Candidate choices of John Servais

Mon, Aug 09, 2010, 3:15 pm  //  John Servais

We have a week till the counting of ballots on August 17.  I urge you to mail your ballot no later than Monday, the 16th, or there is a high risk the postmark in Everett will be after 8 p.m. on Tuesday - and thus invalidate your ballot.  

County Council: No question - Jean Melious is my choice. She is intelligent, knows the issues, and has the best concerns of our county in mind. Theresa is a nice person and a volunteer in her community, but in a personal conversation with her it is clear she is not aware of the issues facing our county. Tony is just a put-up candidate courtesy of Sam Crawford. Sam did not like Theresa, and Tony only filed at the last minute at Sam's urging. Tony also has a very limited view of county issues because he has only followed business issues.

U.S. Congress - Larry Kalb or Dianne McGinness. I'll be voting for Larry, but Dianne is also a very savvy and intelligent candidate. Both are liberal and progressive. Neither has a chance in hell of beating Rick Larsen as our election system is wired to reelect him. But I will not vote for Rick. Neither Democrats nor Republicans can stand him and yet we cannot get rid of him. He is the walking example of the empty suit.

In the 42nd District - all of north Bellingham and the county - I recommend Richard May for liberals and Democrats, and Craig Mayberry for conservatives and Republicans. Al Jensen is just a warmed over Dem with no new ideas and is a party hack. Richard is young, energetic, and will bring fresh thinking to the position. And he has an excellent chance of being elected. I'll leave it to a conservative writer to delineate the two Republican candidates for super-conservative readers - if they wish.

The other 42nd District seat and the Senate seat are not in the primary.

In the 40th District - south Bellingham and south of Lake Whatcom - we have nine candidates for the House position that Dave Quall is retiring from. I'm voting for Tom Pasma - a progressive candidate with a good grasp of all the issues. Many liberals also like Kristine Lytton, so our concern is that they not split the progressive vote and neither of them make the general election. I have discussed issues with Pasma and he impressed me with his practical approach to issues. At the Bill Mize forum, I was looking for a conservative to like, and found none. Either they had to read their intro and answers from notes or, as Dusty Gulleson did, they insulted all those they did not like. Sad. Some Tea Party candidates were there but would not admit to that.

And finally, the other 40th District position. Jeff Morris is a shoe-in for this. He has so much money and is such an effective schmoozer that he will coast to victory. On record, Jeff is too close to big money and big industry - such as Puget Sound Energy. But overall he is one smart cookie. I wish he would challenge Rick Larsen for Congress. He would win. At least he is a progressive and stands by his opinions.

There you have it. Feel free to comment and rip or support these views. I am a progressive, liberal, tree-hugging, fiscal-conservative. Of course one of my best Democratic friends for three decades laughs at the idea that I think myself liberal and insists I'm much more conservative than I realize.

We have a link in the right column to the Bellingham Herald candidates page where there are links to all the candidate websites. I don't mind sending you there at all. Sam Taylor did a good job on that page.

Added on Tue, Aug 10.

Ah yes. In reply to the comment from Viki below, I missed that. We have a very weird state law that now puts a contest with only two candidates onto the Primary ballot and - when they each get more votes than any write in - then puts the same two candidates on the General ballot in November. A huge waste of money - and just another example of our very screwy election system. Some contests have only one candidate and they also will again be on the General ballot. And then some judge positions will be decided in this Primary. Go figure.

This all leads to voters having little idea which candidates will actually be on a ballot and when we need to learn who we want to vote for. I assure you - on the General election, both the 42nd District State Senate candidates - Pat Jerns and Doug Ericksen - will again be on the ballot. Waste of our time, county taxpayer money and confusing. We can thank our state legislators and senators for this - Linville, Ericksen, Morris, etc. And our state political party hacks for the Dems and Reps.

To the issue. If you are at all liberal or progressive by any definition, then Pat Jerns is your choice for State Senator in the 42nd. If you are pretty far right then you like Ericksen. I do not like Ericksen at all as a person. In private he will insult people he does not agree with. He has he reputation in Olympia of being very lazy. I've known him for twenty years and he has always had an arrogant attitude except when in public. He would not serve even his conservative backers very well as a state senator.

For the 42nd Legislative race - Republican Vincent Buys might make a good state repesentative. He is very smart and handles himself well. Watching him speak at the Bill Mize Forum was an eye opener. He impressed everyone in the room. Kelli is of my liberal bent but she has been there long enough that she is now part of the problem. She is too secretive in processes such as water rights. If I were in the 42nd then Buys would get my vote. Lets give him a chance. Again, both these candidates will be on the General Ballot also. A strong vote in the Primary for Vincent Buys will give him a chance to raise money for the General and better address issues for all of us.

For US Senator, I have voted for Patty Murray. For conservatives, Dino Rossi is a good choice. Dino is smart and knows the issues. If it is time for a change then he is the guy. Nothing seriously wrong with him despite the noise from the Democratic Party. But I think Patty has done a great job and I very much appreciate her outspoken habits. She openly fights for things she believes in. To me, she is a great Senator. The only reason to not vote for Patty is if you strongly disagree with her values. And even then you have to consider how hard she fights for military veterans. She is the Senate champion for Vets.

I know nothing about the judge candidates. Local ones are running unopposed and it does not matter. We have a very dysfunctional process for electing judges - just what the power brokers like.   Soon I will write about the wonderful election solution of Rank or Instant Runoff voting.  A great solution to expensive and confusing elections.  Plus it makes it much easier to boot crummy incumbents like Rick Larsen out of office.  Plus the Ds and Rs hate it - which is the best endorsement it can have.