Once again a top two primary with only two candidates (Bob Baker and Fred Jarrett).

My vote:

Samuel Minter

This is a nonpartisan office, and once again we have more candidates than winning slots.

We have six candidates this time:

• John Blair: Pushing Individual Student Trust Accounts. Essentially a voucher program, but with some severe restrictions… so you couldn’t use it for most existing private schools. This seems awkward.
• Don Hansler: No website. I am tempted to just not even waste my time at all on candidates without websites. He does say he’ll send you more information if you email him. That is broken. He wants a two tier high school diploma, and bonuses for good teachers, but based on ratings from parents and students, not objective measures.
• Randy Dorn: For better objective subject matter standards and changing the math curriculum to something concentrating on skill mastery instead of more fluffy stuff. Also for more accountability in the school program. So far I’m liking this guy.
• David Blomstrom: Um, his website is “seattle-mafia.org”. And… “Viva Chavez! No, I haven’t lost my mind – just my profession (teaching) and students.* Disgusted by voter apathy, I’m trying to tap into the energy generated by Venezuela’s president. Hugo Chavez has some good ideas, too – like holding corrupt corporations accountable and nationalizing strategic industries. In fact, public education’s biggest problem is corporate corruption, the de facto privatization of our schools. Yet the media have once again turned this race into a forum on the WASL – which I’ve fought for over a decade. So why do the media ignore and even lie about me? This race has also been dominated by corrupt teachers unions, another scourge I’ve been attacking for over a decade. This isn’t a tea party, folks. We’re at war with our own government, with Corporate America, and we’re getting our butts kicked, liberals, conservatives and independents alike. Well, I’m not afraid to fight. I’m even attacking Bill Gates, right in his home town. I don’t respect software terrorists who exploit children. How can we take back America if we can’t even rescue our local schools?” Yup. OK.
• Enid Duncan: Once again no website. Please. “Addressing learning differences (learning disabilities) are a priority for me. I will always be a champion for the rights of parents to be involved in every aspect of their child’s education. I believe very strongly in fiscal responsibility and have a reputation for maximizing taxpayer’s value.” Seems reasonable, but very lacking in detail, and I can’t get more because, no website.
• Teresa Bergeson: The incumbent. She has been there for 11 years. I’m not sure what she has done and how good of a job she may or may not have done, but a decade is more than enough.

Given the above, my vote goes to:

Randy Dorn

I’m not even going to bother researching this one, because it annoys me. This is a top two primary. There are only two candidates. (They are John Ladenburg and Rob McKenna.) So guess what. Those two will win unless a write in does really well (unlikely). So this is a waste of my time, and everybody’s money. If there is a top two primary, and there are only two candidates, then A) something is wrong, there should be someone else running, and B) just move them on to the next round automatically, don’t waste time and space on the ballot and in the voter pamphlet and everything. Please.

So, in cases like this, I express my displeasure once again with a write in vote for myself. (And yes, I know I am not an Attorney, but I don’t care.)

My vote:

Samuel Minter

OK, I’m home from work now (just slightly earlier than I normally would be, but not much). Time to continue on with the ballot stuff. I have two hours until the polling places close. The closest polling place is a 10 minute walk, or two minute car ride away. But to avoid cutting it too close, I’ll give this 90 minutes, then whatever I have is whatever I have, and I’ll have to leave the rest blank.

Anyway, three candidates for this one:

• Allan Martin (Prefers Republican Party): A current Deputy Treasurer. Endorsed by the outgoing Treasurer and a bunch of county treasurers of both parties. Seems solid.
• Jim McIntire (Prefers Democratic Party): Endorsed by one of the big newspapers and what looks like a bunch of unions. An Economics Professor.
• ChangMook Sohn (Prefers Democratic Part): Washington State’s Chief Economist. Also seems solid.

First of all, once again, why is this an elected partisan position? This kind of position should be a non-partisan position hired due to the expertise and skill of the individual. Not an elected position. The right way to evaluate these candidates is by an extensive review of their resumes and previous accomplishments. I don’t have the time or ability to do such a review, and I’m guessing most voters spend even less time on this sort of thing than I do. From what I can see any of these three would probably be good. But for now, I’m going to go for the one endorsed by the other Treasurers, rather than the one endorsed by unions ot the other one endorsed by what looks like random other people.

So my vote is:

Allan Martin.

Why are things like this even elected offices? They should be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state legislature or something. Anyway, four candidates:

• Sam Reed (Prefers Republican Party): This is the incumbent. He has been Secretary of State since 2001. “Throughout his eight years in office, Sam led major election reforms: Consolidating 39 separate county registration systems into one statewide database to remove duplicate voters, felons, and deceased voters; moving the primary to August so those overseas can receive their ballots in a timely manner; ending ballot enhancements; and auditing county election departments. Sam kept fighting for your right to vote without being restricted to a party, and was ultimately supported by the U.S. Supreme Court. Thanks to Sam, you can now go online to register to vote, start a business, or research your family genealogy. He saved and enhanced Washington’s oldest institution, the State Library, and he started the nation’s first state digital archive.” He was a major proponent of the top two primary. I may have to vote for him just for that.
• Mark Greene (Prefers Party of Commons Party): He likes the top 2 primary. He is a representative of a party that is “economically progressive, culturally traditional” which is just about the opposite of me (economically conservative, socially liberal). So no.
• Jason Osgood (Prefers Democratic Party): He is against flawed electronic voting machines and some voter privacy violations and some other things that he says Reed is for. This might be good. I am wary of those things too. There are some places I found that says he is against the top two thing too. I can’t verify that in my quick searching. He is also against all-mail voting. I like the idea of all mail voting. I’ll pass on him due to these two items.
• Marilyn Montgomery (Prefers Constitution Party): She is an advocate of equal ballot access laws (to stop the extra roadblocks to third parties). I am generally in favor of this. There doesn’t seem to be a lot more here though, and it isn’t quite enough to convince me.

So my vote is:

Sam Reed

And now lunch is over and I need to run to a meeting. More when I leave work in a few more hours.