Greg Nickels makes it official: Running for Secretary of State

After exploring non-elected roles in the 2 years since he left the Seattle Mayor’s office, West Seattle’s Greg Nickels is going before voters again. It’s just been announced he is indeed going to run for Secretary of State. Here’s the news release:

Former Seattle Mayor and King County Councilmember Greg Nickels, a Democrat, will run for Secretary of State. Nickels’ entry ends weeks of speculation and resets the fields in the race to replace retiring incumbent Sam Reed.

Nickels will make election transparency, campaign finance disclosure and the integrity of the initiative process the focus of his campaign and platform if elected. He points to recent U.S. Supreme Court and Appeals Court decisions and the recent influx of big money initiative campaigns as critical issues for the next Secretary of State.

“I am passionate about our democracy, but we can’t take it for granted. The rules of politics continue to change in favor wealthy special interests— at our expense,” said Nickels. “The Citizens United ruling allows for unregulated campaign contributions. The 9th Circuit recently overturned our state prohibitions on late, unlimited spending. Over the past few years individuals and corporations have dumped millions to buy laws in our initiative campaigns.”

“We need a Secretary of State not only working with counties to improve election oversight and participation, but a strong voice for transparency on how campaigns are financed, and keeping the voice of citizens in the initiative process,” said Nickels.

During his 14 years as a King County Councilmember, Nickels sponsored the original King County Video Voters guide and helped lead efforts in King County to modernize and improve ballot security. Nickels has pledged to be a partner with local elections officials to protect and improve the integrity of our vote by mail elections through improved technology, stronger security and other best practices. A seasoned elected official and advocate for jobs and small business, Nickels will highlight the little known role of the Secretary of State as a booster for Washington businesses and entrepreneurs.

“When it comes to creating jobs, we must leverage every resource at our disposal,” said Nickels. “That includes the defined role of the Secretary of State as a resource for new businesses, a recruiter to bring jobs into our state, and open markets for Washington goods. It’s an underutilized part of the job that I look forward to embracing.”

Nickels will campaign full time for the post, traveling to all parts of the state to discuss election integrity, initiative reform, and job growth over the course of the campaign.

“I look forward to meeting folks across the state who share my belief that we all deserve an open, transparent electoral process—from who funds the campaign to insuring every vote is counted,” said Nickels. “These are nonpartisan, common sense goals that must be the top priority of our next Secretary of State.”

Greg Nickels, his wife Sharon and their two dogs live in West Seattle. They are the parents of two grown children, and look forward to taking a break from the campaign for their daughter’s wedding this summer.

(WSB photo from April 2011)

Neighbor February 23, 2012 (10:23 am)

He’s got my vote! The state is lucky to have him committed to serving the public good!

Rumbles February 23, 2012 (10:26 am)

Oh wow — great idea, after all he did such a stellar job as mayor…. Just don’t let him get involved in anything important like keeping traffic moving during a winter storm and surely everything will be fine.

Valerie February 23, 2012 (10:38 am)

Wow, he was such an effective mayor… call me cynical.

Eddie February 23, 2012 (10:39 am)

Lose the beard.

WSB February 23, 2012 (10:59 am)

Eddie – FWIW I haven’t put the credit in yet but that’s a photo from last April. We haven’t seen him mega-recently so for all I know he could be beardless. But we’ll be requesting a followup interview. – TR

BLather February 23, 2012 (10:45 am)

to the first comment – thanks Greg for the comments about yourself. BTW – he was recruited by Demo Party Chair Dwight Pelz – so Greg, are we going to register by party, have closed party primaries, and allow the party machine to determine who is a good Democrat that would be eligible to run. We’ve been lucky over the past three decades to not have hard core partisans win this office – so whether D or R, my hope is that whoever wins will be in that mold and not a tool of the party elite.

Diane Fields February 23, 2012 (10:53 am)

Not to often do I chime in, but really Greg, what are you thinking? You were dismal as a mayor and to think you are going to try public service again is overwhelming. Retire and fade to black.

Diane February 23, 2012 (11:04 am)

really? the beard is what’s important?

You Go Greg! February 23, 2012 (11:06 am)

Best wishes Greg! You have my vote. Please help us prevent millionaires from buying the Seattle School Board next election.

Steph in WS February 23, 2012 (11:39 am)

He’s got my vote. He did a lot better than the current mayor.

realist February 23, 2012 (11:42 am)

People who sit around complaining about government are invariably the ones least capable of doing anything for themselves.

rw February 23, 2012 (11:56 am)

On the whole Nickels was a pretty good mayor. His downfall was becoming over confidant in his leadership abilities and ability to sway the public toward his policy priorities. There is nothing quite like losing an election now and then to bring a politician back down to earth. My guess is that Nickels will have learned some lessons in the limitations of elected office and apply them to this next phase of his political career. I look forward to hearing what he has to say and will give his candidacy serious consideration.

Clark5080 February 23, 2012 (12:23 pm)

Has anyone else declared for the office?

Nate D February 23, 2012 (12:37 pm)

He let the Sonics go, what else will go if he wins?

mooch February 23, 2012 (12:38 pm)

I will never vote for this chump after he celebrated the selling-out of this city which prompted the Sonics leaving.

Norma February 23, 2012 (12:44 pm)

I love the beard and I thought he was a great mayor! He certainly had better experience than some when he took office. I’m glad he’s back. He definitely has my vote.

lg February 23, 2012 (12:48 pm)

@ Nate D.–yeah, cause basketball is what makes a city! geez.

Dave February 23, 2012 (12:51 pm)

Wow, big surprise here. The ONLY thing this guy knows is feeding at the trough of public money. He has NEVER held a private sector job in his life; never had to meet a payroll. It’s time for Greg to do what old soldiers do and slowly fade away.

Cait February 23, 2012 (1:05 pm)

So the biggest gripes are that he “let the Sonics go” and that he flubbed up a snow storm that geographically we weren’t close to ready for anyway. Effected people for maybe a couple of days. Wow. We really have it great in Seattle.

Alex February 23, 2012 (1:16 pm)

We (WA state) have a secretary of state? I didn’t even know that.

Rick February 23, 2012 (1:27 pm)

Still sloppin’ at the public trough. Draw your own conclusions.

suck it nickels February 23, 2012 (1:27 pm)

@cait letting the sonics go is a pretty big deal. Then again, you are probably like one of our great city council members who made the mistake of saying the sonics have no cultural value in this city. Keep drinking your double tall lattes and when you snap out of la la land come join us at the new arena and watch a game and then tell me the sonics don’t matter.

km February 23, 2012 (1:28 pm)

I was thinking the same thing Cait – not too shabby if those are his only negatives. Good luck to Mr. Nickels.

JoB February 23, 2012 (1:39 pm)

cait.. not my biggest gripe..
that homeless encampment at the bottom of the hill is named after him for a reason

Jiggers February 23, 2012 (1:50 pm)

Do we need to make a list and remind everyone why he wasn’t invited back to his own primary party? I don’t think that there’s enough bandwith here for that.

Aman February 23, 2012 (2:04 pm)

As a neighbor, he’s been a good neighbor over the years. As a Mayor of Seattle, he has a good record. The State need a seasoned professional pol in the Secretary of State position. Good luck to Greg Nickels & his family.

LanceR February 23, 2012 (2:29 pm)

AWESOME!!!! Bike paths to Liliwaup, Humptulips, Hatton and Pinkney City !!!!!

kevin February 23, 2012 (3:06 pm)

he is too much in the pocket of wealthy land developers for me to vote for him. imo, he is an example of the kinds of people we need to stop fielding for office. until we wake up and take our government back, this is what we get.

Mike February 23, 2012 (3:30 pm)

As a lifelong democrat, I hope Mr. Nickels reconsiders running for Secretary of State. Quite frankly, I don’t think he is qualified at all. He would make the office a very political position, which I doubt this state needs. I would not and will not vote for him, despite my political allegiances.

Snow Wimp February 23, 2012 (3:52 pm)

Got my vote for ANY office.

Seattlite February 23, 2012 (4:43 pm)

Please, please say it ain’t so… Mike you are correct — he is most definitely not qualified.

silverback February 23, 2012 (7:29 pm)

I am sure Vulcan and the Gates Foundation are extremely happy, knowing Greg will do whatever he can for them as he as done in the past. Nice of Dwight Pelz to invite him to run, gotta love the two party system we have here, well only one party in King County. It will be great for Mr.Nickels pension too.

WSIDE ROB February 23, 2012 (9:35 pm)

GREG CALL OBAMA HE LOVES OUR INFECTIVE POLITCAL
PUPPETS WE BEEN VOTING FOR, FOR YEARS.

miws February 23, 2012 (11:26 pm)

What are they infected with, WSIDE ROB?

Mike

Keith February 24, 2012 (1:05 am)

I’ve been thinking about Greg Nickels recently, while sitting in traffic on the bridge and wondering what things would’ve been like with the monorail. He was the one who really put the nail in that coffin instead of trying to make it work, bowing to the pressure of downtown real estate moguls and developers. And he let all that land that was secured for mass transit lines & stations be sold off and become home to more ugly apartment buildings, making light rail or anything like it ever coming to West Seattle even more of a pipe dream. That’s why I won’t vote for him.

Steak February 24, 2012 (6:46 am)

FFS, the monorail is an amusement park ride, not a mass-transportatoin solution.

phil dirt February 24, 2012 (8:38 am)

Everytime I drive down California Avenue my blood boils. Vote for Nickels——never!

vashon February 24, 2012 (11:48 am)

If he is elected oil prices will rise and we will loose our religious freedom!

Kayleigh February 24, 2012 (12:17 pm)

I don’t blame him for a lot of the other stuff people mention here (which I think he had not that much control over), but as a huge Sonics fan from the age of 9, I haven’t forgiven him for not fighting to keep the team here. Though you could argue that he had little control over that too, I guess.

carlton February 24, 2012 (12:32 pm)

Hey to everyone who has to ride the green crappy busses during peak times, aren’t you happy we don’t have a faster option like a state of the art monorail? And now you get to endure new construction hold ups long California ave which are placing new Rapid Ride bus stops for the next four months. R.R. isn’t going to be efficient. The monorail would have been finished and you would have been zooming in and out of downtown faster than cheeze melts in a microwave. But I gather the majority doesn’t care and just deals with whatever comes long.

mr February 24, 2012 (6:02 pm)

I would take Greg back as Mayor over McGinn ANYDAY. McGinn is far more damaging and annoying.

BP February 26, 2012 (2:33 pm)

I know I’m a little late to the party for a comment and will admit Nichols was a better Mayor than McGinn (the worst), but if you put the majority of politicians in a bag and pulled one out, that one wouldn’t be much different than any of the others-it’s time to vote out the encumbents and get new blood in office and by doing this consistently, maybe they’ll get the message that they work for US, NOT THEMSELVES!

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