Today a coalition of six Indivisible groups active in Washington’s 8th Congressional District endorsed Democratic candidates Jason Rittereiser and Kim Schrier in the race to replace Represenative Dave Reichert, who will retire at the end of his term.
To which I say: Oh, come on! A dual endorsement?! Who do these people think they are, the Stranger?
In the press release, the Indivisible groups explain themselves:
“The process included a ranked choice/instant runoff vote, in which voters ranked the three candidates ([Shannon] Hader, Rittereiser and Schrier),” a spokesperson writes. Rittereiser and Schrier won the first round of voting, but neither met the “66 percent plus 1” threshold needed to win Indivisible’s sole endorsement. In the instant run-off that followed, “Rittereiser won 58 percent of the vote; Schrier won 42 percent of the vote.” Though Rittereiser beat Schrier by 16 points, it still wasn’t enough, so the group endorsed both.
Indivisible spokesperson Bob Clough says they set the bar for victory so high because they’re “a pretty diverse crowd” and they wanted to make sure they had a “strong consensus” before focusing on a single candidate.
Clough said “hundreds of people” voted in their endorsement process, and he estimates the combined groups represent approximately 5,000 active members.
In order to be eligible to vote in the endorsements, members had to prove they could vote in the 8th District and also prove they’ve been active in an Indivisible group since February. Participant groups included Indivisible Washington’s Eighth District, Ellensburg Indivisible, Indivisible Puyallup, Indivisible Wenatchee, Snoqualmie Valley Indivisibles, Washington 8th CD Alliance.
In a statement, Schrier says she’s “honored to receive the endorsement of a coalition of Indivisible groups across the 8th CD,” and adds that she’s excited to work with “the grassroots activists from Indivisible to make Dino Rossi a four-time loser.” In his statement, Rittereiser said he was “deeply honored to have received the endorsement.”
Among the six hundred Democrats still running (okay, there are six), Schrier has raised the most money so far and has earned the biggest endorsements by far. Donors, activists, and the other candidates say the state Democratic Party is working to tip the scales in favor of Schrier, though the state Dems deny it. Rittereiser currently trails by $200K in the fundraising race but has received more endorsements overall.
Clough says members from the Indivisible groups will meet with the candidates soon to give them feedback on the race and to talk about how organizing efforts will work given the dual endorsement.
