Dear readers.
I am writing to you to let you know that I wholeheartedly endorse Rep. Gerry Pollet’s reelection and urge my supporters to vote for Gerry in the general election.
When you run for office against an incumbent, you don’t imagine writing an endorsement of them later. But while I am disappointed that I didn’t advance, I am glad that there is still a genuine progressive like Gerry in the race and I write this endorsement with a full heart.
We desperately need someone who will tax the rich to fund the services our communities and neighbors need. Representative Pollet’s record on taxing the rich is sterling. Even this last year, he was a key part of the progressive uprising that stopped a big corporate tax cut. He worked with many of the same people to try to stop the estate tax cut for the extremely rich, and he, of course, was a stalwart supporter for the millionaire tax. In contrast, in our Seattle Times interview, his opponent offered only “audits” and cuts to solve our budgetary woes. His opponent also sought the favor of the Chamber of Commerce earlier this year.
It’s clear that Gerry is the only progressive in the race.
Even while I was campaigning to replace Representative Pollet, I said at a public forum for the 46th District Democrats that it was an honor to stand next to one of the state’s greatest champions for public education. I meant it then and I mean it now. I have great respect for his work in the Legislature as a champion for our public schools, working to fully fund education and improve special education. He’s also been a strong ally to higher education, a field that is under increasing threat with an administration that is hostile to education, science, and immigrants.
The fact that we have so few school advocates in the legislature is one of the main reasons Seattle Public Schools (and Bellevue, and Sedro-Wooley, and Vancouver, and others) keeps finding itself in fiscal crises like the one we face now. Representative Pollet has been one of the few voices who has consistently showed up, fought for more funding, stopped cuts, and won hundreds of millions of dollars in increases for our kids.
(Here is Gerry showing up for teachers in 2022 at Eckstein Middle School. I was out with teachers that year two. You can bet his opponent was not.)
He’s got an opponent who has, to my knowledge, never advocated for our schools, and who has been so tuned out of school issues that his platform that mostly mirrors changes Gerry has already fought for or passed. As a dad to two Seattle Public School boys, and someone who cares about this community, I want someone who I can trust to reliably show up for our kids, not just use them as a stepping stone.
Gerry and I agree on most things and I feel strongly that his progressive voice is needed in Olympia. Especially given the alternative - an attorney who has worked for big corporations who supported Donald Trump putting Brett Kavanaugh on the US Supreme Court.
When Gerry graduated from law school, he became a public interest attorney and spent decades fighting to protect our environment. That’s the major difference in this race now, between a progressive activist who’s committed his career to serve our community and taxing the rich, versus a candidate who has not shown any involvement in our community and who has betrayed our Democratic values to advance his career.
While we and I have had our differences, Gerry and I share a vision for improving availability of affordable housing. Gerry helped pass some of the housing-related legislation that I worked passionately on in Olympia, like transit-oriented development, parking reform and elevator legislation. These are some of the most pro-housing bills to pass in the country! When we’ve disagreed on strategies for legislation, we’ve talked. Gerry’s reputation for being accessible is well-earned.
Please join me and some of our most inspiring progressive leaders like Darya Farivar, Shaun Scott, and Pramilla Jayapal in voting for for Gerry Pollet this fall to make sure that the 46th District keeps progressive representation.
PS. I will write a future post to my many urbanist friends and allies on the specifics of why I chose Pollet as it relates to urbanist issues. He and I have been having fruitful conversations that I think will interest folks.