By Bill Lucia | Editor
Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, the longest-serving member in Washington’s state House, faces a tough fight for another term. She lost her primary race by more than three percentage points to a fellow Democrat: Kelabe Tewolde, a teacher with no elected experience. It was a two-candidate matchup, so both were guaranteed spots in the November general election. But Santos will need to build more support than she had in August to extend her nearly three-decade career as a state legislator.
Also in today’s edition…
An inspector general report finds former U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, from Oregon, drank on the job and engaged in workplace harassment.
And, the Trump administration sets a deadline to reconsider Endangered Species Act protections for wolves.
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Kelabe Tewolde and Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos. (Photos courtesy of campaigns)
By Jake Goldstein-Street
Santos is one of several Democratic state lawmakers facing challengers from the left this year. But unlike more moderate colleagues, she often sides with progressives on controversial issues before the Legislature. For example, Santos voted for Washington’s new high-earners income tax.
She recognizes she’s having to work harder than in past elections, but said “it gives me a chance to try and win over those who haven’t had yet the chance to get to know me.” Santos, who chairs the House Education Committee, also emphasized that during her years in Olympia she hasn’t “been a bump on the log” and that she’s stood up to governors, other statewide officials and her own caucus at times.
Tewolde thinks “everybody was caught off guard” by his candidacy, but says it’s time for a change. “I think we need a new voice in Olympia that represents the 37th (District), that understands the housing costs that families are dealing with,” he said.
Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer speaks at an event in Boise. (Photo by Laura Guido/Idaho Capital Sun)
By Shaanth Nanguneri
Former U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the one-term Oregon congresswoman the Trump administration tapped to head the nation’s leading worker protection agency, oversaw harassment within her agency, consumed alcohol on the job, and had an inappropriate relationship with her security detail, according to a new report.
The 44-page inspector general report said that nearly 40 people interviewed described Chavez-DeRemer’s office as a “toxic, intimidating and humiliating” workplace.
Chavez-DeRemer resigned from the Labor Department in April and her attorney declined to make her available for an interview with investigators, according to the report. She has since taken a job at a communications firm advocating for data centers.
By Clark Corbin
Federal officials have less than 90 days to decide whether to remove Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves and Mexican wolves in the U.S., under an executive order President Trump signed earlier this month. The Sept. 4 order calls for Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to determine within 90 days whether wolves have met their recovery criteria and to begin the process of delisting or downlisting them. Ranchers and some Republican elected officials welcome the order. But wolf advocates and some conservation groups oppose it, saying the change would be premature because wolf populations have not met their recovery goals.
ICYMI
Two WA public sector unions reach tentative deals on new contracts | by Jerry Cornfield
Amid uncertainty about mail-in ballots, WA leaders say they’re ready for what comes next | by Donna Gordon Blankinship
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