Today's winner: State Sen. Steve Litzow.
Democratic state Rep. Deb Eddy (D-41) announced this week that she's co-chairing Republican Sen. Steve Litzow's (R-41) re-election campaign.
Having a Democrat chairing a Republican's campaign is a powerful message in the Eastside Seattle suburbs — independent, swing district turf where voters supposedly shy away from partisanship.
Litzow has benefited in the district by siding with the Republicans on fiscal issues while being liberal on social issues; he voted for the gay marriage bill earlier this year and has a pro-choice voting record (and once served on the NARAL PAC board). Litzow was elected in 2010, beating out a liberal Democrat, Sen. Randy Gordon.
However, Litzow besmirched his pro-choice record during this year's heated session by voting against a Democratic Senate majority leader Sen. Lisa Brown's (D-3, Spokane) attempt to forward the Reproductive Parity Act, which would have required health plans that cover maternity care to also cover abortions.
The Democrats saw an opening and are fielding a solid challenger, Maureen Judge, who noted in her announcment: “His votes killed the Reproductive Parity Act. This is why I am running for this seat. Women and kids deserve better than elected officials who put party above people.”
Jolt asked Eddy, a super-pro-choice vote, about Litzow's lapse on the Reproductive Parity Act, and she called Brown's attempt to attach the bill to the budget a "power play." (Basically, after the GOP commandeered the Senate floor by suspending business with the 9th Order, Brown tried to stall the GOP from passing its budget by attaching the RPA to it, which would have forced the Republicans to vote against the budget, screwing their own power play. Brown's move failed.)
"Of course, Steve had to vote against adding it to the 9th order motion," Eddy harumphs. "That would have forced him to vote against the budget he supported. It is very telling in my humble opinion," she continues, "that [Sen.] Lisa [Brown] never brought the bill up for a vote again. ... Were there insufficient Democratic votes? I signed a letter to the speaker, asking that he make it a must-have for sine die ... but nothing came of it."
Her final analysis: "If we're constantly putting pro-choice Republicans on the spot, it shouldn't be a surprise that it's going to be hard to get moderate problem-solvers elected. We're close to gridlock right now. So, I believe in problem-solvers."
Judge didn't immediately answer a call for comment.
Today's winner: Boeing.
The U.S. Senate passed the Export-Import Reauthorization Act, which finances U.S. exports to foreign nations, today. Boeing, the Everett-based plane manufacturer, is the U.S. Export-Import Act's largest beneficiary.
Related winners: Washington state's U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Jaime Herrera Beutler, who defied Tea Party opposition to the Act (which Tea Party Republicans called a government boondoggle). Both McMorris Rodgers and Herrera Beutler voted for the Act.
