Tag Archives: Congress

Official confirmation Inslee will run for governor

I just got an email from Jay Inslee’s campaign office announcing that the Bainbridge congressman will officially kickoff his run for governor next week.

He’ll make the announcement Monday morning in Seattle. Followup stops are planned for Yakima, Tacoma, Vancouver and Spokane.

Inslee’s campaign website, www.jayinslee.com, went up this evening. Not much there yet. There’s a photo, a campaign sign (see over to the left), an official campaign slogan (“Building a Working Washington”) and a link for making financial contributions.

He’ll be matched against Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna.

Inslee was elected to represent the 1st Congressional District in 1998, shortly after moving to Bainbridge.

“He is the automatic front-runner for the Democrats at this point,” state Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz told the Seattle Times. “He’s very popular with the party and a proven vote-getter on both sides of the mountains.”

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Kucinich is coming to Bainbridge

UPDATE: The Lynwood Center Theatre has been named as the location for Kucinich’s speaking event.
Former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is scheduled to speak on Apr. 30 at a yet-to-be named Bainbridge location Lynwood Theatre. He’ll speak from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Event organizer Kat Gjovik has a Facebook page set up with more information about the Ohio congressman’s visit.

Gjovik says Kucinich, a longshot Democratic Party nominee for the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, will speak about the future of the progressive movement.

Kucinich first caught national attention when he was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1977 at the age of 31. He has built a reputatation for his strongly liberal views. He called for the impeachment of Pres. George Bush and was the only Democratic candidate in the 2008 election who voted against the Iraq invasion.

Kucinich drew a large crowd when he last visited the island in 2004. He also spoke on Bainbridge in 2003.

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Surprise! Kitsap Sun endorses Watkins over Inslee

Bet you didn’t see this coming: The Kitsap Sun didn’t endorse Jay Inslee.

In a surprise move, the Sun’s editorial board chose his Republican challenger, a candidate that most polls say doesn’t have a chance against Bainbridge’s six-term congressman.

Inslee has been the Sun’s favorite in years past, but business know-how and fiscal restraint – keynotes of the James Watkins campaign – swayed the editorial board this year.

“Watkins has four years of experience under two administrations in helping to cut spending at the FDIC, served as a director at Microsoft, managed successful small businesses, and has been a consultant working with small businesses across the nation. He’s a fiscal conservative, opposes deficit spending, and says a key to economic recovery is policies that will allow small businesses to grow in a supportive environment that’s stable in terms of taxes and regulatory measures,” the editorial board writes.

Plus, Inslee is no Norm Dicks or Patty Murray (both endorsed by the Sun) when it comes to bringing the federal bacon to Kitsap, according to the board.

To read the full endorsement, click HERE. Scroll down past the bits about Dicks and Murray to get to the Inslee vs. Watkins part at the bottom.

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Inslee has a second Republican challenger

A second candidate is hoping get the Republican nomination to run against Jay Inslee this year.

Matthew Burke, a financial planner and Tea Party activist, is up against James Watkins for the party’s nomination. Watkins, a business development consultant, announced his candidacy late last year.

Burke, who is relatively new to politics, has worked for decades in banking and financial planning.

NW Digest recently profiled Burke:

Burke’s main message is a mix of Constitutional and conservative-libertarian thinking. In short, he believes 22 years in financial planning will make him an asset in “Congress to get this country’s disastrous fiscal house in order, and return the federal government to its proper, constitutional role.”

Burke also says he’s counting on energized voters, angry about corporate bailouts and other over-reaching Democratic policies, to give him their votes. To do that, Burke plans to expose Inslee’s voting record early and often, saying the incumbent favors “atrocious, tax-and-spend, always pro-big government solution[s].”

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Inslee brokers deal that may save Internet radio

Is there anything better to do at the office than read the Bainbridge Conversation blog?

If you answered “do actual work” you are probably too productive and hard working to care about Internet radio. According to leading Internet radio provider Pandora, most of the 7 million folks who snap their fingers and tap their feet to their online service are sitting at a cubicled computer.

It’s for those folks that Rep. Jay Inslee has some hopeful news. The Bainbridge Democrat (who once admitted to me that KEXP frequently streams into his D.C. office via the Net) earned unanimous approval in the House this week for a measure that may save Internet radio stations from crippling rate increases.

Read my story below.

While you’re at it, read my story from last September about Inslee teaming up with Indie rockers to save Internet radio.

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