Mail your primary ballot then attend one of these Capitol Hill election parties

All eight candidates running in the 43rd.

All eight candidates running in the 43rd stand with a forum organizer (middle) from a recent event. (Image: CHS)

If you’re just tuning in, there is a primary election tomorrow, meaning you have one more day to get your ballot in the mail. You can also bring it to a drop-box location, though you will have to wait until November to find one on Capitol Hill.

The top-two primary will whittle the field of candidates in a handful of important state and local elections, including those seeking to represent Capitol Hill in Olympia and in Congress. Many of those candidates are also holding election night parties around the neighborhood.

Tuesday’s primary will narrow the crowded 43rd District race, where eight candidates are seeking to join longtime 43rd rep House Speaker Frank Chopp in the State Legislature. The race features an unusually deep field of candidates for the open seat. CHS recently spoke with each candidate about what they would do to address housing affordability and civil rights issues in Seattle. Read CHS’s past coverage of the race here. Capitol Hill’s Rep. Brady Walkinshaw left the post to run for Congress this year. The race for the 7th Congressional District also includes Pramila Jayapal and Joe McDermott.  Continue reading

State Democrats open campaign office in Madrona

Screen Shot 2016-07-19 at 9.48.25 AM

Donald Trump’s shadow, as seen during Monday’s convention, looms over even the strongest Democratic strongholds.

As the Republican National Convention rolls on in Cleveland, Democrats are gearing up for battle, even in the liberal stronghold of Seattle. The Washington State Democratic Party opened up six new offices in July, including a campaign office in Madrona at 34th and E Union.

Democrats will be using the offices to help Hillary Clinton defeat Donald Trump in November. Spokesperson Marc Siegel said that the Madrona office is now operational and will supplement the organization’s headquarters in downtown Seattle.

Siegel was vague when asked why Democrats chose Madrona specifically, saying “this location allows us to be a part of the community and accessible.” While Seattle will be a lock for Clinton, Madrona does fall within the less socialist sphere of the “Capitol Hill divide.” Siegel said the campaign office will be the home base for dozens of staff and volunteers to phone bank and go door knocking. Continue reading

43rd District Dems endorse Macri for state rep, Walkinshaw for Congress

More than 100 members of the 43rd District Democrats gathered Tuesday night to endorse candidates in a handful of statewide and legislative races, including candidates running to represent Capitol Hill in Olympia and Washington D.C.

In the race for the 7th Congressional District, State Rep. Brady Walkinshaw easily walked away with the group’s endorsement, earning 73% of the vote over State Sen. Pramila Jayapal.

“This district is responsible for what allowed my husband and I to be married,” Walkinshaw said.

After falling less than one point short of earning the endorsement on the first round of voting, homeless housing advocate Nicole Macri was endorsed for the 43rd District house seat on a second vote. ““I have been at the forefront of the movement to provide housing first for homeless,” Macri said. Macri is the only woman in the race and picked up the endorsement of trans activist Danni Askini after she suspended her candidacy last month.

Scott Forbes, a longtime 43rd District Democrat organizer, garnered 27% of the vote while Seattle attorney Dan Shih took 25%.  Continue reading

Rep. Brady Walkinshaw will challenge Jim McDermott in 2016 House race

IMG_7530.CR2

Walkinshaw (right) with his 43rd District colleagues. (Image: CHS)

Capitol Hill’s young state representative announced he is making a run at the other Capitol Hill in a bid to unseat the state’s most senior congressman. Rep. Brady Walkinshaw, the 43rd District’s junior representative, announced on Thursday he planned to challenge U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott in 7th Congressional District election next year.

“I’m running for Congress to offer a fresh start,” said Walkinshaw, a 31-year-old gay Cuban-American who lives on Capitol Hill. “We cannot expect a change in Washington D.C. unless we are willing to elect new kinds of leaders from Washington State.”

U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott

U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott

McDermott is deeply entrenched in Washington state politics. The 78-year-old former U.S. Navy psychiatrist was first elected to the state House in 1970 and served four terms in the state Senate. In 1988 he was elected to Congress and won every reelection race since without any major opposition. In 2014 he was reelected with 81% of the vote.

Unseating McDermott, who is considered among the most progressive members of Congress, is an ambitious goal for Walkinshaw’s first contested race. After working for the Gates Foundation, Walkinshaw was tabbed by Democrats to replace Sen. Jamie Pedersen who took over Ed Murray’s Senate seat when he became mayor. Walkinshaw then ran unopposed for the seat the following year.

Walkinshaw also heads into the race without an endorsement from his two 43rd District colleagues, House Speaker Frank Chopp and Sen. Pedersen, who also lives on Capitol Hill. The race tees sets up an internal struggle among Seattle Democrats over the next year, but could also have implications for Seattle’s socialists. Continue reading

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to visit the Comet on Saturday

10429449_10155081812165008_521745162883700576_n-600x600

(Image: Comet Tavern)

safe_image.phpIt’s been a politics packed week with the first ever City Council district primary and the first presidential debates of the 2016 election. The fun continues Saturday with the first presidential candidate appearance on Capitol Hill.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will hold a fundraiser meet-and-greet Saturday inside the Comet Tavern before a rally at the UW’s Hec Edmundson Pavilion. He’s also attending a rally at Westlake Park. You’ll have to pony up at least $200 for the Comet event — a steep cover for the revamped Pike/Pine dive bar, but a steal for a small presidential fundraiser.

Comet owner Dave Meinert recently took to Facebook to plug the event: “This event will be one of the few times in our lives we get to be up close and present with a presidential candidate. It’s a great time to give money, and to listen to and meet U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.”

The longtime independent senator with socialist leanings should find a warm reception in District 3, where socialist City Council member Kshama Sawant emerged as the clear frontrunner in Tuesday’s primary. Sawant, who will be attending the Sanders rallies, urged her supporters to back Sanders during her victory speech.

Meinert told CHS the arrangements for the Sanders fundraiser were hatched through intermediaries when Sanders’ campaign staff went looking for an event space. The Comet has become something of a political hangout recently, as City Council candidates, consultants, and even Mayor Ed Murray gathered for post-election drinks on primary night. Continue reading