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Tina's Friday Wrap Up

11 Mar 2022 4:18 PM | Douglass MacKenzie



Hello Democrats! I’m in Washington, DC this week for DNC meetings - it’s been great connecting with our fellow Democrats from across the country about the work we need to do to pass progressive policy and win in 2022! There’s a ton of excitement for the work ahead of us and I’m glad our Washington state folks are “all in” on fighting hard this year. You can read about some of the organizing work I’m doing at the DNC level to strengthen the Democratic Party in this Washington Post article. 


What we’re hearing and seeing in the polls, in Washington and across the country, is voters are polarized. Republicans are voting Republican, Democrats are voting Democrat, and independents are frustrated at both parties and don’t care about voting this year. Persuasion efforts are falling by the wayside, which makes our GOTV efforts for every last Democratic vote even MORE important. We’re aiming to have the best, smartest, and most efficient Coordinated Campaign of any state in the country, and we need you all to be part of it - as donors, as doorbellers, as phonebankers, and as supporters. Together, I’m confident we can and will win!


Happy to be talking to our fellow state party leaders about our amazing Washington State Coordinated Campaign - with Chairs Lavora Barnes (MI, left) and Yvette Lewis (MD, right). Thanks to our WA Vice Chair David Green for the photo!


With the amazing Theresa Sheldon, DNC Native American Political Director and member of the Tulalip Tribes!


West is best! Amazing western states chairs and vice chairs.


2022 Legislative Session Comes to a Close - Yesterday was the last day of the legislative session, and I wanted to run down some of the big issues we were watching and what our Democrats were able to deliver: 


This is just a list of some of the highlights; we’ll continue to share more information on what got done this session in next week’s email. 


I’m impressed with what our legislators got done in 60 days, and I want to thank them for their hard work. These are meaningful steps forward on some of the biggest issues facing Washingtonians, none of which could have been accomplished without our year-round efforts to elect Democrats. But with the lawmaking done, it’s time for us to fully turn our attention to the campaign trail. 


We Need You to Run for Convention Delegate - We’ve got a very important opportunity coming up on March 26th - our legislative district caucuses, where our local parties will vote to select the delegates who will represent them at our State Convention in June. The State Convention will be held in Tacoma but in a hybrid manner; all committee meetings will be virtual and delegates can participate in the Convention itself, on June 25th, either in Tacoma or from the comfort of their own homes! Delegates to the Convention get to vote on decisions like candidate nominations and approving and amending our state party platform. This work is important and we want to make sure every legislative district has solid and diverse representation. 



Each district organization is running its own caucus, but they’re all happening at 10 AM on March 26th. Find your legislative district party’s contact information on this list, and send them an email to get the details for how to run for delegate (most will be held virtually). Your participation in this will help make our party stronger!  


Redistricting Update - The long saga of Washington’s redistricting process continues! We’ve gotten a lot of questions about what’s happening with the maps and what could happen next. We hope to clear some of that up here, with the acknowledgement that some uncertainty still remains at points. 


Voting rights advocates have sued regarding the drawing of the 15th Legislative District, arguing that it failed to comply with Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act by disadvantaging Latinx voters. This week, the Redistricting Commission voted to not intervene in the lawsuit, deciding they will not defend the maps in the VRA lawsuit. Pending decisions by the other defendants in state government, there may be an opportunity for the state to settle the suit with the plaintiffs. Until then, the next event in this VRA lawsuit is a court hearing on March 25th, after which we should know a lot more. 


As of now, the legislature has passed the new boundaries and they are on the books. We’re uploading them into Votebuilder and, as the situation currently stands, the best thing we can do is expect them to be the boundaries for the 2022 elections. We don’t know what could happen with this VRA court case, what a judge could potentially order, or what a settlement could look like, but at this point, our plans are moving forward with the boundaries as passed by the legislature. 


I know this is something we’re all deeply concerned about and we’d love to get resolution on as soon as possible, but it’s also important that voting rights advocates get the chance to make their case. We’ll continue to watch this closely and let you all know what we hear, as soon as we hear it. 




Thanks to Rep. Jesse Johnson - Rep. Jesse Johnson of the 30th LD in Federal Way announced his plans this week not to run for re-election. We want to thank him for his service as one of the champions of police accountability in the legislature and for his work on issues like gun violence prevention and support for foster care youth and young people experiencing homelessness. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors!


As a reminder, other retiring legislators this year (as of now) include:

  • LD 4, Rep. Bob McCaslin, GOP (running for Spokane County Auditor)

  • LD 8, Sen. Sharon Brown, GOP

  • LD 8, Rep. Brad Klippert, GOP (running for Congress)

  • LD 8, Rep. Matt Boehnke, GOP (running for state Senate)

  • LD 17, Rep. Vicki Kraft, GOP (running for Congress)

  • LD 22, Rep. Laurie Dolan, Dem

  • LD 26, Rep. Jesse Young, GOP (running for state Senate)

  • LD 29, Rep. Steve Kirby, Dem

  • LD 30, Rep. Jesse Johnson, Dem

  • LD 35, Sen. Tim Sheldon, Turncoat Dem

  • LD 35, Rep. Drew MacEwen, GOP (running for state Senate)

  • LD 36, Sen. Reuven Carlyle, Dem

  • LD 36, Rep. Noel Frame, Dem (running for state Senate)

  • LD 38, Rep. Mike Sells, Dem

  • LD 42, Rep. Sharon Shewmake, Dem (running for state Senate)

  • LD 46, Sen. David Frockt, Dem

  • LD 46, Rep. Javier Valdez, Dem (running for state Senate)

  • LD 47, Rep. Pat Sullivan, Dem


GOP Dirty Tricks in Idaho - I wanted to close by sharing this story from our neighbors in Idaho about GOP activists posing as Democrats in an attempt to take over the Kootenai County Democratic Party. 


The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee has reportedly planned and recruited volunteers to infiltrate the Kootenai Democrats, install an “antisemitic troll” as party chair and funnel money donated to Democrats to local Republicans instead.


A recorded phone call between Kootenai County resident John Grimm and a person he identified as KCRCC Youth Chair Dan Bell appeared to reveal the plan.


“Long story short, we want to take over the Democrat Party,” Bell reportedly said during the Tuesday call.


At this point we shouldn’t be surprised anymore by the dirty tricks that Republicans try to play. Remember to be on your guard, and what happened in Kootenai County just shows the importance of having every LD and county local party in the state organized as strongly as possible with Democrats!


With gratitude, 


Tina Podlodowski


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