By Bill Lucia | Editor
Welcome back to the Daily Standard's weekend edition, where we recap some of the week's top stories.
Number of the week: 5.1 million
That’s roughly the number of active voters in Washington heading toward the Aug. 4 primary election. The deadline for counties to send out ballots was Friday, marking the start of an 18-day window for people to vote.
Here at the Standard, we’ve compiled a guide to some of this year’s key races. As part of the project, we surveyed more than 100 candidates running for 20 spots in the Legislature, five of the nine state Supreme Court positions, and two U.S. House seats.
(Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
The top two vote-getters in each primary race will advance to the November election, regardless of party.
A reminder about some important deadlines:
July 27: last day for online registration or updates to registration information, and when mailed registration forms and updates must be received.
July 28: latest that the U.S. Postal Service recommends returning ballots by mail. (Ballots need to be postmarked by Aug. 4 to be counted.)
Aug. 4: Election Day, with ballot drop boxes closing at 8 p.m.
You can check your voter registration at VoteWA.gov, register online here, and print a paper form here to register or make changes to your registration.
The secretary of state’s office has a map here with drop box and voting center locations.
And you can find the state’s voter guide here.
Turning 18 soon? Voters turning 18 between the August primary and the November general election can vote in the primary.
SEE ALSO: Washington voters begin casting primary election ballots | by Jerry Cornfield
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
By David Lightman
In a 6-3 decision last month, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down limits on how much political parties could spend in coordination with specific candidates. Simply put, the ruling “gives the parties more money to spend,” said David Kolker, senior counsel at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. Will it make a difference? In terms of total dollars from big donors, maybe not. As for strengthening the role of parties and how they spend to help campaigns, the answer appears to be “yes.” The court decision will also make it easier for big donors to funnel money to the parties, knowing the parties can now seamlessly direct the funds to candidates they feel need it most.
Many rounds in court: gun rights advocates notch a win in fight against semi-auto restrictions
Gun rights advocates celebrated a federal appeals court ruling in a case out of New Jersey this week, where the court struck down the state’s ban on certain semiautomatic firearms and ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
“The court recognized that commonly owned semiautomatic rifles are ‘arms’ protected by the Second Amendment,” the Washington-based Silent Majority Foundation said in an email, going on to note that Washington’s ban on the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms classified as “assault weapons” is similar to the overturned New Jersey law. Here, the law remains in effect, but is the subject of ongoing litigation.
The group also said that the portion of the ruling on high-capacity magazines “may be especially important” for a dispute over Washington’s ban on the sale of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds (AKA the Gator’s Guns case). The state Supreme Court here upheld that law last year. Challengers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case, and the justices haven’t yet decided whether to do so. The high court agreed last month to hear challenges to semiautomatic firearm restrictions in Illinois and Connecticut. Everytown for Gun Safety has referred to those two cases as “reckless gun lobby challenges” to limits on firearms frequently used in mass shootings.
“The broader national picture is changing quickly. Courts have split over whether bans on commonly owned semiautomatic firearms and magazines are constitutional,” the Second Amendment Foundation noted. “That split is exactly the kind of conflict that makes Supreme Court review more likely and more necessary.”
Where’s the governor?
By Jerry Cornfield
Out of state. His daughter had a softball tournament. We can’t say what state because that information wasn’t shared. We do know he left Wednesday. More specifically, public records show he asked Lt. Gov Denny Heck to serve as “acting governor” for a very precise period: 3:33 p.m. on July 15 until 11:02 p.m. on Monday.
As for next week, Ferguson’s days will be filled with internal meetings, we were told. The latest calendar update from his office shows no public activities until a “meeting on climate” at 10 a.m., Monday, July 27.
Meanwhile, this past Monday, he held a press conference where he vowed to pursue a new law requiring Washington high schoolers to complete college financial aid paperwork to graduate. The next morning, he campaigned for the defeat of a November ballot measure to repeal Washington’s income tax on those with million-dollar-plus annual earnings.
Public records show on Tuesday, he scheduled separate Zoom meetings with Rep. Lisa Callan, D-Issaquah, and Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma. They are the lead writers of the state construction budget.
We’re keeping an eye out for the governor to make another push for a bell-to-bell ban on student cellphone use in public schools. Since endorsing a ban last month, we’ve seen calendar entries for him and his communications director regarding a “cell phone ban July event.” No details yet. Stay tuned.
IN OTHER NEWS THIS WEEK…
The secretary of state’s office certified a ballot measure that aims to overturn the state’s new income tax on household wage earnings over $1 million a year, clearing the way for the initiative to appear on ballots this November.
Tod Leiweke, CEO of the Kraken NHL team and one of the key figures pushing to return the SuperSonics NBA franchise to Seattle, raised concerns about how Democrats in Olympia are managing the state’s finances and what he described as a souring mood among business leaders.
A trial got underway in Washington’s lawsuit against grocer Albertsons over the company’s alleged role in the opioid crisis.
Washington is deploying agency staff and a state lawmaker to one of the world’s biggest air shows in hopes it will deliver rewards for the local aerospace industry.
Washington tribes and environmental organizations sued the federal government Tuesday, arguing that recent changes to Endangered Species Act rules defy scientific research and pave the way for the destruction of important wildlife habitat.
Over half of farmworker wage complaints Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries received last year went unresolved past a 60-day statutory limit, according to a new report.
The federal government is planning to shift management of grizzly bears in the contiguous U.S. to the states.
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