King County Prosecuting Attorney: Start from the unassailable assertion that incumbent Republican Norm Maleng: a) is mostly interested in preening for higher office, b) has spent two decades stomping on the backs, necks, and brains of the disenfranchised to get there, and c) is an unmitigated asshole. The question is, which of his two Dem opponents would be the better replacement? Richard Pope seems a slightly better choice ideologically. He also seems to have less experience as a prosecutor. Sometimes the best we can hope for from this office is that its inefficiency grinds it to a halt.

King County District Court: Incumbent Barbara Linde typifies much of what's wrong with our judicial system. In her Voters' Pamphlet statement, she touts her experience as a prosecutor and heaps scorn on her opponents because they are both (gasp!) "career criminal defense lawyers." This mindset, all too typical on the bench and in the public, equates being a prosecutor as having the detachment and even-handedness necessary to be a good (i.e., "tough on crime") judge--while experience with the poor and disenfranchised is viewed as hopelessly contaminating one's perspective. The net effect is that the courtroom gets a second prosecutor, in robes.

Understanding the plight of the defendant is a qualification, not a disqualification. Both of Linde's challengers are good on this score, but give the nod to Mark Bradley, who has also helped out with local activist groups like Jobs With Justice. That experience can only help.

State Supreme Court, Position 1: In this crowded field for the only open seat, it's tempting to favor libertarian type Kris Sundberg, who not only has experience in fighting corporate welfare schemes like stadiums and parking garages, but has the temerity to talk about it in the supposedly non-political air of a judicial race. The mainstream candidates and front-runners here are Faith Ireland and Hugh Spitzer. Come to think of it, the State Supreme Court was the body that completely abdicated our state's constitutional commitment to not use public money for private (i.e., corporate) gain. Yep, Sundberg's the one.

State Supreme Court, Position 5: Barbara Madsen is the incumbent. Linda McCaslin seems better, and when in doubt, rotate the incumbents out!

State Supreme Court, Position 6: Richard Sanders is the incumbent here. A controversial libertarian who got in trouble for his public statements at an anti-abortion rally, Sanders tweaked the legal establishment by running a grassroots campaign in 1994 to unseat the incumbent, even though he didn't have the "right" credentials to be a judge. On the other hand, his opponent, a well-connected 24-year prosecutor named Greg Canova, is straight outta the old boys' club. For sheer orneriness and free thinking, it's tempting to support Sanders--he's also been very good on individual liberties--but there's just too much evidence that he's a Neanderthal. Skip it.

Various U.S. Congress races: They all appear on the primary ballot, but the real heart of things will be decided when the challengers go up against the incumbents in November. (Except in the case of a sloth like Jim McDermott, who has already won.) For now, it's tempting to either a) amuse yourself by voting for reactionary Republicans that the party's mainstream can't stand (Linda Smith, Ron Taber) or b) refuse to dignify the process with a vote.

37th District, State Senator: The primary's big catfight. Half-term incumbent Adam Kline faces state rep Dawn Mason, who's seeking to move over and up to the Senate by displacing a seated fellow Democrat. The campaign has been at times nasty and personal, especially since, on policy issues, virtually nothing distinguishes the two--Mason would almost always vote the same way Kline did. Mason claims she would be better behind the scenes, but what it really boils down to is that a lot of people don't think a white guy should represent the ethnically diverse 37th, and Mason, an African-American woman, is exploiting it.

This is the same identity politics that got us Locke, Rice, Sims, and the entire female portion of the Seattle City Council: elected officials whose gender, skin color, and/or sexual orientation are a ticket to doing whatever they damn well please. Mason's candidacy, and (if she should lose) her rumored interest in next year's city council race, where she would be a formidable contender--she applied for the vacancy Richard McIver got--smacks of this same sort of manipulativeness. For his part, Kline has responded to the challenge with arrogant, pushy (at times literally) behavior that has alienated a lot of people. Even though their politics are not bad, neither deserves support in this race.

37th Dist., House Pos. 1: The other free-for-all, in which six Democrats (and an African-American activist, Kwame Garrett, who may be the best of the lot and is running as a Republican) are vying for Mason's abandoned seat. The edge would appear to go to Sharon Tomiko Santos, who has a long history--as does her husband, Bob Santos--of working with the Church Council, union groups, and other progressive causes. Hers is also a very well-funded and well-connected campaign, so there's the danger of yet another activist abandoning her roots. But none of the other Democrats--possibly excepting Juan Cotto and a citizen dentist, Fred Quarnstrom--are very appealing. Try Santos.

46th Dist., Pos. 1: Brian Peyton is a young, ambitious guy, a former Civic Foundation head who applied for and then ran for Seattle City Council in the last two years; now he has an inside track on a permanent (until he seeks higher office) sinecure in Olympia. His opposition is one Jim McIntire, who has less name recognition, less experience as a community activist, and the charisma you'd expect from someone who works as the director of UW's Fiscal Policy Center. If Peyton is nearly the equal of his anti-stadium rhetoric, he could make a great state legislator. Or whatever.

Various unopposed Olympia races: Democrats own Seattle. By and large, they need a challenge. Included on this list are the permanent fiefdoms owned by Velma Veloria (11th District, South Seattle, House, Pos. 2); Eileen Cody (11th, Pos. 1); Mike Heavey (34th, West Seattle, Pos. 1); Dow Constantine (34th, Pos. 2); Mary Lou Dickerson (36th, Queen Anne/Ballard, House, Pos. 2); Jeanne Kohl (36th, Senate); Helen Sommers (36th, Pos. 1); Kip Tokuda (37th, Southeast Seattle, House, Pos. 2); Pat Thibaudeau (43rd, Capitol Hill, Senate); Ed Murray (43rd, Pos. 1); and Frank Chopp (43rd, Pos. 2).

Chopp was recently anointed the new head of the state Democratic caucus and has stirred feathers by starting to implement the aggressive, grassroots party organizing drive the Dems have needed (and Republicans have had) for years. He's the only one on this list--with the occasional exceptions of Heavey, Veloria, and Murray--who actually do anything with their seats. It's by and large a pathetic lot.

Tokuda, one of several total nonentities on this list, is one of the few with primary opposition; it comes from Freedom Socialist Party candidate (and longtime organizer) Guerry Hodderson, and African-American activist Muhammad Farrakhan. Each needs at least 1% of the vote to make it to the November ballot. Pick Hodderson.

(Side note: my endorsement of the FSP's Guerry Hodderson was edited out of my brief comments on this race in last week's Stranger. In the other 37th House race, copy was changed from "Santos will make a fine state rep" to "Only Santos will make a fine state rep." [my itals]. To complete the trifecta, my comment that the national Labor Party has crippled the local chapter as much as it's helped, got truncated by leaving out "as much as it's helped," dramatically changing the meaning. In the press of editing, this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened. When reading Geovpolitik, please bear in mind that not everything I write gets printed, and not everything that's printed is what I wrote.)