Photos by West Smith
Last night, candidates for city office piled onto the stage at Neumos to show off their hidden talents, answer policy questions, and lip synch for your vote. This year, the Washington Bus and The Stranger's candidate forum was Dungeons & Dragons themed, with drag dungeon mistress Aleksa Manila leading the adventure (with outfit changes, of course!).
We learned a lot about the candidates in this year's primary: that Seattle City Council District 2 candidate Adonis Ducksworth might be a Cool Guy Skateboarder, but he's not down to get silly; that D2 candidate Eddie Lin can juggle and walk on his hands; that Katie Wilson used to busk at Pike Place; and that City Attorney Erika Evans always knows the assignment. We also learned just how far D2 candidate Jamie Fackler will go for a bit. He didn't officially make it onstage last night because his campaign hadn't reached the fundraising threshold when event invitations went out, but he still showed up outside dressed as Shrek with a rented donkey and a large bag of onions, and even jumped on stage with City Attorney candidate Rory O'Sullivan (uninvited) to try to hype his performance.Â
In the green room, one candidate said, "I think we're all processing our Stranger endorsements in these performances." During the policy section, D2 candidate Jeanie Chunn changed into a stunning green, leafy dress, a shout-out to The Stranger saying she was too "green" in our endorsement. We called Wilson's TikToks "deeply awkward" (which we stand by), and she said it "hurt a little bit, but now I feel like I have a reputation to uphold," so she decided "to showcase a talent that's even more deeply awkward."Â
With less than two weeks to the primary, the candidates showed up, and showed us what they were about. Rinck won best dressed, Evans and Chunn won the most "inspiration points," and Evans won the best overall performance. Now let's see how they do at the ballot box.
