2010 Shaping Up To Be Good Year for Washington GOP

Only 2/3 of the vote in the Washington “top two” primary election held yesterday have been counted, so things could change. But here is my initial take on the results:

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Road to Olympia: The Front Lines

This is the second in a series of articles on this fall’s Washington state legislative races.

I have been hearing a lot about how voters are angry and that there is an anti-incumbent mood in the land.   Gallup recently reported that conservative enthusiasm is at its highest since 1994.

The 47th Legislative District in southeast King County, part of the sprawling suburban “Crescent” lying to the east of Seattle, is regarded as a key for Republicans to take back in order to reduce the Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.  It’s a swing district, going for Barack Obama and Dino Rossi in 2008.

Last Sunday evening, I joined Nancy Wyatt, a Republican running for the state house in the Washington 47th Legislative District, as she went doorbelling to see for myself.

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Tom Campbell Wants to Shame Robert Byrd in Pork?

Wilcox Family Farms executive and Jennifer Dunn Leadership Institute graduate JT Wilcox is challenging incumbent Rep. Tom Campbell in the Washington 2nd Legislative District.

It isn’t often in this state that a Republican challenger goes after a Republican incumbent, as there aren’t that many to begin with.  But then again Campbell, who started out in the legislature as a Democrat, can hardly be considered your average Republican.

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Road to Olympia: The Millennials

This is the first in a series of articles on this fall’s Washington state legislative races.

Democrats currently enjoy 60% plus supermajorities in both houses of the Washington legislature. Republican candidates across the state are aiming to undo this and restore balance in Olympia.

The road to Olympia for these Republicans runs through two key suburban swing legislative districts: the 6^th in Spokane and the 47^th in King County. I will be covering the Republican races in these two districts extensively between now and November.

The Millennials (voters aged 18-29) were considered a key demographic in the 2008 election of Barack Obama. But the continuing recession has soured many Millennials, who face unemployment at much higher rates than their elders. They fret over deficits and most don’t think they will be better off than their parents. In other words, many Millennials don’t think Obama and the Democrats have lived up to their promise of hope and change.

A recent Harvard Institute of Politics study found that among Millennials who voted for Obama, only 44% plan to vote in this year’s midterm elections versus 53% of McCain voters. Among Republican Millennials, 41% say they will definitely be voting versus 35% of Millennial Democrats.

This enthusiasm gap was widely evident at last Sunday’s Kent Cornucopia Days parade.

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ONE-ON-ONE: Mark Hargrove, Republican Candidate for Washington House of Representatives

As part of 47th Legislative District Week, today we meet Mark Hargrove, who is running for a second time against Rep. Geoff Simpson (D-Covington,) who is in the news again for domestic violence.  Hargrove lost by less than 3,000 votes to Simpson in 2008.

Hargrove is an Air Force Academy graduate and veteran Air Force pilot.  He has lived in the Covington area for the last 21 years.  Mark currently works for Boeing as an instructor pilot, teaching from around the world how to fly their new 777’s and 747’s.

TF:  My first question is what inspired you to run for the State House this year?

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