By Jake Goldstein-Street and Jerry Cornfield | Reporters
Welcome back to the Daily Standard's weekend edition, where we recap some of the week's top stories.
Quote of the week: “This is a contrast election, a contrast between common sense and crazy.”
That’s U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the electoral prize fight underway in southwest Washington between Republican state Sen. John Braun and two-term incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. Johnson made the statement in a video posted after his brief stopover in the Olympia area on Tuesday night to join Braun at a fundraiser with list prices of $500-a-person reception and $3,500-a-pop for a “private roundtable.”
It was Johnson’s second visit to western Washington this year, underscoring the importance this contest carries for the GOP’s continued control of the House and his reign as its leader. Republicans outnumber Democrats 218-214 and the Braun-Gluesenkamp Perez matchup is among a handful of competitive races nationwide that could decide which party is in charge in January.
Democrats’ hold on this particular seat really rankles Republican leaders because Donald Trump won in this district in each of his campaigns for president. So GOP operatives were excited when results of a new OPB-commissioned poll affirmed the race is close, with the candidates statistically deadlocked in terms of support.
State Sen. John Braun speaks at his primary watch party in Chehalis after the initial election results came in. (Photo by Aspen Ford/Washington State Standard)
This snapshot of 543 likely voters also found 60% had a negative impression of Gluesenkamp Perez while only 47% had the same feeling toward Braun. This may be a hangover from the primary when Democrat Brett Hennrich, who ran to the left of Gluesenkamp Perez, pulled in 16.7% which amounted to just under 36,000 votes. That’s a lot of Democrats to get on board. Hennrich already made clear he won’t be one of them.
Back to that comment by Johnson. “Common sense and crazy” is his theme for the midterms as highlighted in the Contrast for America website. There you’ll find Braun among this year’s roster of GOP candidates and a whole lot of talk about communism.
Also Tuesday. Johnson was supposed to travel from the fundraiser to Chehalis for a rally. But he got delayed traveling from Washington, D.C., and the rally got canceled. “The good news is that Speaker Johnson is planning to return on October 21,” the campaign announced Thursday.
In the meantime, Republicans can’t get too excited about the poll. Since Johnson’s first visit, the electoral climate has worsened due to surging gas and diesel prices, growing enmity toward the Iran war and cratering public support for Trump.
All these elements are likely to come into play Tuesday when the congresswoman and the state senator meet in the first of two televised debates. It will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 7 on KOIN 6.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Democrats added Washington’s 5th Congressional District to their list of potential pick-ups, saying first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner of Spokane is vulnerable to being upset by Democratic challenger Carmela Conroy.
“Michael Baumgartner won by 21 points. The (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) can watch WA-05 all they want. They’ll be watching him win,” National Republican Campaign Committee spokesperson Christian Martinez said in a statement.
READ MORE: Poll shows Gluesenkamp Perez and Braun neck-and-neck | by Elena Neale-Sacks
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
By Jake Goldstein-Street
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine Schaller on Friday permanently blocked the most controversial pieces of the Democrat-sponsored law setting tougher eligibility requirements for county sheriffs. The state will appeal. The latest decision comes after Schaller temporarily blocked the law in the spring, so it wouldn’t affect this year’s elections.
An oil/chemical tanker steers through Boundary Pass on the way to the Port of Vancouver in late June. (Photo by Tom Banse)
By Jerry Cornfield and Tom Banse
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday enabled the West Coast Oil Pipeline, now known as the Pacific Link, to move through regulatory review at a pace that could see pipeline design and construction underway by next fall. But Washington officials aren’t happy, as they fear a spill could easily reach north Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Washington’s outer coast, threatening sensitive ecosystems and killer whale habitat.
A wolf in Yellowstone National Park. (Photo by Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service)
By Aspen Ford
Over the past 10 months, wolves in the Couse pack have attacked livestock at least seven times, with four confirmed fatalities, the state says. The attacks affected two livestock owners. This led the director of the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife this week to authorize the “incremental” killing of wolves in the pack with a goal to stop attacks on livestock. But critics say this prioritizes livestock owners over the state-endangered grey wolves.
Where’s the governor?
Going from Spokane to Seattle and back again. This week, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed his 16th executive order, this one to create the 23-person Washington Space Council. Its mission is to explore the state bureaucracy and find ways for it to boldly go where it’s never gone before to boost the commercial space industry. For Ferguson, he hopes that means one day launching rockets from somewhere in the state.
The governor made two trips to Spokane. He was there Monday morning to outline his request to President Donald Trump for a major disaster declaration to help the state’s response to this year’s damaging and deadly wildfires.
He returned Friday to renew, again, his call for a statewide ban on student use of cell phones during the school day. He released a draft of the bill. By our count, this was the third press conference he’s conducted on the subject. Lawmakers better take note that this policy matters, a lot, to the freshman Democrat.
In between the trips, he also fundraised for state Sen. Marko Liias, who is up for reelection this year but is expected to sail to another term.
And Ferguson plans to attend tonight's football game between Washington State and Fresno State, according to his staff.
Perusing public records we saw that on Tuesday, he lunched with Mark Wiseman, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, later sitting down with unnamed officials of SpaceX and Starlink, its Redmond-based subsidiary. And he had six hours blocked off Sunday for a political event in Pierce County.
IN OTHER NEWS…
Roughly 10,000 immigrants in Washington are losing their Medicaid health coverage due to federal cuts Republicans in Congress approved last year.
The union representing staff of Democratic state senators in Washington overwhelmingly rejected a new two-year contract.
Puget Sound Energy’s rate hike proposal drew a packed room at the Utilities and Transportation Commission.
A company providing medical care at the Overlake Medical Center emergency room will refund more than $400,000 to low-income patients under an agreement with Washington’s attorney general.
In a surprise announcement, Republican state Rep. Skyler Rude of Walla Walla, said Tuesday that he will resign from office days before the election to start a new job with Democratic Secretary of State Steve Hobbs.
In a closely watched decision, Washington’s largest union of state government workers has ratified a new two-year contract that provides no pay raises but avoids takeaways on healthcare and other benefits.
Ferguson on Monday asked President Donald Trump for tens of millions of dollars in federal aid to help communities recover from devastating wildfires this summer.
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