There's a tight race for State Representative here in North Seattle's 46th Legislative District. Lots of people here vote Democratic but this is a race between two Democrats so the choice may not be obvious for some voters. In this diary, I'd like to share with my fellow Seattleites from the 46th LD, and anyone else interested in this race, the reasons why I support Gerry Pollet.
Here are just a few of the reasons I am supporting Gerry Pollet to represent us in the WA State Legislature:
- Unlike his opponent, Gerry accepts no contributions from corporate special interests or lobbyists. Gerry’s campaign is funded by, and Gerry will be accountable to, us, his constituents, and not to special interests.
- Gerry is a nationally recognized environmental leader who successfully led two statewide campaigns to protect our state from being used as a national nuclear waste dump and to clean up Hanford.
- If elected, Gerry will be the only state legislator from Seattle with school age children. It’s important to me that our representative in Olympia has first hand insight into how well our public schools are working now.
- As a public interest attorney, Gerry has written and led successful efforts to pass legislation to protect consumers, stop urban sprawl and manage growth, and to keep government open and accessible to all our citizens – not just to the special interests.
One final observation: I was an Obama delegate at the 46th LD district convention and I noticed that, unlike his opponent, Gerry was vocal and unambiguous in his support for Barack Obama, at a time when the final outcome of the Democratic presidential race was still very much in doubt. That took something we don’t often see in our elected officials: real political courage.
Gerry is endorsed by the King County Democrats, NARAL Pro-choice WA, the American Federation of Teachers, the Cascade Bicycle Club and many others. I’ve listened to both candidates and I’m convinced that Gerry is the right leader for us. I’ve already voted for him and I hope all my North Seattle neighbors will too!
Marc Cohen