Our Guide to Voters Guides
The primary election is upon us, and Spokane voters have many, many names before them on the ballot.
There are 13 people running for a city office this summer, from incumbents to newbies, young and old.
The Spokesman's coverage so far has focused on the individual races, and we did a larger article about what's at stake this election year.
Candidates, and one notable mother of a candidate, have called for more. Or, one might say, they just plain hated our coverage so far and want someone else to please help out.
Councilman Mike Fagan said we "really distorted" his position and that our description of his views on women serving on the police force or in the Marines was "not even close, folks." Lois Stratton, Councilwoman Karen Stratton's mother, said our article was "irritating" and showed "little research and an annoying obsession with the sensational," Evan Verduin, who is challenging Stratton, said on Facebook that he "couldn't agree more" with Lois - but only after calling it a "great article" two weeks ago.
So, with such a demand for more coverage, here is a handy guide to all those other voter guides out there, in no particular order.
SPOKANE HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION:
It's no surprise that the home builders recommend voting for more conservative candidates.
Michael Cathcart, the group's government affairs director, came from Republican state Sen. Michael Baumgartner's office and has been involved in Republican Party politics for years. So the group's endorsements of Mayor David Condon, Fagan and Verduin is not a shock.
But the group's recommendation to vote for Council President Ben Stuckart, who has only one opponent so won't appear on a ballot till the general election? Not really expected.
FUSE PROGRESSIVE VOTERS GUIDE:
This voters guide's moniker gives it away. There will not be any across-the-aisle shockers here.
The statewide liberal organization endorses the left, and only the left. Shar Lichty for mayor. Stratton for council. The group also endorsed Randy Ramos, who is running against Fagan. And, for whatever reason, it endorsed both Lois Kinnear and John Waite in the city's south side race.
The group also recommends voting yes on both city ballot measures.
But, really, what's with the name? Are we sitting on some big liberal bomb ready to go off? Or will we all be joined together in one large liberal mass soon enough?
This faith-based organization likes its conservative candidates. It uses a star-based system, similar to movie reviewers and your desired hotness of Thai food, that is based on respect, the group says. Respect for the Constitution, human life, traditional man-and-woman marriage, equal opportunities and personal responsibility.
Like the home builders, Condon, Fagan and Verduin get the nods, but so does LaVerne Biel, who is running in the south.
SPOKESMAN-REVIEW EDITORIAL PAGE:
For what it's worth, here's our editorial board's recommendations: Condon and Fagan get approvals from the board. In the southern District 2, they said vote for either Biel or Kinnear. In the northwestern District 3, they recommend Stratton or Verduin.
No endorsements here. Just some information on candidates, measures and our archive of articles on the issues and candidates.
OTHER MEDIA:
Spokane Public Radio did some race profiles. The Inlander looked into how often, or if, candidates have voted in the past, but stopped doing endorsements last fall.
The TV stations have done virtually nothing on the election.
Any other guides out there? Put them in a comment, or send them my way at nickd@spokesman.com.
