5th District Democrats Celebrate Long Hard Campaign

(top State Senate candidate Phyllis Huster with myself, middle 8th district Congressional Candidate Darcy Burner with Bob Scola, bottom 5th District LD Chair Hank Thomas with "Sarah" and another party goer)

There were some tough defeats, but mostly victories last Tuesday as the 5th District Democrats celebrated at the Tibbetts Creek Manor in Issaquah. One of the hits of the night, perhaps since Election Day is so close to Halloween, was a lady who came dressed up as Repubican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. She not only resembled Governor Palin but had her voice and mannerisms. I'll try to post the video later.

5th Legislative Democrats Starting To See Pay-Off

Democrats in Washington's 5th Legislative district are very familiar with the bitter taste of defeat. While Democrats have won at least one seat in every other district in King County, the 5th which includes Issaquah, Sammamish, North Bend, Maple Valley and Black Diamond, has continued to send an all Republican slate. According to an article in today's Seattle Times, Democratic gains on the Eastside may have finally filtered down to the 5th. The article recognized the efforts of District Chair Hank Thomas, a former Issaquah City Councilman.

When Thomas took the helm of the 5th District Democrats two years ago, he had fewer than 30 precinct committee officers — community members in charge of canvassing their neighborhoods and building support for candidates. That number has grown to nearly 70, and by the beginning of next year, Thomas expects to have more than 100.

The article mentioned legislative candidate David Spring. When Spring began his campaign he was traveling a lonely road, the House Democratic Caucus wanted nothing to do with the district. Spring was not deterred and ran with what little he had. He wound up taking 49 percent of the vote against seemingly entrenched GOP opponent Glenn Anderson. The 5th has two other outstanding candidates in Jon Viebrock running for Jay Rodne's House seat and Phylis Huster, running for State Senate.

David Spring will be holding a meet and greet tomorrow (September 28th) at Beaver Lake Lodge, 25101 SE 24th Street Sammamish.

5th District Democrats Launch Full Slate Of Candidates

If Senator Cheryl Pflug, Representative Jay Rodne, and Representative Glenn Anderson think that they are going to have an easy time being returned to represent the MapleValley-Issquah-Sammamish-Fall City area in the Washington State Legislature, they could be mistaken. The turnout in Democratic Caucuses throughout the 5th District was even higher than it was in 2004 and three super candidates have come forward to challenge the three Republican incumbants.
Phyllis Huster will challenge Cheryl Pflug for State Senate, having experience in the Telecom Field. David Spring, a North Bend educator, will run for State House Of Representives against veteran incumbant Glenn Anderson for position 2. Jon Viebrock, a Union Construction Foreman, will take on Jay Rodne for position 1 in the House.
Although the 5th has traditionally been a solid Republican district, Democrats have made serious inroads in local elections.
I'll have more on these candidates in the next few weeks.