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Race for King County Prosecutor narrows as Thomas withdraws

The race to replace retiring King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg has lost a competitor as Seattle University law teacher Stephan Thomas has announced he is withdrawing from the race citing unexpected family emergencies and a busy schedule.

CHS reported here on the educator and trial lawyer’s campaign to lead the office where he started as an intern.

Thomas’s withdrawal leaves room for a two-candidate race to take shape. Satterberg’s chief of staff Leesa Manion would be the first woman and person of color to serve as King County Prosecutor while Federal Way mayor Jim Ferrell would bring a throwback, “tough on crime” approach to the office.

It’s a long race. The campaigns are jockeying now for position in the August primary with the top two finishers going on to a final vote in November.

 

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Guineas
Guineas
2 years ago

“Throwback”? If only we could go back to the throwback days when police arrested criminals and the criminals were prosecuted for their crime. Imagine actually doing your job as a prosecutor.

Give me “throwback” over the laws don’t apply for the woke and criminals nonsense.

Workers Unite
Workers Unite
2 years ago
Reply to  Guineas

None of these soft on crime candidates are going to win until the pendulum swings back, presumably after crime has gone down for a bit.

That doesn't work
That doesn't work
2 years ago
Reply to  Guineas

Washington State already has an incarceration rate of 455 per 100,000 people. Only six countries outside of the US have a higher rate. What do we have to show for this? Crime is increasing! And you want to raise this rate? We need some vision and creativity.

Workers Unite
Workers Unite
2 years ago

We tried that the last few years, didn’t pan out well.

That doesn't work
That doesn't work
2 years ago
Reply to  Workers Unite

It came at the same time as homelessness and the pandemic. Give it a chance.

Common
Common
1 year ago
Reply to  Guineas

I.E. Over-police Black areas and arrest and hound black people… good ole days Rodney King, George Floyd, Laquan Mc Daniel, etc. how soon we forget, no progress just regress as long as it makes you feel good about Whitness. Stay sleep while we will continue to be woke.

Glenn
Glenn
2 years ago

Rather than citing one candidates gender and race as her noteworthy characteristics, why not summarize her policy approach (like you attempted to do with the other remaining candidate by describing him as a throwback who would bring a tough on crime approach to the office)? It could read something like, ‘soft on crime’, or ‘more of the same’ or ‘Satterberg’s knockoff.’ By defaulting to her gender and race you do Ms. Manion a disservice by implying she, unlike her opponent, brings nothing else to her candidacy,

Reality
Reality
2 years ago
Reply to  Glenn

I agree. She is the status quo candidate that will continue the same decriminalize crime failed social experiment.

Monterey
Monterey
2 years ago

Jim Farrell is exactly what we need in that position right now. The reason there’s so much more crime now in King county is because the current prosecutor, Satterburg, doesn’t much prosecute crime. He’s soft on crime and it’s getting people injured and killed in the Seattle area. Put Farrelll in, tell your friends relatives etc to also look for him and let’s stop messing around and get King County back in order—only the voters can make things right by choosing someone who wants what we all want, to stop the crime wave that the “defund the police” Democrat policies have produced

C_Kathes
C_Kathes
2 years ago
Reply to  Monterey

That would make sense if crime in King County were out of line with national trends. We’re actually on the lower end of the spectrum. The reason why crime is up just about everywhere is that a lot of people who were already on the margins of survival and/or sanity have reached a breaking point with this pandemic. Two years of social semi-isolation, 80 million infections and a million premature deaths were bound to tear at the social fabric a bit. Give me a prosecutor with at least some understanding of this dynamic over someone who apparently wants to pretend that it doesn’t matter at all and that everything will be OK if we can just lock up enough people.

kermit
kermit
2 years ago
Reply to  C_Kathes

So, you’re saying that “the pandemic made them do it.” That might explain some shoplifting or perhaps burglary, but it doesn’t explain crimes like assault or murder. To give some criminals a pass because of pandemic stress is a rationalization and just plain wrong.

CD Rez
CD Rez
2 years ago
Reply to  C_Kathes

Prosecutors prosecute. Their job is not to develop social programs or address larger societal issues. We are all stressed but we aren’t all commiting crimes.

James Sheppard
James Sheppard
1 year ago

Dan leaving is a blessing to King County and its citizens. This man represented everything wrong with America and on both sides of the isle.

military policing of civilians which he personally signed for countless time , oh no it was just Trump.

buyouts from SEIU. Man don’t even started on his phone calls to Luke Esser.

then the best thing of all bring his Religious values into play so you can have personal relations in a state approved fashion.

pointless gun violence prevention rules that stopped nothing.

opiod laws that resulted in the mass cancellation of prescription antibiotics.
not that persons should have a say in their own health choices right?

and finally the Williams shooting …noting says your dumping a good ol boy like that case ..

weak on crime or not anyone is better than dan.