Washington state will release official election returns, for the primary of August 7, on August 21. It appears that turnout will be 38.4% of registered voters, the lowest turnout on record for any Washington primary in a gubernatorial election year in history.
All the statewide state executive offices, and all the Congressional races, in November, will be between one Republican and one Democrat. The only minor party candidates who will appear on the November ballot for any state or congress are two state legislative candidates, who ran in districts in which only one major party member ran. At the August primary, the Green Party candidate in the primary, Howard Pellett, running against a Democrat in the 40th district, received 21.5%, placing second. The Socialist Alternative Party candidate in the primary, Kshama Sawant, running against a Democrat in the 43rd district, received 9.1%, placing second.
The 8/15 edition of the Stranger reports that Sawant’s organization might be able to switch from one house race to the other in the 43rd district. This is because of the number write-in votes received in that house seat race against the incumbent speaker of the house might exceed that of another challenger in that race and be among the top two.
The Stranger led the charge to write-in Sawant in the race she hadn’t filed for though it also characterizes her supporters as knowing she won’t win but goes on to say these state legislative positions are the sort of contests third party progressives should be in as opposed to governor or president as that kind of activity by third party candidate would qualify one to be called megalomanical nutjob.
To get respect as a third party progressive at the Stranger one must carry the flag for Socialism and be quite comfortable with prospect of ultimate electoral rejection.
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The Stranger, what a joke. The things they know could fit in a matchbox. They supported the invasion of Iraq. They are flacks for the Democratic Party. Waste of time to read anything they write.