Last night local drag icon Miss Texas 1988 crowned city council candidate Alexis Mercedes Rinck, state house candidate Darya Farivar, and attorney general candidate Nick Brown the winners of the Washington Bus Education Fund and The Stranger’s Candidate Survivor, a time-honored silly and serious candidate forum that introduces the youths to candidates running for office ahead of the primary election. But between the lip-sync battle, a (literally) spicy Q and A round, and surprisingly heavy pours from the good bartenders at Madame Lou’s, I think we were all winners last night. Here’s the top five things you missed.

Andrea Suarez’s Surrogate

We Heart Seattle Founder Andrea Suarez ignored the Washington Bus Education Fund’s invitation to Candidate Survivor, but I spotted her at a bar across the street from the event and decided (rudely) to ditch the last lip sync performance to say hi. Three sips into her drink, she told me she’s had a fear of performing ever since she sang Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is a Place On Earth” in middle school. Instead of participating in a youth-oriented candidate forum, she decided to doorbell and to get a drink at the bar across the street from the event, though she said she wasn’t staking out the whole show. 

Andrea saurez was at the bar across the street during candidate survivor https://t.co/J9EjETVcZC

— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) July 25, 2024

Stephanie Lloyd-Agnew, who filed to run in Suarez’s race but then moved out of the district, went to the event as a sort of surrogate for Suarez. The Washington Bus Education Fund did not know Lloyd-Agnew had dropped out or planned to represent Suarez until hours before the show started. The stunt didn’t really land. 

The audience booed Lloyd-Agnew basically any time she opened her mouth. At one point, she gave up the bit defending Suarez and said that the audience wouldn’t be booing if she were running herself. They would all vote for her, Lloyd-Agnew said. 

Nick Brown Shattering the Glass Ceiling

Nick Brown made history as the first candidate for Attorney General ever to attend Candidate Survivor. Coincidentally, he’s also the first candidate for Attorney General to win Candidate Survivor. Bob Furgeson could never! 

Brown won critical endorsements this summer, so his performance last night probably won’t move the needle one way or the other, but his lip sync to Destiny Child’s “Survivor,” wherein he channeled his inner Beyonce and crawled on the stage like she crawled out of the ocean in the 2001 music video, should count for something in a just democracy.

 

New Girl Group Dropped

It’s Candidate Survivor tradition to present the audience with a talent, and we’ve seen some good ones over the years. One time, state Senator Bob Hasegawa vaped through a flute, former Council Member and current Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess rapped about his record to the tune of Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow,” and I think last year Council Member Dan Strauss’s talent was losing at a speed fish-eating competition.

 Rinck and Farivar really nailed the brief. Draped in feather boas, the two teamed up for an unlikely duet of “SOS” by the Jonas Brothers. I say “unlikely” not because the two wouldn’t collab (they both endorsed each other), or because I didn’t expect the song selection (it communicates perfectly that they are in their late 20s). It was “unlikely” because they chose to play the song on flute and bass. Whacky instrumentation, but it was so right for the occasion. It gave the same energy as two cousins putting on a show for grandma. 

Shaun Scott’s Zinger

Though he didn’t take home a crown last night (I think maybe Farivar let him wear hers briefly), state house candidate Shaun Scott brought back the comedy chops that won him the competition in 2019. 

He got a few good chuckles, but he really brought down the house when he said that his opponent, Suarez, is really known in their district—on Republican Street. For the uninitiated, Suarez has caught some backlash for accepting speaking gigs at Republican events, taking a picture with a Republican candidate for governor, and aligning politically with groups on the advisory board for Project 2025.

Scott said it helped that the Washington Bus only gave candidates a minute-and-a-half on talent—less time to flop. 

Tanya Woo Showed Up!

Though she missed the talent portion, Council Member Tanya Woo did join her three competitors onstage for the Hot Ones inspired Q and A round and the lip sync battle. She does not have a great track record of coming to anything related to The Stranger, which we’ve raked her over the coals about, but recently she’s been emailing me back! Bare fucking minimum, I know, but I still appreciate it!

And I’ll stick my neck out. She ate the others up with those flags. 

Here and queer??? pic.twitter.com/g7FfZOwt0m

— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) July 25, 2024