make it work.
Baird’s challenger’s myspace is here, and the reason I’m linking to it is not just so I link to it, but because it actually looks like she’s using it.
Updated: She also has an Act Blue page. Bonus points for Cheryl.
Rep. Brendan Williams (from my own 22nd LD) is looking for folks to feature in an ad in the Olympian, supporting the homeowners bill:
Dear Friend:
Once again, Sen. Brian Weinstein (D., Mercer Island) and I are working to pass a Homeowners’ Bill of Rights. Once again, we’re opposed by the powerful Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). We need your help!
There is no accountability in our state for defects in new homes, unless such defects actually cause a home to collapse. Your new home need not even be fully-constructed. Senate Bill 6385 would grant to buyers of single-family homes the same statutory warranty protections condominium buyers have.
Although many other states provide statutory warranty rights, and many go further and allow homeowners to sue builders for negligence, BIAW claims protecting consumers would destroy the building industry. Indeed, they actually blame consumers for their builders’ negligence!
Of course, BIAW has also claimed women are “eradicating manly jobs”; denied global warming’s existence; denied the Puget Sound needs cleanup; worked in concert with far-right civil rights’ opponents to try to take over the Washington Supreme Court; attacked unions; and has even described Governor Gregoire as “a heartless, power-hungry she-wolf who would eat her own young to get ahead”!
Look at the facts: D.R. Horton is the nation’s largest homebuilder, and does business in other states that provide substantive protections to homebuyers. Obviously it’s profitable to do so.
To counter the homebuilders’ millions in campaign contributions,there’s no organization for homeowners who’ve been victims of homebuilder’s negligence. That’s why I’m personally paying for an ad in The Olympian to promote this issue (if BIAW has not already killed the bill in our fast-paced session).
I would be honored if you would lend your name to the statement, “We support Representative Williams’ efforts on behalf of homebuyers’ rights.” I’ll list all the names in the ad and include a photo of a local home damaged by negligence.
We cannot allow the voice of consumers to go unheard, and this is the best way I can think of to create visibility. Will you please lend your name to this effort? If so, please respond at your convenience with your full name and address. Thank you so much.
Best,
Brendan Williams
State Representative
House Majority External Relations Leader
22nd DistrictP.S. Let’s not let dreams of homeownership turn into nightmares.
I have my own questions about the legislation, but if you’re interested you can email him at olylaw — at — gmail — dot — com.
To me the most interesting thing isn’t the ad he’s going to buy with his own money, but the already used way he refers to the BIAW. When in doubt, go with the “they claimed women are “eradicating manly jobs”; denied global warming’s existence; denied the Puget Sound ecosystem is imperiled;” line.
© 2026 Olympia Time
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑