ELECTION 2017: Update – 34th District Democrats’ mayoral forum Wednesday

ORIGINAL REPORT, 3:47 PM SUNDAY: The primary election is approaching quickly – King County Elections will mail ballots on July 12th, just one month from tomorrow. This Wednesday night, a mayoral-candidates forum is in the spotlight at the 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting, and the group says all 21 candidates will participate as it begins – brief introductions, answers to a question drawn at random, and then the crowd will decide which candidates they want to hear more from, as the process moves toward an endorsement by night’s end. 7 pm Wednesday (June 14th), The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW).

MONDAY NIGHT UPDATE: 34th DDs chair David Ginsberg tells WSB that “incorrect information was posted to our Facebook page (it has since been updated). While all candidates are welcome to participate, we will not likely see all 21 candidates for Mayor in attendance on Wednesday. At this point I would expect the number in attendance to be closer to 7.” So far, he says, these candidates have confirmed they’ll be there:

Jenny Durkan (D)
Jessyn Farrell (D)
Senator Bob Hasegawa (D)
Mike McGinn (D)
Cary Moon (D)
Jason Roberts (D)
Keith Whiteman (no party information available)

David Brian Preston June 11, 2017 (5:56 pm)

I manage the Mayoral campaign of Harley Lever. Harley was not invited to the 34th District Democrats’ forum, but even if he had been, he could not have received their endorsement, because he is running as an independent, and according to the bylaws of the 34th Dems, they can endorse only Democrats. This can cause problems, as it did two months ago, when the group had a similar forum for candidates running for City Council Position 8. The top vote-getter at that event was Jon Grant, but since he is not a Democrat, the 34th was required to endorse the runner up, Teresa Mosqueda, who is a Democrat. (That forum was videotaped and published by the West Seattle Blog.)
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Harley Lever is a non-partisan candidate who believes that we need a Mayor who can deliver pragmatic, non-ideology based solutions for our city. He’ll be hosting at least one “Happy Hour with Harley” event in Seattle, so stay tuned for more news on that.
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In the meantime, if you want to learn more about him, visit HarleyLeverForMayor.com. Thanks.
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–David Preston

WSB June 11, 2017 (9:09 pm)

Here’s where they say all 21 candidates will be there. You might want to leave a comment there if your candidate has not been invited.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1336608273095348/
Marcee Stone-Vekich June 12, 2017 (9:46 am)

Unfortunately, the information you posted here, Mr. Preston, is not entirely accurate. At the April meeting, candidate for Seattle City Council Position 8, Jon Grant, won a straw poll which allowed nonmembers to vote, possibly multiple times, and wasn’t an endorsement vote. The endorsement process later in that meeting was postponed when it was discovered that Mr. Grant was not running as a Democrat as he had in the past. The endorsement in that race was reconsidered at the May meeting. At that meeting, Mr. Grant announced that he was not a Democrat (even though he had run for office in the past as one) so he was withdrawn from further consideration. The vote taken at that meeting went overwhelmingly for Teresa Mosqueda with only actual credentialed members of the 34th Dems voting.
- Linda G June 12, 2017 (10:17 am)
  
  Marcie, that being the case, why not include Mr. Lever at the forum? People in the 34th need to hear from all candidates in the non-partisan mayoral race!
  - Marcee Stone-Vekich June 12, 2017 (10:50 am)
    
    You would have to ask the current leadership of the 34th Dems how this is being handled at the June meeting. My comment was only to clarify the misinformation in the first comment since I was at both of those meetings.

Double Dub Resident June 11, 2017 (8:47 pm)

Man this mayor race is so diluted and unfortunately it’s like 50 shades of Murray.

I would love to just have a run of the mill moderate for mayor, but unfortunately in today’s political climate the pendulum is either swinging way to the left or way to the right. And I’m stuck in the middle of a nut job federal government and nut job local government.

And thanks for sharing David. I’ll take a look at the website. It’s unfortunate that our system is set up where you have to claim a certain label to be eligible to do the job. That needs to change. Especially considering that both Democrats and Republicans are on my you know what list

Mark June 11, 2017 (9:33 pm)

I thought the City political offices were non partisan?

Ex-Westwood Resident June 12, 2017 (8:37 am)

Yes they are “Non-Partisan” but they identify them by adding the “prefers Democrat/Republican/Independent/Green….etc.”, party in the voters handbook and official press releases by the Election Commission.

WS Guy June 12, 2017 (8:40 am)

Hasegawa is shaping up to be the most neighborhood-friendly of the field.

Durkan is looking like a corporate shill.

Jon Wright June 14, 2017 (12:04 am)

Transit UNfriendly, though. I am vehemently against Hasegawa on account of his anti-Sound Transit track record.

Mark Schletty June 12, 2017 (9:28 am)

The citywide media in Seattle is not covering any candidates other than the 5 or 6 “favorite” candidates, who all appear to be clones of what we already have. I hope the blog can broaden this coverage to include both Greg Hamilton and Harvey Lever. While I have no association with either of them, they both seem to offer a refreshing alternative agenda, still basicly liberal but much more pragmatic and moderate. With no media coverage these two will have no chance.

WSB June 12, 2017 (9:34 am)

We covered Hamilton’s announcement, as he was the only candidate to have his in West Seattle (where he used to live):
https://westseattleblog.com/2017/05/video-first-mayoral-candidate-to-announce-in-west-seattle-greg-hamilton/

Otherwise, we’ll be covering all the forums that happen here (I’m moderating the one Sustainable West Seattle is having at Summer Fest). I have hopes of at least short custom stories about everyone before the primary but it’s a bit of a challenge. So far a grand total of two candidates have contacted us proactively offering interviews – we did one but it’s still on hold until I can at least offer the opportunity to the other 19. – TR
- Mark Schletty June 12, 2017 (10:14 am)
  
  Thanks, Tracy. I had seen the Hamilton announcement article, it is the only reason I knew anything about him. I know the citywide papers watch what you are doing, so I know you will be setting a good example for them.
- Diane June 12, 2017 (1:16 pm)
  
  there was an all afternoon MDC candidate “forum” yesterday in WS; pretty sure that was open to any/all candidates who wanted to talk
  - WSB June 12, 2017 (1:37 pm)
    
    If you mean the “Chautauqua Afternoon,” that was not a mayoral-candidates forum, though I’m sure some mayoral candidates were there; I’m aware of the event – it was in our calendar after I saw it go by somewhere and contacted the organizer to be sure it was public, so I could post it – billed as a chance for candidates to mingle as much as anything. Did you go?
    - Diane June 12, 2017 (2:22 pm)
      
      yes, I was there for most of it; at least 4 hours; it wasn’t just for mayoral; it was for all candidates in all races; mixed throughout the day; i.e., they didn’t do all mayoral at once; each candidate got 5 mins up on the stage (with timers); there were several mayoral candidates; and there were several candidates for various races who are not “Dems”; all were welcomed and given opportunity to speak; it was my first time at this event, so I didn’t know what to expect; very well run; and open to public as far as I could tell