Who will be running against Jaime in November?


I continue to be intrigued by what's going to happen with Jaime Herrera Beutler, the congressperson from southwest Washington, just across the river from Portland. She's got a big, bright political target on her back because she voted to impeach Orange Caligula. God forbid, she actually voted to hold that miserable bastard accountable for his crimes. Which is more than you can say for Robert Mueller, Merrick Garland, Letitia James, and Cy Vance combined, not to mention the new bobblehead running the district attorney's office in New York City. They've all been worthless, or worse.

Anyway, because she strayed from the Trump death cult orthodoxy, JHB has a serious challenger this year in Joe Kent, a veteran endorsed by Caligula Himself and the darling of the Fox News Beƫlzebubs. Kent has got money, and he is trouble. Could he take her seat on the House floor in the election in November?

To me, the most interesting aspect of this question is that Washington State has a goofy "Top Two" primary system, in which the top two vote-getters in the primary get to run against each other in the general election, even if they're from the same party. And so it's conceivable that you could get Jaime against Joe in November.

If it isn't Jaime against Joe, it would most likely be Jaime against Brent Hennrich, the only Democrat with a hat in the ring and a snowball's chance in hell of surviving the primary. JHB's got the many advantages of incumbency, and so it's inconceivable to me that she could come in third. But with the many Republicans in the district splitting between Kent and Herrerra Beutler, it seems like a Democrat could make it to the top two.

There are a couple of other notable candidates floating around up there, both Republican. Heidi St. John is another red-meat Trumper; she might take a few votes away from Kent. And there's Vicki Kraft, a seemingly prim and proper state representative who might put a slight dent in Herrera Beutler's vote total.

But I think it's a game of musical chairs, with two chairs left and three people circling. One will be eliminated when the music stops on primary day. In Washington State, I believe that's not until August 2, and so I guess we've got several months to watch them circle.

If you were a Democrat in that district, how would you vote in the primary? You can vote for anyone, regardless of your party or theirs. Do you assume Hennrich will make the general, and vote for Kent because he's easier to beat than Jaime? Do you vote for Jaime, because you know Hennrich can't win in November and you sure don't want Kent? Or do you vote for Hennrich because he's the person you really wish had the job?

Comments

  1. You wish Clark County had Ranked Choice Voting (which will be on their ballot in November — but for county-level offices only) so you could just vote ‘em the way you preferred them instead of having to try to grok the minds of all the other voters.

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  2. Heh..."Goofy", huh? Imagine if you had 'nonpartisan' elections. No political parties as grubby controllers of the process, just a cattle-call primary, followed by a run-off of the top two finishers. I see nothing 'goofy' about that at all. What I see as 'goofy' is people with the impression that two, and only two, political parties somehow defines the electorate.

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