Kaiser Aluminum, a Tennessee-based company, dropped $75,000 last week into Main Street Matters to Washington, a PAC associated with Initiative 2066, the ballot measure that would roll back various attempts to limit the use of natural gas.
The company, which has a history in Washington dating back to the 1940s, currently operates manufacturing plants in Spokane and the Tri-Cities. Aluminum is a notoriously power-hungry business, and much of its history in the PNW is related to the availability of cheap hydropower from the Bonneville Power Administration.
The main effect of I-2066 would be to repeal a bill passed by the Legislature this year that would make it easier for Puget Sound Energy to transition its customers from gas to electricity, which the utility wants to help it achieve its state-mandated emissions goals. Industrial power users were among the many voices raised against that proposal, denouncing it as a de facto ban on gas and a sweetheart deal for PSE that would force expensive electrification conversions on businesses and homeowners.
Both of Kaiser’s plants are outside PSE’s service area, but other utilities also looked askance at that bill, figuring it was the thin edge of the wedge. The biggest player in that campaign is the Building Industry Association of Washington. The combative homebuilders generally oppose government intrusion into their business and are particularly irked at measures aimed at discouraging them from installing gas furnaces, water heaters, and stoves in new houses.
Kaiser’s $75,000 puts it in the third tier of donors with the Washington Hospitality Association, the Realtors, and the Master Builders of King & Snohomish Counties. Steve Gordon, the trucking magnate and conservative megadonor, is by himself in the second tier, having written a $300,000 check.
The money is flowing into Let’s Go Washington, the increasingly well-oiled initiative machine built by Brian Heywood, another conservative megadonor.
The campaign turned in more than 500,000 signatures last week after one of the fastest and most successful petition drives in recent memory. It looks headed to the ballot, where it will join three other measures likewise aimed at dismantling signature but controversial achievements of the Legislature’s Democratic majorities. (Paul Queary)
A revealing poll in the race for public lands
A new poll suggests the race for Public Lands Commissioner is about to see a major plot twist as Big Timber takes stock of its friends.
Based on polling conducted by the Responsible Land Management PAC, timber’s favored candidate in the race, Patrick DePoe, could lead the pack in the August primary by a mile against a slate of political heavyweights. It’s a bit of a surprise for DePoe, a newcomer to politics who works a day job at the Department of Natural Resources as its director of tribal relations and wants to seat more tribal voices at the table. As always, you should take a poll from an interested party with a sizeable grain of salt.
Per that polling, DePoe led all candidates in the contest with 22% of the vote. Former U.S. Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler finished at a distant second with 15% despite her prominent resume in D.C., where she voted to impeach Donald Trump for Jan. 6. Keep in mind that 54% of voters polled remain undecided, but if “undecided” translates to “non-voter” come August, that could give DePoe a lofty position in the general election this fall.
Yes, we know no one really “wins” the August primary, but the contest can be an expensive litmus test for where donors decide to throw their money come November.
Technically, DePoe is among five registered Democrats in the race, who include King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove and state Sen. Kevin Van De Wege. Upthegrove is fashioning himself as the leading green candidate on the ballot who’s aiming to protect the state’s old-growth forestland from chainsaws. Van De Wege, a firefighter from Port Angeles who wants to beef up the state’s wildfire response, shares more in common with DePoe and Beutler on that front, who all want to see Big Timber log far and wide.
Responsible Land Management PAC’s poll also notes that DePoe leads the field among some key demographics. Polling shows the Makah Tribal Council member holds a 12% lead over Beutler among women and leads among non-college-educated voters with 24% support compared to Beutler’s 10%. The two tied among men at 13%.
Among self-identified liberals, DePoe also led by 23% — a shot across the bow at Upthegrove whose King County is the biggest and bluest in the state, though it all depends on how partisan the environment is for voters. DePoe recently won the endorsement of The Seattle Times.
Upthegrove’s campaign also has some notable union muscle behind it with endorsements from five of the state’s biggest labor unions: United Food & Commercial Workers Local 3000, Service Employees International Union Local 925, SEIU Local 6, United Auto Workers Local 4121, and the Washington Machinists Council. Those unions collectively have some 144,000 members, which might make the difference in a low-information race.
On paper, with five Democrats versus two Republicans splitting the vote, no Democrat could advance to the general election. This outcome hinges on several factors, namely how much flack Beutler gets at the ballot box over her Jan. 6 vote, if Upthegrove can unite the greens, and how much the race for public lands is really about public lands and not “R” vs “D.” (Tim Gruver)
Sowersby leaves McClatchy for Cascade PBS
Shauna Sowersby, who has covered state government and politics for the four McClatchy papers in Washington for the past couple of years, is headed to Cascade PBS, the news site formerly known as Crosscut. Sowersby succeeds Joe O’Sullivan, who took a leave to care for his ailing mother early this year and resigned in the spring.
Sowersby, who was a Crosscut intern back in the day, more recently collaborated with O’Sullivan on essential watchdog journalism related to the Legislature’s assertion of “legislative privilege” to shield lawmakers’ correspondence from public disclosure. Last year that work earned them the Kenneth Bunting Award from the Washington Coalition for Open Government. (The late Ken Bunting was executive editor of the late lamented Seattle Post-Intelligencer.) (Paul Queary)
Recommended Reading
Jim Brunner of The Seattle Times is out with a long-awaited piece about the politicization of the Department of Natural Resources under Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz. It paints a picture of an agency run primarily for the political gain of its leader, with staffers pressured to raise her profile at every opportunity. The gist of the story has been swirling behind the scenes in political circles since Franz began signaling a run for governor more than four years ago, and helps explain why so many high-profile endorsements in the race for the 6th Congressional District have gone to her Democratic opponent, state Sen. Emily Randall. Notably, the 6th is the last big race in which the Times’ editorial board has yet to endorse. (Paul Queary)
These stories first appeared in the Substack website, The Washington Observer.
