Muny League rates candidates

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« Rossi tops '04 fundraising | Main | Wall Street got drunk »

Muny League rates candidates

With the retirement of a lawmaker it consistently rated as "Outstanding," Rep. Helen Sommers, D-36, the Municipal League of King County has bestowed its highest evaluation on a candidate to succeed her.

High tech entrepreneur Reuven Carlyle, a Democrat, was rated "Outstanding." Opponent and fellow Democrat John Burbank, endorsed by the state Democratic Party, was two notches lower at "good."

Carlyle and Burbank are fighting it out in a race expected to go to November under the state's controversial new "top two" primary system.

The "good" rating, middling by Muny League standards, was given to both Scott White and Gerry Pollet, Democrats squared off for another vacant state House seat in the 46th District.

The 36th and 46th have Seattle's hottest legislative races this year, although both are all-Democrat affairs.

Both districts used to elect Republicans, the 36th (Queen Anne-Magolia) as late as the early 1980's. Former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton got his start in politics a half-century ago as a GOP legislator from the 46th.

A pair of incumbent legislators, at opposite ends of the political spectrum, also received "good" evaluations.

Ultra-conservative state Sen. Val Stevens, R-39, featured in a state GOP attack on Michelle Obama, received the less-than-stellar rating. So, however, did very liberal state Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-32, who has prodded fellow lawmakers to take more bold steps on the environment.

A pair of Washington State Supreme Court incumbents, Judges Mary Fairhurst and Charles Johnson, won coveted "Oustanding" ratings. A step below, at "Very Good," were high court challengers Michael Bond and James Beecher.

State Rep. Fred Jarrett, D-41, a Republican recently turned Democrat, was rated "Outstanding." He is seeking the Washington State Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Brian Weinstein.

A former Republican lawmaker seeking a comback in the 45th District, Toby Nixon, was also rated "Outstanding."

Other lawmakers evaluated as "Outstanding" included House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-43, and Reps. Eric Pettigrew, D-37, Mary Lou Dickerson, D-36, Pat Sullivan, D-47, and Dave Upthegrove, D-33.

The Muny League is non-partisan, and bases its ratings on questionaires and candidate interviews. It has drawn attention in local elections by rating challengers higher than incumbents in contests for the Seattle City Council and Seattle Port Commission.

Posted by at July 22, 2008 6:24 p.m.
Categories: Democrats, Republicans, Seattle politics, Washington State Legislature

Comments

#154097

Posted by unregistered user at 7/22/08 8:39 p.m.

Mr. Connelly,

I enjoy history, I even have a degree in it. But can you please write one column or even blog post that doesn't reference something that happened when Dan Evans and Scoop Jackson were in office? It does not add color.

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#154106

Posted by Face Reality at 7/22/08 8:49 p.m.

Oh please.

The "Puny League"? That self appointed, conflicted bunch who claim to be acting in the interests of "good government"?

They take donations from corporate and local power players to run their so called "civic" organization - a recent past president was the head of one of Seattle's more influential political marketing groups that represents those same players interests - so is it any surprise they almost always rubber stamp the "socially acceptable" mainstream candidates that the same power structure puts up?

Oh, please.

Check out their "supporters", ie, funders: From the Puny League website:

http://www.munileague.org/about-us/league_supporters

These people represent "good government".

League Sponsors

CH2MHill
Washington State Hospital Association
Davis Wright Tremaine
K & L Gates
Swedish Medical Center
GM Nameplate
Perkins Coie
Puget Sound Energy
Ben Bridge Jeweler
Berk and Associates
Dunn Lumber
NBBJ
Parsons Brinckerhoff
Intiman Theater

2008 Civic Award Sponsors
TMobile
Stoel Rives
The Boeing Company
Comcast
Foster Pepper

Foundation Sponsors

Microsoft

These "sponsors" benefit from fat City, County, State and Federal government contracts, such as CH2m Hill, Brinkerhoff (Sound Transit, NBBJ (everything), and of course, K&L Gates.

Virtually every "sponsor" has a several fingers in the government pie. Example: Foster Pepper: Law firm that is the City's Bond Attorney.

This is a "non partisan", "civic" organization?

No wonder candidates who dare take a stand against the status quo are rarely rated "outstanding", much less adequate.

The biggest fish of all? Not MSFT, but K&L Gates, the former but still "Preston Gates and Ellis".

The same firm that hired Jack Abramoff and contributed to former Rep. House Majority Leader Tom Delay to make the Marianas Islands safe for the "Made in the USA" child sweatshop label, as well as having their hand in every piece of corrupt and vested interest effort in Seattle/King County.

Curious, that the Puny League has never been subjected to any serious investigation, in spite of the above, by the local corporate media.

What are they afraid of, losing advertising?

If I were a local candidate, not only would I not want the Puny Leagues endorsement, I'd run from it as fast and far as I could.

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#154110

Posted by unregistered user at 7/22/08 9:03 p.m.

I agree with the previous poster and also want to add that the current puny league head, Rita Brogan, uses the league to advance her worthless business venture.

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#154150

Posted by unregistered user at 7/22/08 10:06 p.m.

The previous two posters clearly aren't current about the Muni League. Take a look at www.munileague.org for the facts about the organization's volunteers, leadership and activities.

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#154235

Posted by husky fan at 7/23/08 5:49 a.m.

The Muni League endorsements matter to people and should matter, Voters will have a ton of candidates to sort through.

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#154565

Posted by unregistered user at 7/23/08 3:57 p.m.

Having tracked judicial endorsements for several years, I believe their choices reflect the corporate and civic background of the League. Great candidates like Rebecca Graham, Susan Amini, and Nic Corning (the best qualified candidate in the whole field in any race) get "good" rankings while mediocre prosecutors and judges get higher rankings.

BTW, being a muni court judge who runs for Superior court is like a backyard mechanic wanting to work on a 787, yet they always get high ratings, despite the fact no real lawyer would want any muni Judge trying their case. When such a proposal was before the legislature years ago, all lawyers revolted.

This process needs some balance.

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#166629

Posted by Jim Tomlinson at 8/18/08 9:24 a.m.

Speaking of muni court judges running for Superior court, did anyone see the slapdown the King County Bar gave 'Judge' Jean Rietschel last week? "...materials produced by the Campaign to Elect Judge Jean Rietschel were ambiguous and possibly misleading to voters...". Sheesh, how about exercising some judgment while running for judge?

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