Updated July 31, 2008
Chair Ivan Weiss' Message for August The 34th District Democrats and the Top Two Primary
All our endorsed Democratic candidates are unopposed by other Democrats in the primary, so we don't have to do anything until November, right?
Wrong. This is not your normal primary. This is "Top Two," foisted on us by Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed, the Washington State Grange, and a whole lot of misguided voters who thought they were getting their old unconstitutional blanket primary back.
The top two vote-getters for each office, regardless of party, will advance to the November election, including all the candidates for statewide races. For several reasons, these are the races that deserve our utmost efforts for the primary.
Barack Obama is going to win in Washington state, by a wide margin. That's not even in doubt, but ....
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.
Updated July 21, 2008 We Love Parades and Picnics! As usual, the 34th District Democrats are well represented at area fairs and festivals, including the Burien 4th of July Parade, Vashon Strawberry Festival and the Hi-Yu parade in West Seattle, pictured above. And the King County Democrats Summer Picnic is August 9th at Woodland park - See more details on the calendar here. Finally, we have our 34th District Annual Garden Party and Auction on August 8th at West Seattle Nursery. We still need high quality auction items and we'd love to have all members and elected officials attend. More details on the auction are here.
Updated July 13, 2008 New Endorsements from July District Meeting At our July 9th meeting we gave unanimous endorsements to our team of state legislators - Senator Joe McDermott and Representatives Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson. We also endorsed Rep. Jim McDermott for re-election to Congress, Jason Osgood for election as State Secretary of State, and several candidates for King County Superior Court. And we endorsed the proposed City of Seattle levy to rebuild the Pike Place Market. A complete list of our endorsements and candidate weblinks is on the website here. Or download a PDF document with a list of all offices up for election and our current endorsements.
Updated July 9, 2008 July District Meeting: Endorsements, Candidates, Initiatives The July District meeting is Wednesday the 9th and will feature endorsements, candidates and information about Initiatives 97 plus a report from the Leadership Development Committee suggesting new organization structures for the District. See agenda page for more information or download the agenda as a PDF file here. Chair's letter is below and July newsletter is posted here.
Updated June 18, 2008 Four 34th Democrats going to the Democratic National Convention
Two more 34th District Democrats were elected as delegates at the Washington State Democrats' Convention on June 15th. Kimber McCreery will go as an at large delegate for Clinton and Mayor Greg Nickels will be a leadership delegate for Obama. They join Nick Bordner and Chris Porter, who were elected DNC delegates at the Congressional District caucus (see article further down on this page). The
34th District Democrats were out in force at the convention as shown in the photo (click on it to enlarge it).
Updated June 15, 2008 June 11 Meeting: No Jail in Highland Park!
A major topic at our June 11th meeting was the City jail which may be built in Highland Park. 34th District members who are also active in the Highland Park Action Committee discussed this in detail and voiced opposition. Elected officials including
King County Councilmember Dow Constantine and State Rep. Sharon Nelson spoke in support of their
position. See the Action Committee webpage and West Seattle Blog for more details. In other business we endorsed several candidates for King County Superior Court judge: Regina Cahen (pos. 10), Barbara Mack and Nic Corning (dual endorsement for pos. 37), Mariane Spearman (pos. 53) and Rebeccah Graham (pos. 22). (All our endorsements are here.) And we passed PCO Lisa Plymate's resolution to re-empower the Food-and-Drug Administration. We voted to give a $1134 contribution to Washington Public Campaigns. Ivan Weiss also announced that we have 153 candidates for precinct committee officer in 149 of our 204 precincts (see complete list in news item below). Full minutes will be posted shortly.
Updated June 8, 2008 Candidate Filing is Complete
On the national scene, Barack Obama became the Democratic nominee for President. On the local scene, the candidate filing deadline was June 6th,
so we now know who has filed for the statewide and local offices up for election this year. The list of all
offices up for election, and Democratic candidates, is here (PDF file). In the 34th District, we also have at least 153 people who have filed for PCO
positions, with contested races in at least three precincts (Seattle 1408, 1467 and 1478). That list of candidates for PCO is
here.
We, as the 34th District Democrats, have not endorsed yet for several offices - we'll consider such endorsements in our July meeting.
Updated May 24, 2008 Endorsements!
At our May 14th Meeting, we endorsed Gov. Chris Gregoire for re-election, and endorsed Jim McIntire (State Treasurer), Peter Goldmark (Lands Commissioner), John Ladenburg (Attorney General), and Darcy Burner (U.S. Representative, 8th CD). A list of all offices up for election in 2008 in the 34th District, and our present endorsements, is here (PDF file). See also the endorsements page on the website here.
We will make additional endorsements at our June 11th and July 9th district meetings. See also the news and minutes of the May 14th meeting here.
Updated June 1, 2008 2008 Garden Party - August 8th
The 34th Dems Annual Garden Party and Auction is set for Friday, August 8th at West Seattle Nursery. Tyler Smith, student at Johns Hopkins and home for the summer is chairing it. Rachel Glass is our auctioneer. Plan to attend, plan to bring your friends and we also need your donations for the auction - more information is here.
Updated May 25, 2008 Obama Delegate Rodgers featured in Wall Street Journal Article
Well, gee, even the bastion-of-Republican-conservatism the Journal can get something right once in a while. Our own Jody Rodgers of the 34th District, already an Obama delegate to the State Convention, was featured in a WSJ article about delegates seeking to attend the Democratic National Convention on May 24th. View it here online or download as a PDF (copyright Dow Jones Company). P.S. Jody is still looking for that DNC spot at the state convention!
Updated May 18, 2008 Chris Porter and Nick Bordner Going to the National Democratic Convention
Chris Porter and Nick Bordner, from the 34th District, were among seven Obama delegates elected from the 7th Congressional District to become delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. Chris, the Precinct Committee Officer for Seattle Precinct 1520, and Nick, 18, a senior at Vashon High School, survived a rigorous delegate selection process in a long, long day at the 7th Congressional District Caucus Saturday, May 17 at North Seattle Community College. More information on the caucus page.
In related news, Washington State Democratic Party Chair and superdelegate Dwight Pelz announced he will support Barack Obama's nomination for President. More information in his letter here.
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Updated July 31, 2008
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