Road to Olympia: The Front Lines

This is the second in a series of articles on this fall’s Washington state legislative races.

I have been hearing a lot about how voters are angry and that there is an anti-incumbent mood in the land.   Gallup recently reported that conservative enthusiasm is at its highest since 1994.

The 47th Legislative District in southeast King County, part of the sprawling suburban "Crescent" lying to the east of Seattle, is regarded as a key for Republicans to take back in order to reduce the Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.  It's a swing district, going for Barack Obama and Dino Rossi in 2008.

Last Sunday evening, I joined Nancy Wyatt, a Republican running for the state house in the Washington 47th Legislative District, as she went doorbelling to see for myself.

Nancy and I went to a quiet, tree-lined subdivision of older, but well-maintained, homes in Covington.  We knocked on dozens and dozens of doors (Nancy, the President/COO of the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce is a dynamo) of homes set in cul-de-sacs with manicured lawns which are owned mostly by young working class families with children.  This is Boeing Country.

Seahawks and Mariners bumper stickers were in abundance on cars.  As we walked, one could hear the buzz of lawnmowers and the hiss of sprinklers.  Nancy joked that typically her targeted homes had an American flag and a Smith Brothers Farms porch box out front.  She was right.  Many of them did.

The very first home we went to, the gentleman asked Nancy what she thought the proper role of government was.  Nancy answered that is should be limited, with government only providing necessary infrastructure.  He seemed pleased with her answer.  “Wow,” I thought.  “Is is it going to be like this the whole time?”  It was.
Many people who answered the door seemed relieved to read Nancy’s flyer to see that she was a Republican.  One person specifically asked “R or D?”  He was pleased that it was the former.

We spoke to another man and his wife on the sidewalk.  He asked, “Are you GOP?  Because I wouldn’t have taken this [flyer] if you had been a Democrat.”  As we walked away, I could hear the man tell his wife, “I’m not a Republican.  I’m not a Democrat.  I’m the American Party, whatever that is.”

Another voter, a fan of Glenn Beck, said he was sick and tired of Rep. Geoff Simpson, and that many of his neighbors were as well.   And here’s a tip for Democrats.  Don’t be so sure having I-1098 on the ballot is going to help you this fall.  This man told us that if it passes, he and his wife will leave the state, probably for Texas.  He knows many other families that feel the same way.  A state income tax, even if it doesn’t directly affect them, is seen as the last straw for some Washingtonians who have otherwise tolerated decades of Democratic misrule.

Geoff Simpson is in a lot of trouble, and not just with the law.

Road to Olympia: The Millennials

This is the first in a series of articles on this fall’s Washington state legislative races.

Democrats currently enjoy 60% plus supermajorities in both houses of the Washington legislature. Republican candidates across the state are aiming to undo this and restore balance in Olympia.

The road to Olympia for these Republicans runs through two key suburban swing legislative districts: the 6^th in Spokane and the 47^th in King County. I will be covering the Republican races in these two districts extensively between now and November.

The Millennials (voters aged 18-29) were considered a key demographic in the 2008 election of Barack Obama. But the continuing recession has soured many Millennials, who face unemployment at much higher rates than their elders. They fret over deficits and most don’t think they will be better off than their parents. In other words, many Millennials don’t think Obama and the Democrats have lived up to their promise of hope and change.

A recent Harvard Institute of Politics study found that among Millennials who voted for Obama, only 44% plan to vote in this year’s midterm elections versus 53% of McCain voters. Among Republican Millennials, 41% say they will definitely be voting versus 35% of Millennial Democrats.

This enthusiasm gap was widely evident at last Sunday’s Kent Cornucopia Days parade.

29-year old Joe Fain, Republican candidate for the Washington Senate in the 47^th Legislative District, had some three dozen supporters walking with him during the parade. Most were young, and all were enthusiastic. The same could not be said of Fain’s opponent, Sen. Claudia Kauffman, who had about half the number of supporters as Joe.



































Republican 47th LD House candidate Mark Hargrove had nice contingent on hand for the parade:


















Here is Republican 47^th LD House candidate Nancy Wyatt:



















Attention residents of Eastern Washington. Rep. Susan Fagan (R-Pullman) was on hand walking in the parade with Nancy Wyatt. Tired of Seattle liberals calling all the shots? You can’t vote in King County, but you sure can donate and volunteer for Republicans running for office in King County. Get busy!

It's 47th Legislative District Week!

The key to restoring balance and fiscal responsibility to the Washington Legislature can be found in the vote-rich suburbs of eastern King County in an area known as the Crescent. 

The 47th Legislative District is part of this Crescent, lying in southeast King County covering the Renton Highlands to the East Hill of Kent to Black Diamond.

Republican Joe Fain, the Chief of Staff for King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer, is facing off in the 47th against incumbent Democratic state senator Claudia Kaufmann.  Fain has said his campaign is focused on growing jobs and small business, controlling government spending, and improving public education.

Republican Nancy Wyatt, president of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce, is taking on one of the biggest liberals in the Washington House of Representatives, Democrat Geoff Simpson, who was arrested in 2008 for domestic violence (the charges were later dropped.) Simpson, if you remember, also made the following angy comments about the Tea Party earlier this year:

I don't think it's patriotic to fly airplanes into buildings as one of your tea party members recently did. I find your movement to be infected with the same selfish, hate-spawned and dangerous ideas that have plagued civilization from time to time, only to be quelled when appeals to man's more patriotic attributes of selflessness, kindness, compassion and peace have prevailed.

Joe and Nancy are among five legislative candidates from the inaugural graduating class of the Jennifer Dunn Leadership Institute.  The non-partisan, non-profit JDLI was formed last year to recruit and train leaders in Washington State who are committed to the principles of freedom, security, entrepreneurial free enterprise, and a return of conservative principles of governance.  Students go through a rigorous six day course on how to fundraise, work with volunteers, and deal with the media.  The essensce of the JDLI is to form a "farm team" for Washington Republicans similar to what the Institute for a Democratic Future does for statet Democrats.

All this week, I will be featuring interviews with Fain and Wyatt, as well as a story on the JDLI.  Then this weekend, I will be doorbelling with Nancy and walking with Joe in the Kent Cornucopia Days parade and covering those events live.

If you want to help take back Olympia, you can do so by donating generously to Joe here and Nancy here.

UDPATE: Apparently the ultra-leftist Washington Bus Project has listed Simpson and Kaufmann as two of it's six priority candidates. If you remember, the Washington Bus Project hit Pullman last year with a "street art" spree, i.e. vandalism, that ended up with it's head Thomas Goldstein and his deputy Toby Crittenden arrested. That should tell you everything you need to know about Simpson and Kaufmann.