Not that I'm in her district, but I'd be a helluvalot more likely to vote for her if she weren't such a consistent enemy of Public Transportation in this state.

(And note - I am 100%, fully, completely behind R-74 and equal rights for all, regardless of [fill-in-the-blank discriminatory difference]).

As Transporation Chair, Mary Margaret Haugen has been an opponent of effective mass transit in Washington State. Seattle Transit Blog said "By most accounts, Ms. Haugen has been the primary obstacle to pro-transit legislation in the last several legislative sessions." and endorsed her opponent:

http://seattletransitblog.com/2012/10/19…

Lolwut? She "voted to prevent the public from voting on the issue" and "voted to allow the public to vote on it"?

Either that's a hilarious typo, or they're trying to say both stances are wrong. YOU WILL NOT VOTE ON IT BECAUSE IT DOESN'T EXIST!!!

Or, um, I'm a little drunk and it's talking about two different people in the same paragraph.

Here's the thing: people who believe/care about this "redefining marriage" drivel wouldn't have voted for her in the first place.

@1 - I can only imagine how transit-friendly Sen. King (R), from Central Washington, would be as Chair of the committee. MMH may not be perfect, but she's a lot better than the alternative.

I am in her district and I did vote for her and yes it is critical that she get re-elected so that the Dems hold the senate in fact and intent and wouldn't it be nice if she would only show some love for the many, many people whose money and shoe leather are being expended on this race - including the enviros holding their collective noses - but no she won't

And let's be clear - it's Camano Island, not Whidbey that she calls home

@7 @8 Is there a serious chance of the Democrats losing the Senate entirely? I think it's more likely that we'd have Tracey Eide (D-Federal Way) as Transportation chair.

I'm not usually a single-issue voter or supporter of particular candidates. However, for this legislator and her courageous vote on marriage equality earlier this year, I did just send $100 to her campaign.

I am going to have to work 10 years longer to recoup my investments in Democracy, 2012! But Haugen, $50 to you, my last political contribution this year. (I mean it this time!)

Oh, look - you suddenly discovered the ramifications of losing the Senate majority with a week to go, Inslee hurting and R-74 struggling. Charming.

You have to wonder whether Haugen, McAuliffe, or Probst down in Vancouver could have used a few extra shekels from People for Progressive Leadership to preserve a roadkill-proof majority and save the stuff that matters.

But no - those phony progressives were busy dropping a shit-ton of money on a safe district to slime Gael Tarleton, a rock-solid vote for LGBT issues, education and choice who once had the nerve to tell the Teamsters they couldn't control heaven and earth.

You join the chorus of useful idiots and spend acres of space on absurdly slanted quibbles while a precious 100K in independent money goes toward elevating little Noel Frame - a fact you still haven't bothered to mention, though every other media outlet in the region finds it relevant.

Christ, you people are thick. If the majority goes down and these other issues fail, consider yourselves complicit.

Bravo Relling!

Maybe she knows exactly what she's doing, and is figuring that her stand for transit-hating, pickup-driving, same-sex-marrying homos is exactly what her district wants.

Family Policy Institute is a hate group, just like the Family Research Council. They give the word "family" a bad name, spewing all sorts of hate in "defense of marriage and family." They are bankrolled by the same rich, entitled, racist hate-mongers that fund voter-suppression front group Freedom Foundation and evolution-deniers that fund Discovery Institute. They are all part of ALEC that doesn't give a shit whether our middle class families are forced to go on welfare or our welfare recipients die because of lack of health insurance, as long as they get to write off their dressage horse on their tax return and pay less in tax rate than you and me. It's fucking terrifying to see what these guys have been able to do in Southern states, and that they want to do the same to us here in Washington state. All the Dems really need to win this election. I don't care if they are not as progressive as we want - we can work with them afterwards. If a Tea Party Republican takes any of these seats, we are totally screwed.