Susan Hutchison is a Republican.

The former KIRO-TV News anchor doesn’t want you to know she’s a
Republican. She helped run a campaign that enables Republicans to run
for office in liberal King County without disclosing that they’re
Republicans. And now she is using those new rules to run for King
County executive without telling the voters that she’s a
Republican.

Hutchison was one of the leading proponents of last year’s
Initiative 26, which made all King County offices officially
“nonpartisan.” In a statement she cowrote supporting the measure,
Hutchison said it would “end partisan bickering” and “create genuine
nonpartisan elections.” Opponents of the measure predicted that it
would empower Republicans to run stealth campaigns in liberal King
County.

Now Hutchison is attempting to do exactly that. In announcing her
run, Hutchison boasted about her lack of partisan affiliation,
name-dropping both outgoing King County executive Ron Sims, a Democrat,
and Democratic former governor Booth Gardner. “Voters are looking for a
new direction in government,” Hutchison said in a press release.

But don’t let Hutchison’s nonpartisan pretenses fool you. She’s a
partisan Republican with a long history of working for and donating to
right-wing causes.

Hutchison has given thousands of dollars to Republican candidates
(including anti-choice nut job Mike Huckabee), she has served as a
board member for the creationist Discovery Institute, she almost ran
for state senate as a Republican in 2005, and she delivered a
Bible-thumping speech at this year’s Governor’s Prayer Breakfast in
which she sneered at “activist atheists” and evolutionary biologists
like Richard Dawkins for “believing they can get by just fine” without
Jesus.

Contrary to what “evolutionists” like Dawkins believe, Hutchison
told prayer-breakfast attendees earlier this year, “God created the
magnificent universe and the world we see and the glorious beauty
around us… Christ himself is the creator who made everything in
heaven and earth.”

It’s one thing to believe in God (as plenty of public officials,
including outgoing county executive Ron Sims, do); it’s quite another
to advocate the teaching of religion in science classes and to condemn
scientists for being scientists.

Hutchison’s creationist beliefs dovetail perfectly with the
Discovery Institute, the right-wing think tank where she served as a
board member. Best known for pushing “intelligent design,” the
Discovery Institute encourages public schools to “teach the
controversy,” an attempt to put evolution and creationism on equal
footing in science classes.

Discovery Institute founder Bruce Chapman told The Stranger that Hutchison left the think tank’s board at the end
of 2007. However, the group didn’t take her name off its list of board
members until just last week, after reporters started calling to ask if
she was still affiliated with the group. “Somebody made a mistake,”
Chapman said. Her biography at the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and
Sciences, of which she’s executive director, until Tuesday still listed
the Discovery affiliation.

And despite her claim that she wants to “end partisan bickering,”
Hutchison also has a long history of giving to right-wing
Republicans—and only right-wing Republicans.

Since 2003, her campaign donations have included:

• $2,075 to Republican gubernatorial challenger Dino Rossi,
plus $1,000 to ChangePAC, a Building Industry Association of
Washington–backed group that supported Rossi,

• $500 to George W. Bush,

• $3,000 to Republican George Nethercutt, who ran against
Washington senator Patty Murray,

• $3,000 to Eastside Republican congressman Dave Reichert,
himself a faux-“moderate” Republican, and

• $500 to 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee,
who shares Hutchison’s disdain for science and her belief in a personal
Christ as the only road to salvation.

In all her years of political involvement, the “nonpartisan”
Hutchison has given not one dime to Democrats or Democratic causes.

So what is Hutchison hiding from? Maybe the voters of King County.
In 2008, just 28 percent of King County voters supported Hutchison’s
fellow Republican John McCain for president, and just 36 percent
supported her candidate Rossi. King County voters don’t support
Republicans. Which is why Hutchison is trying to pretend she isn’t one.
recommended

Check out Susan Hutchison speaking at the annual Governor’s Prayer Breakfast earlier this year.

79 replies on “Closet Case”

  3. “there must be some way out of here… says the joker to the thief.”

    Seriously, if you’re going to condemn public behavior, you might want to make sure you don’t have a rap sheet.

  4. Dear Goodness gracious the above two posts are boring. I could look at a blank wall for 2 hours and be less bored than I got when I read LNFI and it’s sock puppet. zzzzzzzzz.

  5. Dear Stranger,
    Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for pieces such as this one. It is so important voters–young and old alike– know what is going on in local politics. I am pleased you are our messenger.

    Many thanks!

  6. A Republican? In western Washington? Oh my god. How many are there now, nine? This is a threat? Any chance we’ll lose our majority? And risk diversity? Here? I’m glad we’re a one-party region, have been for a long time, and will be for a long time, no inconvenient opposition to worry about here. Maybe put her in a zoo, or museum?

  7. A few years ago a friend of mine worked in production at KIRO.
    One night, getting ready to read the news, Susan couldn’t get her earpiece to work. She said to the sound engineer, “all I hear is hissing, like an air hose.”. Her co-anchor said, under his breath, “That’s where she gets her refills”.

  8. Good piece Erica, glad as hell youre on this, major outlets seem to be giving her a pass because after she is their former co-worker.

    Though, it is true that a good number of us king county voters know who she is and what she stands for, there are tons of uinformed voters who see her as a friendly media tv face. Thanks again for this informative piece. They have eastern Washington and now they want a piece of king county. Hell no! Vote Dow all the way!

  9. Liberals pretend they are tolerant people…of course, that is true until someone who doesn’t share their views gets in the way. I say its about time we get some fiscal responsibility in the government!!!!

  10. Same trashy hot air went after Mark Sidran for ‘republican’. The job of King County Executive is now officially non-partisan. The Stranger should stop with the ‘Crappy Nappy’ Janet Napolitano and McCarthy style smearing. The writer Barnett would best be served by talking to the thousands of people that could offer positive personal relationship stories about Ms. Hutchison including competitive TV station folks.

  12. Anyone who supports teaching creationism in Science Class shouldn’t be in public life – we are already so far behind in education – let’s see if we can make the gap a little wider – WTF???? Keep religious fanaticism where it belongs, in the privacy of your own home!

  13. Better yet, if you want to live in a theocracy – go try Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia and see how you like it… in fact we really ought to deport Phyllis Schafly there..

  14. So, it’s so bad they can’t even be seen as a Republican. Disingenuous label, disingenuous operator. Would you trust such a person or are you so hungry, you’ll vote anybody with your label into office? Pathetic…

  16. This just in! Susy Hutchison is a republican. And a Christian!! Puleeze.
    Your reporter’s hair is on fire! Here’s what we could do with voices that are counter to King County’s single-party system. Don’t be a freaked-out fear-biter. Listen to her points (harder than bashing a caricature) and engage her in dialogue. Just a thought.

  17. I always love it when republicans bemoan how intolerant the left is of the right’s intolerance. Regardless, to all the nuts reading these comments, I am a progressive voter who is totally intolerant of backwards religious idiots, this is especially true when they run for office.
    Also, someone should let SeattleAl know that there is no such thing as a non-partisan office or, party affiliation aside, if you advocate or sympathize with an evangelical Christian causes you will have a very hard time getting elected to any position in King county. This is provided you aren’t able to shroud your ideological baggage in the anonymity of non-partisanship. Kudos to the Stranger for not letting these fundamentalist assholes hide. I am sure there are plenty of well intentioned and socially palatable bible-thumpers out there, but that doesn’t mean I ever want them in a position of power at any level of government, especially not in my hometown.

  18. Any work that is political is also partisan. Some issues cross partisan lines, but most do not. It’s important for voters to know who politicians are, especially when those politicians are reluctant to tell.

  19. Another deity fearing hack job remnant from the dark ages, trying to make us toe the line for their Great Daddy in the sky. I wish they would leave us in peace, or go start a commune of their own somewhere safe away from sensible humans.

  21. SeattleAl is obviously a fan of Glenn Beck and the ilk. By that determination, I bet if Hutchison was a dem trying to sneak into office in Republican-controlled Seattle, he’d be all for outing her.

    Sneakiness is shameful no matter what and Hutchison is more concerned with power and oppressive, non-sense politics than doing what the majority of Seattle wants.

  22. Wow. This piece shows how insecure you Libs are. Do you not hear the fascist-one-party-state tone any more or do you just not care (or care to hide it) anymore ???

  23. Thank you.

    Up till now, I only knew of her as a TV newsreader. I know almost nothing else about her.

    If she wants to own up to being a Republican, fine. I have no problem with an honest Republican trying to run for KC Council. But I really hate it when someone pretends to be middle-of-the-road, non-partisan, when they are in fact strongly partisan.

    I would feel the same way about someone from the far looney-left pretending to be a middle-of-the-road non-partisan.

  24. WOW what a great article!

    EXCEPT FOR WHAT YOU LEFT OUT. Based on your page count and my own experience, most people who pick up The Stranger do so for your great coverage of Arts & Culture. Your cultural and arts coverage is often outstanding – there is seldom a month that goes by that I don’t go to something amazing that I’d otherwise never hear of.

    But this article is WAY short of that standard. You didn’t even cover the BASICS.

    I find it astonishing that you can trash Hutchison for being a Republican… and yet not manage to point out that she is the CHAIR of a local cultural institution you devote a fair amount of coverage to!

    see http://www.seattlesymphony.org/symphony/…

    Or, since you had so much fun trashing her for her views on science… how about mentioning her work in support of The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Seattle Public Schools’ Inquiry Science Program.

    How did I learn about these things? It’s called Google.

    If you were the kind of reporter that did more than rewrite a press release from Larry Phillips, I’d suggest giving it a try.

    OR – HERE’S AN IDEA – maybe they should give the next assignment like this to one of your folks from the Art, Music or Poetry sections!

    They at least would care enough to spend 5 minutes on the internet doing a little research before rewriting some campaign flack’s hit piece.

  25. She wears no visible identification that she is a Republican. Is that legal? I thought they had to wear some sort of ID, a star or a letter or something.

  26. It was 1991 and I was doing laundry at the old laundry mat in the U Village. Susan Hutchison walked in with a pile of clothes. I was surprised of course. A seattle celebrity: What the hell is she doing here?

    Anyway, she grabbed a machine next to mine and started to load her laundry. Meanwhile, I had a stack of 4 quarters on my machine ready to start my next load. I bent down or turned around- I don’t remember which- but when I came back to get my quarters, they were gone.
    I think I was robbed by Susan Hutchinson. How about that?

  29. Im sorry you misplaced your quarters, she is definately not compulsive thief, eric. I have known the woman for a little while and would have picked out an “off” characteristic of that sort.

  30. What is the point of this? Should we form an angry mob and lynch her? It is too bad American politics have been reduced to playground name calling. “You, you – Republican!”

  31. Thank you, Erica C. Barnett, and The Stranger, for the warning about Susan Hutchinson silently being a Bush-sympathizing Republican, and keeping us informed on voting and upcoming political measures.

    Boy—-JUST when we thought we were safe…….

  32. I’d really like to say thanks, great article, great message.

    Unfortunately, the messenger has absolutely no credibility outside the Stranger inner circle. The fact that this article was written by Erica Barnett will likely result in a net gain of votes for Hutchison.

    Please, please, please hand this one over Eli or Dominic.

  33. The Discovery Institute believes in Intelligent Design, not Creationism. While they both argue in favor of design, they are not the same.

  34. What will matter to the people of unincorporated King County will be Ms. Hutchison’s views on land use. Her views on so-called “intelligent design” and all that, will mean nothing; as indeed it should in a race that is officially non-partisan.

    What The Stranger needs to do is to stop applying a filter to whom people should consider for higher office that would make Lenin proud. Diversity of thought is not a crime in America, even in politics.

  35. Right, we should indeed know what party affiliation they are. But lets stop there. Not suprisingly The Stranger is the State paper of Seattle, with the ring leader Dan Savage for whom all gay men must replicate their lives after. Afterall Savage is not capable of understanding “that which is legal, is not necessarily honorable.” Lack of political diversity in the discussion borders on Orwellian. We are also led to believe gay conservatives/libertarians such as Andrew Sullivan or Camile Paglia are turncoats or anomilies. It is the worship of the left without contention that gives us such hacks as those in San Francisco who believe JROTC should be banned froms high schools for corrupting children.

  36. Maybe this is the wrong time for it, but did anyone else notice that Gear99, in the LustLab advert, bears more than a slight resemblance to Steve Raible?

  37. When a candidate “tidies up” their story, and background prior to running for office there is always an attempt to play to whatever strategy is deemed “winnable”. In this case, shed the Republican brand.

    I don’t have a problem with this move, as long as the credible information has an outlet. ECB just performed that task, that is called journalism. Yes, the Stranger is a liberal paper, and yes so are many of the readers and maybe that makes you angry? Why shouldn’t this viewpoint have an outlet? I don’t object to any conservative publications right to publish. This notion that journalism is ever neutral is absurd. I understand the intended notion behind that rigorous goal, but it really is unattainable. But good well-researched, accurate journalism can be philosophically transparent and still be competent no matter what that viewpoint is.

    Finally, putting ones life in a public context always invites scrutiny. Mistakes made in this light are magnified. I think being forthcoming about this (ie- stealing…naughty Erica) is the only decent recourse. Don’t you wish our politicians could emulate? Shoplifting is pretty lame but calling someone a thief at every turn makes you a dick. So stop being a dick.

  38. I also worked at KIRO in the last decade. Susan is only concerned about herself. So she wants to run? No problem. But her track record is also running with her. She is a gop shill.

  41. Nice work Erica. Credit where credit is due.

    Guess what, rightards. We don’t LIKE you. We don’t LIKE your policies. We don’t LIKE your politics. And we don’t LIKE your candidates.

    Hutchison is just another right-wing piece of shit. We’re going to beat her like a drum. And you’re powerless to change that.

  42. “including anti-choice nut job Mike Huckabee”

    in which she sneered at “activist atheists”

    C’mon ECB. Maybe it’s time to grow up a bit and not write like a high school newspaper journalist. Just the fucking facts please. If you write a strong article the readers will get what your are saying. You don’t need to constantly interject colored commentary. Your readers are not that fucking stupid.

    Your shit is amateurish, yo.

  43. ‘Liberals’ are just as bigoted as any other narrow minded people.
    They just spice it up with the hypocricy of believing they are open minded and fair.

  45. Liberals pretend they are tolerant people…of course, that is true until someone who doesn’t share their views gets in the way.

    ——–

    You’re missing the entire point. It has nothing to do with tolerance, but disclosure of truth. If you want to be a Republican, why hide from it? As a moderate with no party affiliation (well, registered Dem due to our state’s requirements), I find this news to be appalling.

  46. Guess what, rightards. We don’t LIKE you. We don’t LIKE your policies. We don’t LIKE your politics.
    ———-

    Wow. Grow up, maybe?

  47. The Discovery Institute believes in Intelligent Design, not Creationism. While they both argue in favor of design, they are not the same.

    ——–

    Someone needs to do some research into the “intelligent design” movement.

  48. On the plus side, it’ll be nice that a candidate can’t gain instant approval or dismissal based solely on party affiliation. Lose the D or R, and suddenly the voters have to look at the candidate as a person instead of a party member.

  49. i don’t care that she’s a republican. i care that she’s insane, which unfortunately alot of today’s republicans seem to be. this trend is bad for liberal voters too — we basically have no choice but to vote the democratic ticket. that’s kind of sad.

Comments are closed.