Amy Radil

Stories

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  Ferguson Takes Lead Over Dunn For Attorney General

  Two members of the King County Council waged an aggressive battle for the Washington Attorney General’s Office. Initial results show Democrat Bob Ferguson with a nearly six-point lead. His opponent, Republican Reagan Dunn, says he’s still “in the hunt.”By the time all the votes are counted, Dunn will likely be welcoming a new baby to his family as well.Bob Ferguson and Reagan Dunn have had to work together on the King County Council while challenging one another for the Attorney General’s Office, in a race that attracted outside money and bitter attack ads.   The Republican State Leadership Committee spent nearly $3 million in attack ads against Ferguson. They criticized his work on behalf of a death row inmate.A Democratic group, the Washington Committee for Justice and Fairness, responded by attacking Dunn for negotiating plea deals as a federal prosecutor.Speaking to supporters on election night, Ferguson was jubilant over his lead in the face of the attack ads. “I want it written on my tombstone, ‘He defeated a Karl-Rove multi-million-dollar Super PAC attack!’” Ferguson said.But Dunn told his supporters that he’s still in the race and needs to see more votes counted. Speaking to reporters, Dunn said he and Ferguson get along well and respect each other despite running tough campaigns.“The national groups that we aren’t allowed to consult with had those pretty brutal ads back and forth,” Dunn said.But Dunn’s wife Paige, who is pregnant with their second child and due any time, had to interrupt his election recap to say she was having contractions.  “We have to go,” she informed him.Dunn tried to quickly finish the interview, but a reporter gestured at Paige and said, “You’re having a baby!”“I know, it’s right now. Right now,” Dunn answered before heading out with his family.Dunn has already announced that their second child is a girl and that they plan to give her the middle name Jennifer after his mother, the late Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn.

  Nov 07, 2012 at 1:58 am
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  Republicans Chase Ballots With Minivans, Smart Phones

  This year campaigns are able to make faster and more nimble use of ballot returns than ever before and target those voters who have yet to cast their ballots.Republicans say Democrats had a stronger get-out-the-vote effort in Washington in 2010, but this year they’re determined to learn from that example. Some of those efforts haven’t been well-received by elections officials, though.On a recent weekday afternoon in Bellevue, Stephen Barrett was picking up his latest voter list from the King County Republican Party headquarters. He’s headed to Issaquah.  “It’s the get-out-the-vote efforts, but we also call it ballot-chasing,” he said.His list of likely Republican voters is freshly updated to reflect those people who haven’t yet sent in their ballots. Those are the doors he’ll be knocking on.Barrett said the memory of Republican Dino Rossi’s narrow loss in the 2004 governor’s race is what still motivates him. “I still feel bad that Dino Rossi did not win by so few votes, if we just made a little extra effort. That will stick with me for the rest of my life,” said Barrett.Republican strategists say they’re also taking a cue from Democrats’ tenacious get-out-the-vote efforts in Washington state in 2010. Alex Hays is the executive director of Mainstream Republicans. He said Washington state Democrats helped fend off the Republican wave that swept the rest of the country two years ago.“Oftentimes it’s about the Democrats staying home and that’s what was happening in 2010 all across the country," said Hays. "Democrats noticed that here locally, solved it by putting people on the ground and kind of went door-to-door to actually remind people to vote. This year the Republicans are doing the exact same thing.”Hays said the opportunity to elect Republicans to open seats is getting voters and volunteers motivated. For example, he’s running the phone bank for voters in the 6th Congressional District, where Republican Bill Driscoll is running against Democrat Derek Kilmer for Congressman Norm Dicks’ old seat. They just bought more phones. “We had to order more because we just had more volunteers than we could handle with the number of phones we had set up. That’s a lovely problem to have,” Hays said.Every day, elections officials release the names of voters whose ballots they’ve received. That information has always been public, but now campaigns are able to refresh their list of targeted voters every 24 hours.Paul Hess chairs the 46th Legislative District for the King County Republicans. “We get a download every day by precinct and we can tell who has not voted, and then we actually go and call that person or knock on their door and get them to send in their ballot,” Hess said. “That’s how we’re using technology. That has never been done before.”Hess said having that human contact by phone or in person remains vital. And in Seattle, he’s not confining his door-belling just to likely Republican voters; those numbers would be too small. He’s approaching Democrats and trying to persuade them to split their ticket between Democrat Barack Obama for president, and Republican Rob McKenna for governor.  “The key to McKenna’s victory for the first Republican elected in 32 years is to get a higher percentage in Seattle,” Hess said. The King County Republicans are also offering to shuttle ballots by minivan, or what they call Victory Van. In the last few days, they’ve stationed 10 of the white vans mostly around the Eastside, with people in attendance to answer any last-minute questions.Lisa Shin is the executive director of the King County Republican Party. She says the idea for the Victory Vans came from the three vans that King County is using to collect ballots in addition to its usual drop-boxes.  Shin said the Victory Vans will ferry ballots to official drop-boxes or elections headquarters.She said, “Some people just don’t feel comfortable putting their ballot in their own mailbox, especially if it’s not a secure mailbox.”But King County officials are not flattered by the Republicans’ efforts to imitate them. On Sunday, they held a press conference advising voters not to use the Victory Vans and to turn in their ballots only  at official drop-boxes or through the mail. King County Elections Director Sherril Huff said she contacted the King County GOP with her concerns.  “I just asked them if they would explain what their process was going to be," Huff said. "[I] told them that we would be advising against this and they were aware of that, and that there is a risk involved with this.”Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed also weighed in on the issue in published reports Sunday. He said his office would discourage such activity, but it’s not illegal.King County Executive Dow Constantine, a Democrat, agreed. He said if any ballots don’t show up it will be hard to know what happened to them. “So that ballot, which is the only one you’ll get, is now in a van, it could be unlocked, you don’t know where it’s sitting, you don’t know the person who’s supposed to deliver it. There’s a chain-of-custody problem now with your ballot,” said Constantine.He noted that failing to deliver any ballots would be against the law.

  Nov 05, 2012 at 9:15 am
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  Latest Washington Poll Bodes Well For Ballot Measures

  A newly released poll of likely Washington voters indicates that the race for governor is virtually tied with Democrat Jay Inslee slightly ahead.The latest results of the Washington Poll include responses from 632 likely voters. Democrat Jay Inslee has a three-point lead over Republican Rob McKenna, which is within the poll’s margin of error.UW political science professor Matt Barreto runs the Washington Poll. He said one cue to watch for on election night will be the support McKenna gets in King County. In past elections candidates have needed at least 40 percent of the vote there to win. Barreto said a majority of independent voters say they support McKenna, but that those people are less likely to vote overall. Their turnout will be another crucial question. “They are less likely to be contacted by the parties," Barreto said. "But in this very important block here, McKenna does continue to have a very strong lead and that could be very, very important for him, if those independents turn out at high rates.”In the race for attorney general, Bob Ferguson has a ten-point lead over his rival Reagan Dunn. But Barreto noted that a sizeable number of voters, 21 percent, said they were still undecided in a race that has seen escalating numbers of attack ads.On state ballot measures, the poll suggests that support is building for marijuana legalization and charter schools. The Washington Poll surveyed voters earlier in October, and both measures have gained several points since then, taking them each well over 50 percent. Barreto said advertising from supporters of the two initiatives has dominated the airwaves, while there have been almost no negative ads.“When you have a very lopsided advertising campaign like you do on 1240 and 502, there’s almost been no public debate on those issues," Barreto said. "And I think that to some extent is a disservice to voters on both of those initiatives.”The poll finds that support has also remained steady for Referendum 74 to legalize same-sex marriage. But Barreto said issues of values and morality are hard to pin down in voter surveys. In 2009, the ballot measure to enhance domestic partnerships passed, but by a smaller margin than polls had predicted. Barreto said people who opposed the initiative were reluctant to admit that to pollsters. He said that same bias may also affect polling for Referendum 74.  “We have gone through the data, looked very carefully at places where people may be giving us an inconsistent or socially desirable answer, not wanting to admit they’re against the initiative,” Barreto said. Taking that into account, he predicts the same-sex marriage referendum will pass with 52 percent of the vote.

  Nov 01, 2012 at 6:52 pm

• State Auditor Wants Tighter Billing Procedures At Seattle Utilities

  Washington state Auditor Brian Sonntag has issued a report citing significant deficiencies in the billing systems at Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities (SPU). His report is based on annual audits by accounting firms.

  Oct 31, 2012 at 12:00 am

• Frustrated Police Monitors Could Hold Lessons For New Commission

  The city of Seattle is seeking citizens for its new Community Police Commission. The commission is being established as part of an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to reform the Seattle Police Department.

  Oct 26, 2012 at 5:43 pm
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  Civil Liberties And The Race For Supreme Court: McCloud Vs. Sanders

  The race for the open seat on the Washington Supreme Court has drawn two staunch defenders of individual rights. One is former justice Richard Sanders, who hopes to return to the court after losing his seat two years ago. The other is appellate lawyer Sheryl Gordon McCloud. Both are passionate about constitutional issues, and even praise one another’s work. But they cite important differences in their positions and personalities.

  Oct 22, 2012 at 12:00 am
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  Denny Heck And Dick Muri Seek New 10th Congressional Seat

  Voters in Pierce and Thurston counties are about to cast their first general election ballots in Washington’s new 10th Congressional District. Government jobs are an important anchor there: the two biggest employers are the US military and the state of Washington. Combining these voter groups could make for an interesting challenge. The district’s biggest city is actually Lakewood, near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, with a population larger than Olympia’s.

  Oct 18, 2012 at 12:00 am
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  WA Supreme Court preserves transit fare checks but cites privacy concerns

  In the decision “State v. Meredith” Thursday, the Washington Supreme Court found that a man was "unlawfully seized" by Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies while riding Community Transit, when they detained him for fare evasion in 2018.