A MAILER IN WASHINGTONS 45TH LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT says Democratic state senate candidate Matt Isenhower is too Republican. The mailer was paid for by Republicans.
  • Northwest Progressive Institute
  • A MAILER IN WASHINGTON'S 45TH LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT says Democratic state senate candidate Matt Isenhower is too Republican. The mailer was paid for by Republicans.

The Stranger Election Control Board endorsed Democrat Matt Isenhower for state senate in Washington's 45th Legislative District (Kirkland, Woodinville, Duvall, Sammamish) because...

This guy is a navy vet, an Amazon manager, and true-blue Dem who could help shift the balance of power in the GOP-controlled senate back to the left, particularly because the 45th District increasingly leans Democratic. The other guy is Senator Andy Hill, the chief budget writer for the GOP. In other words, the guy who writes a budget that consistently guts education and balks at even tiny, necessary taxes on moral grounds.

But now Republicans are trying to help Hill, the Republican incumbent, by sending mailers into the district saying that Isenhower, the Democrat, is actually too Republican. Which is strange since they want to keep the seat in Republican hands, right? Andrew Villeneuve at Northwest Progressive Institute explains what's going on:

Hill has raised more money than any other legislative candidate this cycle and is sending out his own mailers, but the Republican Party evidently views Matt Isenhower as a formidable challenger, which is why they’re spending time and money targeting Democratic voters with these mailers. The objective appears to be to drive down Matt Isenhower’s share of the vote in the August Top Two [primary] election to make the race seem less competitive going into the autumn...

It is true that Matt comes from a Republican family and has Republican roots. His wife did work in the Bush administration, and he did once donate to a Republican candidate for statewide office (Dino Rossi, in 2004) on his wife’s behalf.

But Matt is his own person. He is the one running for Senate. And for the record, his wife April enthusiastically supports his candidacy as a Democrat.

The attack mailers seem to imply that Matt worked in the Bush White House as a political operative. In reality, after graduating from the Naval Academy, Matt was asked to help put together a briefing memo for Bush on Washington State issues, and out of a sense of duty to his country, he agreed to do so.

We in the 45th District Democrats knew all this from the very beginning.

Also: In a district that's been splitting tickets between Republicans and Democrats for a while now, won't it help Isenhower's moderate cred going into the November general election to be "endorsed" by conservatives in this way? Hey, the guy could end up being the only state senate candidate who's too Republican for Republicans and just right for the SECB.