Some people are complaining that the gubernatorial race between Bob Ferguson and Dave Reichert is unfair because Ferguson has a lot more money. They point to Ferguson’s prime time TV ads that Reichert can’t afford. It is unclear what people who hold this belief expect to happen.
Should Democrats send money to Reichert so the race will be “fairer”? There are reasons why Reichert is struggling, and they have little to do with the Washington state GOP not supporting him for the party nomination, as some suggest. That has happened before and rejected candidates have been known to go on to win. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaksa, actually won a write-in campaign. Reichert is on the ballot. So, what’s the problem?
The ads being run about Reichert’s voting record represent who he actually is: votes for environmental protection, 15%; votes supporting women’s rights, 25%; 20 union rating average, 28.5%; and it goes on. The values represented by those data worked for his district, but don’t work for Washingtonians in general.
Reichert built his political career on corporate PAC money. That’s why his congressional voting record favored the wealthy 87% of the time, and big business 100%. Unlike Reichert, Ferguson now rejects Corporate PACs, a primary source of dark money. Ferguson is an honest hardworking person. As a world class champion chess-player he plays to win, and there is nothing unfair about that.
The data in this letter can be verified online at: politicsthatwork.com; opensecrets.org; Votesmart.org.
John C. Alessio
Steilacoom
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