Seattleites: Here's help with your primary ballot (like who will replace this guy)
Stumped by your primary ballot? We've digested some of the issues.
Jim McDermott’s seat
Nine candidates have filed to replace Jim McDermott in the Seventh Congressional District, which includes Seattle.
- Pramila Jayapal is a state senator and former community organizer. Top priorities include immigration reform. She also supports collecting data on police shootings. (And she fought the feds on racist place names.) Raised: $1,284,688.
- James “Joe” McDermott (no relation to Jim) chairs the King County Council and is a former state representative. At a debate early this month, McDermott said his top priority would be a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United case. Raised: $425,901.
- Brady Walkinshaw is a state representative and Fulbright Scholar who worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Climate change is a key issue for him. Walkinshaw favors prison reform. Raised: $888,853.
Also running:
- Arun Jhaveri, Democrat & former mayor of Burien, has raised $0.
- Scott Sutherland, Republican, has raised $0.
- Don Rivers, Democrat, has raised $5,131.
- Leslie Regier, no party preference, has raised $0.
- Craig Keller, Republican, has raised $1,810.
- Carl Cooper, no party preference, has raised $0.
Initiative 123
Would bring a mile-long elevated park to Alaskan Way on the water in downtown Seattle – so people wouldn’t have to give up that spectacular view from atop the Viaduct, which is slated for demolition.
The primary backers at one time were Kate Martin and Martin Selig; last year Selig's real estate management company, MSRE, gave $105,500. Selig gave another $5,000 when the committee was called A Waterfront For All. Now apparently he's turned against the initiative, and given $5,000 to No On I-123.
Martin remains the campaign director.
Related: Does Seattle need an elevated park?
Critics say there’s already a city plan for that area when the Viaduct is torn down. Former Seattle Mayor Charlie Royer says the elevated park plan is “a little bit late to the party” and that he’s had “hundreds of meetings with hundreds of people.” Because the early bird gets the worm?
Critics also call this a power grab, noting that sponsors of the measure have written their names into the ordinance to guarantee control.
Seattle Affordable Housing Levy
It takes two people working full time at $15 an hour to afford the average one-bedroom apartment in Seattle, according to the people pushing this property tax.
The new affordable housing levy replaces one that’s expiring. But the new version is twice as big, property tax-wise.
Most of the money from Mayor Ed Murray's proposed $290 million levy would pay for 2,500 low-income apartments. Most of those would be reserved for people earning less than 30 percent of the typical Seattle income (roughly $19,000 for a single person or $24,000 for a family of three). The typical Seattle homeowner would pay $122 a year for the next seven years, up from $61 a year under the current levy.
Critics say affordable housing should be paid for by developers, not property owners.
Correction 7/28/2016: Dollar amounts raised by candidates for the 7th Congressional District position have been updated to reflect current amounts.
