Mayoral candidate Cary Moon went on conservative talk radio last week to make her pitch to the slim margin of Seattle voters who consider themselves right-wingers. Moon was on AM station KVI with conservative host John Carlson.
Carlson, who ran for governor in 2000, holds views that range from typical Republican to hard-right. He argues against taxes and safe injection sites and believes the business owner in Everett who live-streamed a homeless encampment via “tweaker cam” is “brave.” He led successful campaigns in this state to institute “three strikes” laws and ban affirmative action. He also once said former Governor Christine Gregoire “serviced” tribes in the state and argued on KUOW this year that religious discrimination can be a good thing because the U.S. allowed Jews into the country after WWII. He also endorsed Darla Green, a city council candidate who supports the effort to repeal sanctuary city protections in Burien.
Asked why she went on the show, a representative for Moon’s campaign said, “because she’s confident in answering any question and willing to have an open dialogue, even with those she strongly disagrees with.”
In the interview, which you can listen to here, Moon held her own against Carlson’s anti-homeless rhetoric and his cringe-worthy condescension about Seattle’s minimum wage increase. But she also tried to make her case to Carlson’s audience.
Asked what her pitch to “right of center” voters would be, Moon told Carlson she has “a really strong grasp on how to create an economy that works for everybody.” (If money is any indication, Republicans already prefer Moon’s opponent, Jenny Durkan.)
“I have a very strong belief that we need to build an economy based in small and locally owned businesses, based in industry and manufacturing and making things here that might appeal to people who are right of center,” Moon said. “I think building that kind of middle-wage, family-wage jobs, building local ownership is a really important thing we’ve lost sight of in our city and I want to put a new focus on that with an economic development strategy.”
Asked whether Seattleites are “overtaxed,” Moon echoed the kind of budget-tightening talk we heard from former mayor Mike McGinn as he ran again this year.
“I think we’ve hit the wall,” Moon said about new taxes. “I think we’ve had lots of tax increases in the past seven years—all for good things; we all always said yes because we’re generous people—but I think now with the escalation in assessed property values on top of the tax increases, it’s simply too much. Property taxes are too much for folks.”
Moon said the city should better connect seniors with tax relief programs and possibly expand those programs.
“And we need to look at how do we tighten our belts, how do we make do with less,” Moon said, “because the city budget has increased over the past four years and we’ve got to look at all the new things we’re spending money on and make sure we’re scaling up the things that work and we’re jettisoning the things that don’t work because we’ve got to deliver more services with less money.”
Durkan has been invited on the show, according to her campaign, but accepting that invitation is “not a priority at this time.”
