23rd ld Democrats News

Letter from Katherine Lewis:

The effects of Climate Change and environmental destruction are real and are occurring locally!   Kitsap County water, air, and land that used to bustle with life are sadly emptier as more people move here and as general deregulation of commerce has been widely implemented in the last fifty years and is increasing under Trump’s administration. Beaches and streams that were full of life when I grew up here in the sixties are much more barren, birds flock less here, and Olympic and Cascade glaciers are missing, yet Republicans still continue with systems and ways of doing things that destroy the resources we live within, and Democrats are continually playing catch-up and clean-up. We must change agricultural, logging, and transportation systems to reflect what we know now! We must act locally and act globally too.

 For instance, modern agricultural industrial practices in Washington, developed over the last fifty years, have poisoned and depleted our soil and won't continue to produce a sustainable economic frame going forward, no matter how the government props up the current methods. Research shows that soil not naturally fertilized, but instead chemically fertilized, becomes depleted of organisms which would otherwise do the work of helping to recycle carbon-dioxide.  In addition, the current method of raising animals for food in a factory manner directly increases climate change because the methane gases produced there aren’t diffused naturally. Likewise, and this does concern us locally in Kitsap County, clear-cutting profits the timber industry, but helps deplete climate protections created by living trees. 

All these practices are relatively recent and can change for the better, given what we know now!

Instead of continuing free-form consumption of the planet's lifeforms for the sake of profit, we can come together to face the problems and work together to fix them! To find out more about this information, please see the Netflix movie, “Kiss the Ground.”  And please discuss these issues with leaders who will take on these problems instead of denying them!

From: Will Casey <will@wa-democrats.org> 

Sent: Monday, October 26, 2020 11:59 AM
To: Chairs and Vice Chairs <CVC@wa-democrats.org>; Washington State Democratic Central Committee <WSDCC@wa-democrats.org>
Cc: Tina Podlodowski <tina@wa-democrats.org>; Kerri Ebanks <kerri@wa-democrats.org>; Drew Estep <drew@wa-democrats.org>
Subject: A quick note from Gov. Inslee!

Hey everyone,

With just 8 days left, Governor Inslee has a very important message for us all -- it's time to get out the vote! We need every shift filled for our team on the Coordinated Campaign that we can get, so please share the Governor's video on your social media channels today and ask your members (if they haven't already) to sign up for a shift reaching out to voters at wa-democrats.org/organizingevents.

Thanks for all you do to elect Democrats!

Best,

Will

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Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121 

 

Dear Democrats,

Some good news and some potentially troubling news….

First off, our coordinated volunteer phone efforts are really paying off! This is thanks to all of you and so appreciated!  For example, 

We are at over DOUBLE total phone calls right now than we were at this point in 2016 and ALMOST DOUBLE for 2018. After the dialer last night, this is how we stack up to attempts at this point in 2016 and 2018:

• 2020: 2.17 million calls
• 2018: 1.21 million calls
• 2016: 801K calls

Second, we should start to receive statewide matchback files beginning this evening - as you know not every County updates their files nightly, however many of the largest ones do. So stay tuned for matchback report availability soon. From early balloting so far we are seeing return %s as follows:

• Thurston: 26.78%
• Spokane: 17.80%
• Statewide: 2.74%

HOWEVER, there is an initial troubling trend that has low-propensity GOP voters turning out at almost DOUBLE the rate of low-propensity Democratic voters. For now. 

So I’m raising a yellow flag to please ask you and you LPOs and organizations to join us for more phone shifts in the last 14 days - again, the Presidential campaign is not making ANY calls into Washington State, so if we want to turn out voters who have democratic preference, gong all the way to new, or zero propensity voters, then the Coordinated Campaign is the only place to make that happen with the correct and latest data.

You know Trump and Culp are gonna turn out their voters, right?

We also know that with 14 days to go many folks are seeing the potential for record turnout and may start to think “we go this” - we don’t. We are starting to see “flake rates” on phone banks creep as high as 50% and that worries me a lot - we will have so many close races around the State, and we cannot afford to lose a single vote.

No one nationally or from another state is coming to our “rescue” - so please be the hero you have been for the last four years and add a few more stars to your cape with a few more phone bank shifts for you, and your volunteers - we absolutely need the help! Really!

Go here, or talk to your RFD: https://www.wa-democrats.org/organizingevents/. We are on the dialer exclusively now - 3 shifts a day. Every day.

Thanks, and we will keep your updated - Tina

Tina Podlodowski, Chair, Washington State Democrats

(she|her|hers)

  

Washington State Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign Celebrates One Million Calls to General Election Voters

Since the 2020 August primary, our Coordinated Campaign has led thousands of volunteers in making more than a million calls to get-out-the-vote this year. 

For Immediate Release | October 20, 2020

 

SEATTLE — With just 14 days left in the 2020 General Election voting period, the Washington State Democratic Party is working nonstop to reach voters and elect Democrats up and down the ballot across Washington state. Since the 2020 August primary, our Coordinated Campaign has trained thousands of volunteers, hosted more than ten thousand volunteer shifts, and has made more than one million calls to voters across the state. In total, our volunteers have made more than two million calls since our transition to responsible remote volunteering in March as our Coordinated Campaign led Democratic State Parties nationally in innovating and adapting to organizing safely during the pandemic.

This is the most critical election in our lifetime. We are just two weeks away from November 3rd, and Washington voters are shattering 2016 records for ballots received during the first week of ballot drop boxes being open. We are making tremendous strides in our efforts to get-out-the-vote despite the unprecedented challenges of running an entirely virtual campaign. Every day from now through November 3rd, our organizers will be leading volunteers in regional phone banks reaching out to their neighbors to make sure they return their ballots as early as possible.

If Washingtonians have any questions about voting, they can reach our voter protection hotline at (206) 309-VOTE (8683). Our voter protection hotline is operated by volunteer attorneys familiar with the Washington state election process and are ready to answer any question a voter might have about making their voice heard in this critical election. 

“There is so much at stake on the ballot this year, and we are pulling out all of the stops to make sure Democrats in Washington win with record voter turnout in every race up and down the ballot,” said Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “In Washington state, every day that ballot drop boxes are open is Election day — we’re in this for the long run. I am extremely proud of our organizers and volunteers that have worked so hard since the August primary to make sure voters in Washington turn out the vote for Democratic values.”

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Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121 

Unclear Disclaimer in Secretary of State’s Website Leads to Confusion About Downloadable Ballots

Despite rumors on alt-right social media, this design flaw does not present a serious risk to the integrity of Washington’s election results

For Immediate Release | October 19, 2020

SEATTLE -- Right-wing media outlets have irresponsibly reported false claims from anonymous social media users on the alt-right platform 4chan that they could “cancel” voters’ ballots in Washington state. This is simply not true, as County Election Offices are required to process the original ballot regardless of any subsequent illegitimate ballot being sent according to WAC 434-250-080. Once a ballot has been accepted, no other ballot can be accepted or printed for that voter. These measures will ensure that signed, sealed ballots with signatures that match voters’ records on file with their county elections auditor’s office will be counted regardless of any malfeasance from bad actors as described by conspiracy theorists on 4chan.

The source of this misinformation is misleading language on the VoteWA website claiming that a voter’s ballot will be “canceled” if a replacement ballot is downloaded. In fact, simply downloading a replacement ballot does not cancel or otherwise invalidate a properly signed, sealed, and signature-matched ballot.

Each county auditor’s office has been made aware of this issue and the election integrity measures in place to keep our ballots safe and secure will keep this design flaw from affecting actual votes. The only consequences of this design flaw could be increased confusion for voters and workload increases for already-burdened county auditors resulting in a potential delay in the reporting of accurate and complete results of the election, which Washingtonians deserve to know as soon as possible.

“Voters in Washington state should know one thing: despite this confusing and misleading information on the VoteWA website, there is no danger to your vote being counted,” said Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “We are monitoring the situation closely, and any voter who is concerned about this issue -- or has any other questions about voting -- can call our voter protection hotline at 206-309-VOTE.”

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Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121 

This candidate was endorsed by the 23rd LD Democrats and was a speaker at our Annual Salmon Dinner.

From: Committee to Keep Justice Whitener <keepwhitenerforjustice@gmail.com> 

Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 10:31 AM
To: Val Torrens <chair@kitsap23rd.com>
Subject: Please SHARE with your Membership

Hi Val,

Thank you for your endorsement of Justice Whitener.  Ballots are hitting mailboxes this week so it's important for voters to know how EXCEPTIONALLY WELL QUALIFIED Justice Whitener is.  

Please share:  http://www.votingforjudges.org/20gen/supreme/6hw.html for an independent and unbiased view of the candidates in this race.

Thanks again.

Lynn

Committee to Keep Justice Whitener

PO Box 23037

Seattle, WA 98102     

  

Jaime Herrera Beutler to Answer for Neglecting Her Constituents at Today’s #WA03Debate

Time and time again, Herrera Beutler has prioritized the needs of her corporate donors over helping people in Southwest Washington

For Immediate Release | October 9, 2020

SEATTLE -- After refusing to debate her in 2018, Jaime Herrera Beutler will finally face off in a live debate with her Democratic challenger, Carolyn Long. Live-streamed by TVW at 2pm this afternoon and organized by the League of Women Voters, the debate is sure to feature Herrera Beutler’s continued attempts to run away from her record prioritizing the interests of corporate PACs that have given her more than $1.6M during her time in Congress. 

Specifically, here’s the three most critical issues where Herrera Beutler has voted in favor of special interests at the expense of the needs of working families in Southwest Washington:

1. Herrera Beutler has repeatedly voted to strip health care from hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians -- and is proud of it: Herrera Beutler has taken $90,000 from the health insurance industry while bragging that she voted “more than 80 times” to dismantle our health care system by repealing the Affordable Care Act without a plan to replace it. If the ACA were repealed, 654,000 Washingtonians would lose coverage, 3.1 million Washingtonians would lose protections for their pre-existing conditions, and our state would lose $4 billion in federal funding.
2. Herrera Beutler’s claims about being bipartisan aren’t supported by her record: Flip-flopping on her attempt in 2016 to distance herself from the least popular president in a century, Herrera Beutler is now fully supporting Trump. And it’s not just her personal vote in this year’s election where she’s backing a president whose failed leadership on the pandemic has cost more than 210,000 American lives -- Herrera Beutler has voted with Trump 82% of the time in Congress and opposed his impeachment.
3. Herrera Beutler lied about her “defining moment” in Congress voting for Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the 1% and big corporations and future generations of Southwest Washingtonians will pay for her dishonesty: Despite falsely claiming to the Columbian editorial board that the federal deficit was declining prior to the pandemic, the tax cuts Herrera Beutler was so proud of voting for in 2017 have now blown a trillion dollar hole in our federal budget. Even prior to the pandemic, the Trump administration was threatening cuts to Medicare and Social Security to pay for their tax cuts to the same big corporations that have helped Herrera Beutler remain in Congress for the last decade.

“Working families and seniors in Southwest Washington deserve someone who will fight for them in Congress during this crisis -- not someone who will keep prioritizing corporate interests during the worst economic crisis in a generation,” said Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “Carolyn Long is that leader, and I’m confident she’ll show in today’s debate why she’s the fierce advocate Southwest Washington needs.”

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Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121 

  Trump Ending Stimulus Talks to Cause Immediate Harm to Families, Small Businesses

Trump’s stunning demand to end federal stimulus negotiations is wrong and will cause incalculable harm to the people of our state and our still-recovering economy

For Immediate Release | October 6, 2020

SEATTLE -- This morning, President Donald Trump announced that he instructed his team to end negotiations with Democratic leaders over an additional round of federal stimulus to help the economy before the November election. 

The economic harm of not passing additional and immediate federal stimulus is almost incalculable. According to surveys, 40 percent of restaurants will close within the next six months without additional aid. States like Washington that saw improving economic activity throughout the summer due to stimulus could see our economic recovery halted. And people on unemployment insurance who were able to continue paying their bills due to the additional $600 per week of aid will see that benefit end, hurting retail sales and people’s ability to pay their rent, mortgages, and other bills. 

The HEROES Act proposed by Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives would provide additional $1,200 stimulus checks, restore the $600 in weekly federal unemployment benefits, and provide critical funding for education, food stamps, and child care. As recently as Saturday October 3, Trump himself tweeted that “OUR GREAT USA WANTS & NEEDS STIMULUS. WORK TOGETHER AND GET IT DONE. Thank you!” 

Here in Washington, the state Republican Party and Republican legislative leadership have yet to make a statement on Trump walking away from stimulus negotiations towards a bill that would help Washingtonians weather the COVID crisis. As with many questions around their apparently unconditional support for Donald Trump, they dodge the issue and change the subject rather than respond. Washington state Republicans must explain why they are supporting a president who is refusing to help Washington families during such a dire time.

“Why is Trump taking this opportunity to intentionally hold back our economic recovery and why are Washington state Republicans continuing to stand with him?” asked Tina Podlodowski, chair of the Washington State Democratic Party.“People are struggling. Families are having a hard time paying bills and small businesses are facing closure, due to a pandemic that’s not their fault. This is exactly the time when people need help from the federal government the most. Trump’s heartless action will cause incredible harm. Small business owners losing their dreams as they shut down their business, families losing their homes because they can’t pay the rent, and children going hungry because there aren’t enough food stamps. It’s more important than ever before that we elect new leadership that will get to work right away and get our recovery back on track.”

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Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121 

GOP Rep. Vicki Kraft Compares Gov. Inslee to Hitler in Editorial Board Interview

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | October 1, 2020  

SEATTLE -- In an endorsement interview with The Columbian newspaper editorial board that was recorded and posted online by the paper, Clark County Republican Representative Vicki Kraft compared Gov. Jay Inslee to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, describing the “Stay Healthy, Stay Safe” executive orders as “acting as a dictator.”

Kraft further stated that “Hitler was a dictator. One man, dictating to his country and trying to dictate to the world, what needs to happen. Governor Inslee is acting as dictator. He alone has been the one person making decisions for every person in the 17^thlegislative district and across Washington.”

Kraft has been a vocal opponent of public health measures to combat the COVID pandemic since it began, claiming that it’s good if more people get infected with COVID-19, stating that she would refuse a COVID vaccine, and opposing social distancing and mask mandates that public health officials and doctors say will help stop the pandemic and allow us to resume normal activity more quickly. Kraft’s comments show a sustained and dangerous disregard for the facts and science around COVID-19 and her policy prescriptions would prolong the pandemic, hurt our economy, and lead to the deaths of countless more Washingtonians. 

The 17^th LD House race is expected to be close in the November general election – in the August primary, Kraft led her Democratic opponent Tanisha Harris by just 859 votes. 

“Kraft is one of the most reckless and dangerous politicians in the state, and she shows it again here,” said Tina Podlodowski, chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “Not only is this comparison incredibly offensive, but advocating against smart and effective public health measures like this puts our whole community in danger. But Kraft doesn’t really seem to ever care about putting the people of Clark County at risk – whether it comes to gun violence, vaccines for kids, just about anything, Kraft always takes a wild and dangerous position, far out to the right wing. Politicians and organizations that associate with or support Kraft really need to take a good look in the mirror and think about who they are standing with and what that says about them and their values.”

Kraft’s full quote in the clip is as follows: 

“Thank you, Greg. Let me really be clear – first of all, I never saw, I’ve never seen yet, a Nazi flag. Maybe there was one there, who knows. You know what – somebody could have come and been the plant and be there with one, let’s just say it, right? That’s kind of the unfortunate, very pathetic political climate we’re in these days. If there was a Nazi flag there, along with the tons of US flags, US flag shirts, freedom, standing for our constitutional rights, people in shirts, that I’m surrounding myself with, that were there at that event – if there was a Nazi flag, let me tell you exactly what that would mean. Nazi represents Hitler. Hitler was a dictator. One man, dictating to his country and trying to dictate to the world, what needs to happen. Governor Inslee is acting as dictator. He alone has been the one person making decisions for every person in the 17^th legislative district and across Washington. The legislature has not, in any meaningful way, been involved in these conversations. That’s not bipartisan.”  

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Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121 

WA GOP Must Denounce Trump’s Lies About Mail-in Ballots and Embrace of White Supremacists

Attacking the legitimacy of Washington state elections and emboldening political violence is still not enough to get the WA GOP to speak out against Trump

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | September 30, 2020  

SEATTLE -- During last night’s atrocious debate performance, President Trump once again repeated his false attacks on the integrity of elections conducted by mail-in ballots, which Washington state has been doing successfully for years without incident. He followed up those lies with doubling down on his empty threat to reject the results of the election if he loses due to millions of Americans voting safely by mail and rejecting his failed leadership. 

Trump’s lies are nothing less than an assault on American democracy itself, and even Republicans in Washington state must speak out to defend the legitimacy of our elections. If they continue to follow the lead of senior statewide Republican elected official Kim Wyman and refuse to call out his un-American refusal to accept the results of November’s election, they are dangerously undermining public confidence in our democracy and the crucial norm of a peaceful transition of power. 

Loren Culp, Matt Larkin, JT Wilcox, Mark Schoesler, and every candidate for office in Washington state running as a Republican owes Washington voters reassurance that they reject these false attacks on our elections and must make a public commitment to accepting the results of our safe and secure election conducted by mail.

Even more concerning was Trump’s refusal to denounce white supremacist militias that have been stoking politically-motivated violent conflict across the country. This is not a new idea for the president who claimed there were “very fine people on both sides” of the outbreak of violence in Charlottesville that killed peaceful protester Heather Heyer and refused to condemn Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse. He knew what he was doing, and the gleeful reaction from the specific violent militia he called to arms during the debate was entirely predictable. Worse, his campaign doubled down on Trump’s comments this morning, clearly signaling that they have no intention of even trying to suppress right-wing political violence.

Despite the president refusing to take responsibility for deescalating political violence, his dereliction of duty doesn’t exempt WA GOP leaders from their obligation to do the same. This is particularly true of GOP candidate for governor Loren Culp, who has literally embraced members of a similar militia to the group Trump promoted during last night’s debate. Culp has gone as far as topay them $7,000 for undisclosed fundraising expenses, but hasn’t spoken out against their intimidation tactics in patrolling peaceful protests. In the wake of Trump’s refusal to denounce white supremacists, Culp’s silence is deafening.

WA GOP candidates must do better than their state party chair, who refused to directly account for the president’s call to action for the Proud Boys that has already become a fundraising boon for the militia group. If any Washington state Republican wants to claim any measure of credible leadership in our state, they must unequivocally tell the Proud Boys and every other far-right militia group to stand down, not “stand back and stand by.”

“What we witnessed from Trump last night should alarm every American voter and no elected official should let Trump’s assault on our democracy go unanswered,” said Tina Podlodowski, chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “We’ve seen the WA GOP and their candidates up and down the ballot resort to racist fearmongering about law and order for months, but that has to stop -- today. We can’t treat our country’s proud tradition of peacefully transferring power after elections like a game -- they need to speak up now and commit to accepting the results of November’s election, plain and simple.”

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Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121