By Evan Smith
The Democratic 1st Legislative District senate candidate who lost in the Aug. 2 primary says he can’t endorse fellow Democrat Guy Palumbo in the Nov. 8 general election.
Palumbo qualified for the general-election ballot with 31 percent of the primary votes to 29 percent for State Rep. Luis Moscoso, behind the 40 percent for Republican Mindie Wirth.
Palumbo and Wirth now will run in November for the position that Democratic 1st District State Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe is vacating after six four-year terms.
Moscoso said in a post on the 1st District Democrats’ Facebook page last week that he couldn’t endorse Palumbo because, he said, Palumbo isn’t a true Democrat, noting that Palumbo had declared as an independent candidate four years ago before becoming what Moscoso called a “Democrat of Convenience.”
The 1st District Democratic chairman, Dan Wilner, responded by blocking Moscoso from the district site, saying that Moscoso’s message got in the way of Democrats’ attempts to win back the state senate. Wilner called for Democrats to get behind the Democrat who emerged from the primary, and he praised Palumbo for helping to build the 1st District Democratic organization.
Moscoso called Palumbo a “lackey” for the “charter-school” billionaires,” who have supported him.
Even though district Democrats officially had endorsed Moscoso in the primary, Moscoso said that District Chairman Wilner had personally backed Palumbo and had encouraged Palumbo to challenge him ever since Moscoso had backed former State Rep. Hans Dunshee over Palumbo in March for appointment to a vacant seat on the Snohomish County Council.
Moscoso disputed Palumbo’s post-primary statement that the two Democrats share similar views.
Palumbo now is an elected Fire District 7 commissioner and an appointed member of the Snohomish County planning commission.
Democrat Shelley Kloba and Republican Jim Langston will run for the position in the state house of representatives that Moscoso will leave after three two-year terms. Incumbent Democratic State Rep. Derek Stanford will meet Republican Neil Thannisch for the other house position.
The 1st Legislative District includes most of Mountlake Terrace, all of Brier and Bothell, north Kirkland, unincorporated areas of King County between Bothell and Kirkland, and unincorporated areas of Snohomish County north and east of Bothell including the Maltby area.
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.
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