Representative Position No. 1
For 18 years, one of the most diverse districts in the state has been represented by Zack Hudgins, a white, incrementalist Democrat who insists on spelling his first name with a “k” instead of an “h.” Hudgins is also a landlord who has racked up four violations and five complaints from Seattle, including one 2017 violation of the city’s just cause ordinance.
Though he has pushed for some good bills in his day, his recent accomplishments include voting against modest eviction reforms (shocker!) that passed anyway, and stopping Senate Democrats from passing a bad data privacy bill, which was honestly a low-key big deal. Hudgins now says he “probably” should have amended the eviction reform bill rather than vote against it, but he was too busy “fighting the biggest tech companies” on the privacy bill to pay attention to one of the biggest issues in his district. But if Hudgins really is such a wiz legislator, he would’ve just amended the bill in the first place.
Hudgins also credits his, uh, “success” this cycle with his ability to “bring Republicans along,” and adds that his own “mid-western white boy…good manners” prevent him from standing on the table and truly championing progressive legislation. A couple things: (1) Um, what? (2) How many times do we have to say this? Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the Governor’s mansion. It’s BEEN time to USE the LARGE majority instead of wasting time watering down bills on the off chance a Republican decides to co-sponsor some fucking task force. GOD. DAMN IT.
Luckily for the people of South Seattle, David Hackney plans to actually use the large majority Democrats already have to get shit done. Hackney is a former federal prosecutor who most recently took a job in HR at Amazon investigating discrimination/harassment claims, but he says he didn’t like the vibe and left. He’s never been elected, but he has worked on Jessyn Farrell’s campaigns, the campaign to repeal the ban on affirmative action, and the gun safety initiative.
He promises to champion tenant protections (including just cause and rent stabilization measures), single-payer health care, police reforms, and criminal justice reforms, and he vows to bring the energy of an organizer to this office. We’re not particularly pumped about backing a prosecutor, but Hackney says he’ll use his knowledge of the system to fix it by advocating for independent investigations and independent authorities to prosecute cops who kill. Vote Hackney.
