Sue Lani Madsen: What in a name? Not necessarily the votes

Politics has always relied on shorthand descriptors to identify candidates in a crowded field. For the Seattle Times, the top two candidates for governor in the now less crowded field on the day after the primary were described as a “former ranked chess champion” against a “former brawny sheriff.”

Former sheriff is a legitimate reference to Dave Reichert’s first elected office as King County Sheriff. Spokesman-Review writers also referred to Reichert as a former sheriff, but skipped the middle-schoolish egghead vs. jock characterization of the Seattle Times. Candidate Bob Ferguson is simply identified as the current attorney general in The Spokesman-Review.

It’s a post Ferguson has held for 12 years, which makes him part of the status quo of the current state of public safety in Washington … ah, but I digress. Back to Shakespeare’s question of what’s in a name, and how some labels smell sweeter than others.

The Spokesman-Review had more robust coverage than Seattle’s last remaining daily paper of other statewide races, as well as covering Eastern Washington legislative and congressional results. No weird adjectives appeared in this paper’s straight reporting.

Occupational labels were the most common for those who don’t currently hold elected office, like insurance professional, attorney, law student, businessman, cattle rancher, judge, Kaiser Aluminum employee, physician. Candidates retired from one career and looking for another were identified by former occupations including diplomat, scientist, energy professional, attorney, Army veteran.

There’s a lot of attorneys besides the two finalists for the next attorney general. Maybe too many attorneys, we need more diversity and inclusion of other professions in the state Legislature and in Congress.

Then there’s the labels used between factions within political parties. Purists in both parties have been known to use the derisive acronyms DINO and RINO to describe anyone who isn’t sufficiently progressive (and therefore a Democrat in Name Only) or conservative (and must be a Republican in Name Only).

You won’t find many DINOs on the East Side of the state, where Democrats are nearly extinct given their scarceness in legislative or congressional seats. Gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, has been described as a DINO, and it dogged him into his distant fourth place showing for governor.

Former school board member Semi Bird finished third with less than 10% of the vote statewide as of Wednesday morning. Some of his disappointed fans have been calling Reichert a RINO for months. Overcoming the name-calling will be critical for a party seeking to overturn 40 years of Democratic dominance in the executive branch.

Washington state’s primary voters selected a proven-to-be progressive Democrat and a sometimes more moderate Republican to advance to the general election for governor. The real Republicans in Name Only will be the ones who refuse to support the only Republican in the top two. The question is whether Republicans manage to pitch a big enough tent to hold the base plus attract independent voters who disdain all partisan politics.

No partisan labels to guide voters in the commissioner of public lands race, where it looks like two Republican women will advance to the general. It really should be a nonpartisan office focused on sound land management, balancing economic return for the benefit of public education and forest health in addition to operating the largest fire response service in the state.

Both candidates are well-qualified. Sue Kuehl Pederson is a former fisheries biologist who has a relevant science background, former Rep. Jaime Herrera Butler has the legislative negotiation background. They’d make a good team with their complimentary skill sets. Kuehl Pederson has no political baggage, Herrera Butler does; although her vote on the Trump impeachment in January 2021 is not relevant to forest management. It would be refreshing to have a race that could be solely focused on policy and qualifications instead of identity labels.

Herrera Butler along with Dr. Raul Garcia for U.S. Senate also represents the 2024 surge of Hispanic candidates for office. Hispanic voters in the 14th Legislative District are a particular focus after a federal judge scrambled the map adopted by Washington’s bipartisan Redistricting Commission. Judge Lasnik made the decision based on evidence from an expert selected by Ferguson that Hispanic voters are better represented by Democrats. The district was redrawn by the plaintiffs to favor Democrats.

Turns out voters in the 14th District didn’t get the memo. Experienced state Sen. Rufus King, R-Yakima, who moved about a half-mile to stay in the district, led Democratic activist Maria Beltran 57.46% to 42.32 % on Wednesday morning. Republican CPA and family farmer Deb Manjarrez led second place Democratic activist Ana Ruiz Kennedy 52.91% to 40.07%.

And the combined Republican vote for park ranger Andy Kallinen and business owner Gloria Mendoza is 62.15% over second place Democratic activist Chelsea Dimas. Dimas will face Mendoza in the general election.

Turns out Ferguson’s expert was wrong. Republican votes in the Yakima area weren’t all about party labels after all. Washington voters have a strong independent streak.

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.