Updated July 12, 2009 The 34th District Summer Picnic
Tuesday, July 21 - all are welcome (including non-members, elected officials, candidates for office), bring a potluck dish to share. Lincoln Park, Shelter #3, at 6:00 PM, details here.
Updated July 10, 2009 The 34th District Endorses!
Our July 8th regular endorsements meeting was a barn-burner. Read the blow-by-blow action on the West Seattle Blog or read Joel Connelly's PI account
or the Seattle Weekly article. Over 200 members of the 34th District Democrats decided to endorse the following candidates and ballot measures for the August 18th ballot (this is a mail-in ballot and should be delivered to every registered voter around July 29th): • Seattle Mayor: Greg Nickels & Mike McGinn (dual) • Seattle City Attorney: Tom Carr • Seattle Council Pos. 2: Richard Conlin & David Ginsberg (dual)
• Seattle Council Pos. 4: Sally Bagshaw & Dorsol Plants (dual)
• Seattle Council Pos. 6: Jessie Israel & Nick Licata (dual) • Seattle Council Pos. 8: David Miller & Robert Rosencrantz (dual)
• Burien Council Pos. 2: No endorsement
• Burien Council Pos. 7: Brian Bennett • Port Commissioner Pos. 1: No endorsement
• Port Commissioner Pos. 3: Rob Holland • Port Commissioner Pos. 4: Max Vekich • Seattle Ref. #1 (Bag Tax): No position
• Burien Prop. #1 (Annexation): Vote YES • State Initiative 1033: Vote NO! • Court of Appeals, Division 1, District 1 (King County): Anne Ellington
Note: Report errors, updates or ask questions to the 34th WebEditor
Updated July 1, 2009 Agenda for Endorsements Meeting!
The 34th District Democrats will endorse candidates at our regular meeting on July 8, 2009. The detailed agenda - office-by-office - is now posted on the agenda page.
Be sure to read the endorsement rules to understand how the endorsement process will work! If you are a member and want to volunteer to help collect or count ballots,
contact the webmaster.
A lot more info is in our newsletter, which you can download here.
Updated June 25, 2009
Chair Tim Nuse's Message for June The 34th: A Kick-Butt Outfit
Hello 34th District Democrats,
Have you heard what people are saying about us? "The 34th District Democrats are a kick-butt outfit."
Thank you, Joel Connelly. I couldn't agree more. Last month we hosted one of the biggest, best-organized, and well attended Candidate Forums in the region ...
Updated June 26, 2009 July 8th District Meeting - Endorsements
July 21st Picnic
At our July 8th District meeting we'll consider endorsements for offices and issues on the ballot, especially those on the August 18th Primary Ballot. A more detailed
agenda, endorsement rules etc. are here. The July newsletter is online here. Then our annual summer picnic will be at Lincoln Park Shelter #3 on Tuesday, July 21st. There is no formal program at the picnic, but
elected officials and candidates are welcome to come and "hobnob". Details here.
Updated May 21, 2009 Nelson's Payday Lending Bill Signed; Legislative Wrap-Up
The Payday Lending Bill sponsored by 34th District Rep. Sharon Nelson passed the Legislature and was signed by the Governor - but only after the Governor received an avalanche of e-mail messages and phone calls from King County Democrats asking her to sign it. More details on the bill are on the LAC page here. Also, the King County Democrats Legislative Action Committee and our own LAC Chair Greg Doss have published a wrap-up of the legislative session - both successes and failures - download it here.
Updated April 18, 2009 Rep. Sharon Nelson Named "Legislator of the Year"
Rep. Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island was selected by aides of her 62 fellow Democrats as the Legislator of the Year. The Legislator of the Year Award was established to recognize outstanding leadership and professionalism within the House of Representatives. It recognizes her ability to work across party lines and with people of differing opinions to create good policies for all Washington citizens. See more details on the West Seattle Blog or the Tacoma News Tribune. Congratulations Sharon!. Photo courtesy the West Seattle Blog.
Long-time Member Norman Kunkel Passes
Norman C. Kunkel died April 2, 2009 in Seattle. He was born Sept 17, 1918 in Wessington, SD to Joseph E. and Winnifred B. (Wright) Kunkel and later moved to Yakima
where he finished high school. He worked in Alaska, at Job Corps, CCC, Seattle City Light and in China with UNRRA. He served in the AFS Ambulance Corps during WWII
in India, Italy, and was a liberator at Bergen Belsen concentration camp in Germany. In 1946, he married Georgie M. Bright. He attained a BA from the UW in 1954 and
taught at Gregory Heights Elementary in Burien for 25 years. For many years he served as Democratic Precinct Officer for the 34th District. After retirement he spoke
about his war experiences completing a book about it, traveled around the globe with Georgie and volunteered for Sightline Institute. He loved gardening and supplied
azaleas for Saltwater UU church which he and Georgie attended. He is predeceased by his parents and all 7 siblings and is survived by his wife, Georgie; son Stephen (Alice)
Kunkel of Bellevue and their children Samantha (children--Isaac & Toby) of Renton and Farrah of Bellevue; daughter Susan Kunkel (Dan Wilson) and children Gregory and
Kenneth Williams of Tacoma; daughter Kim Waligorska of Seattle; and children of son Joseph (deceased 2001): Curtis Kunkel, Jolie (Lance) Taylor (children--Joe, Trevor, Heath),
Mica (Chelsea) Kunkel (children--Hazel and Ezra), Farron and Travis Kunkel. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Sightline Institute, Children’s Hospital or the
charity of your choice. The memorial service is to be held at Saltwater UU Church at 25701 14th Pl S., Des Moines, WA on Saturday, April 18th at 3;00 p.m.
Updated March 18, 2009 34th Dems Is on Twitter!
Follow us at www.twitter.com/34dems. A window with the twitter feed is below:
Updated March 12, 2009 34th District Endorses Dow Constatine,
Contributes $3,434.34
The 34th District Democrats overwhelming endorsed King County Council President Dow Constantine in his bid to become King County Executive in this year's election.
In addition we voted to contribute $3,434.34 to Constantine's campaign. This contribution adds to the almost $60,000 Constantine has collected in only three weeks
since he announced his campaign. The 34th District Democrats' endorsement of Constantine adds to an impressive list of early endorsements, including State Senate
Majority Leader Lisa Brown, Senators Joe McDermott, Kevin Ranker, Ed Murray and Ken Jacobsen, and State Representatives Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson. (More information on
Dow's fundraising and endorsements is here.)
In accepting the endorsement, Dow spoke eloquently 25 years of work on behalf of the people of King County, advocating for transportation, public health and
clear performance management goals for County government. Constantine has served West Seattle, White Center, Burien and Vashon and Maury Islands not only as
King County Councilmember, but also as State Senator and State Representative. He is also a past Chair of the 34th District Democrats.
In other business, we heard from two West Seattle candidates for Seattle City Council, David Ginsberg and Dorsal Plants. We also passed a resolution calling for the West
Seattle Bridge to be renamed in honor of long-time Seattle City Councilmember Jeanette Williams. More details of the meeting will be posted here in a few days.
Updated January 14, 2009 34th District Democrats Elect New Leaders
We elected a new set of leaders at our biennial reorganization meeting on January 14th.
The new leadership team is pictured below (click it or click here for a larger version with
names and positions). The new leadership includes Tim Nuse (Chair), Kim Becklund (First Vice
Chair), David Ginsberg (Second Vice Chair), Stu Yarfitz (Treasurer) and Miki Meahan (Secretary).
Marcee Stone and Chris Porter are our state committeewoman and man respectively. Lisa Plymate
and Ivan Weiss are the King County committeewoman and man, and Asha Mohamed and Robin Hess are
the alternates.
Updated January 14, 2009 Chair Nuse Appoints Committee Chairs
Newly Elected 34th District Chair appointed committee chairs during our regular meeting
on January 14th. They are pictured below and include Jackie Dupras, Newsletter Editor,
Beth Greiser, Greg Doss (Legislative Affairs), Brian Earl (By-Laws Chair), Les Treall (Outreach), Jeff Upthegrove (Membership), Walter Sive (Finance). Click the photo for a larger version with names.
Updated September 5, 2008 34th District Members in the News at the Democratic National Convention
These media stories - spotted by our own eagle-eyed and google-endowed Chrerisse Luxa - mention our member/delegate Chris Porter:
• The Stranger Slog
• The Telluride News
• National Public Radio (see 3rd photo down)
• The Boston Globe
And the Denver Post proclaimed Chris Porter's attire the "most creative costume" the last night at Invesco Field. See story here.
This article states our delegate Nick Bordner is the second youngest Delegate at the Convention:
• USA Today
The photo above left on this page was taken by Robyn Beck, appears in the NPR story, and is copyright Getty Images.
Updated July 30, 2008 Nels Ekroth Passes
Nels Ekroth, long-time 34th District Democrat and PCO, passed away on July 29th. He was born in 1918 and was 8 days short of his 90th birthday when he died. See additional information and photos on his tribute page. If you have a quote or thought or photos to share as a tribute, send them to the webmaster.
Website Copyright 2009 34th District Democratic Organization
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Elected Officers Tim Nuse - 206.226.4849
Chair Kim Becklund- 206.938.3487
First Vice Chair David Ginsberg- 206.979.8338
Second Vice Chair Stu Yarfitz - 206.764.9102
Treasurer Miki Meahan - 206.349.1060
Secretary Marcee Stone - 206.938.1963
State Committeewoman Chris Porter- 206.856.0182
State Committeeman Lisa Plymate - 206.937.5050
King County Committeewoman Ivan Weiss - 206.463.4647
King County Committeeman Asha Mohamed - 206.898.3659
KC Committeewoman Alt Robin Hess - 206.463.1548
KC Committeeman Alt
Updated June 25, 2009
Long-time Member Norman Kunkel Passes
