Government

The US presidential election is not the only major leadership contest happening in the world this week. On Thursday, China's Communist Party convenes to pick a successor to President Hu Jintao. Vice President Xi Jinping is expected to succeed him as all but leader of the country's military. University of Washington China scholar David Bachman joins us to discuss the changing Chinese government.

You may have seen maps of the United States divided into red and blue, based on whether Republicans or Democrats got the most votes in each area. What would it look like to map how campaign contributors vote with their dollars?

The first map below does just that for Washington state. It follows the money to show how each ZIP code in the state has voted with its collective pocketbook in this year’s federal elections. Have people in that ZIP code contributed more money to Democratic (blue) or Republican (red) efforts?

Eighty five percent of registered voters cast ballots in Washington state back in 2008, breaking the prior record for turnout that was set back in World War II. Secretary of State Sam Reed says he expects more than 80 percent will turn out this year.  Still, not everyone exercises the right to vote.  What about you?

Kathryn Olson, outgoing head of the Seattle Police Office of Professional Accountability, talks with Ross Reynolds about the Department of Justice finding that police engage in use of excessive force, what the city and DOJ are doing to remedy the problems, and her role as the director of the OPA.

On the eve of the election, Ross Reynolds takes the pulse of listeners and asks, "Is the nation better off today than it was four years ago?"

Scheduled for The Conversation, November 5 at noon.

Ross Reynolds talks with Secretary of State Sam Reed about how he is prepping for all the tight races. 

Democratic Party activists in the state of Washington were in high gear this weekend conducting a massive get-out-the-vote campaign. Hundreds of volunteers manned phone banks and fanned out across neighborhoods to encourage people who hadn’t voted to turn in their ballots.

Northwest voters are spared most presidential campaign ads. But Northwest money still plays a part in them. A handful of big spenders from the region are bolstering major super PACs behind a barage of ads now hitting swing states.

Florida voters might thank some wealthy Washington residents for a recent ad blitz targeting President Obama. People working in the financial services sector around Seattle have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Karl Rove's American Crossroads. It's a super PAC that supports Republican candidates.

We speak with Karen Porterfield, candidate for Congress in Washington's 8th District, and Priya Guha, Britain's top diplomat in the Northwest. Plus, we hear live music from members of the award-winning Roosevelt High School Jazz Band and get a weekend weather forecast from Nick Bond.

A newly released poll of likely Washington voters indicates that the race for governor is virtually tied with Democrat Jay Inslee slightly ahead.