KUOW Blog
News, factoids, and insights from KUOW's newsroom. And maybe some peeks behind the scenes. Check back daily for updates.
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WA Congressmember Derek Kilmer won't run for re-election in 2024
After six terms as Washington's representative in the 6th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer said he's planning for life outside of Congress.
Kilmer, a Democrat, will not seek re-election in 2024. In his announcement Thursday, he framed the news from his perspective as a father, recalling how he has discussed his job with his children and the reasons behind his exit from D.C.
RELATED: A tale of bipartisanship in Congress — no, seriously
"I’ve looked at life in chapters," Kilmer said in a statement. "The decade I spent working in economic development. The eight years I spent in the Washington State Legislature. The nearly eleven years I’ve already spent in the U.S. House of Representatives. I never intended for this chapter to be something I’d do for the rest of my life, and — as I shared with my kids — I’m excited to start a new chapter when my term is complete.
"It’s been an extraordinary honor to do this work — not just on behalf of my kids but also on behalf of the nearly 800,000 other folks who reside in Washington’s 6th Congressional District."
The 6th Congressional District covers the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, as well as Tacoma. Kilmer grew up in Port Angeles. After working in the business and nonprofit scene, he was elected to Washington's House in 2005. He then moved to the state Senate in 2007, and served until he was elected to Congress in 2012. He is currently serving his sixth term.
In Congress, Kilmer has largely focused on issues around economic development, military families, treaty obligations, and the environment. He worked on programs to deliver internet access to rural areas.
But he is perhaps most known as a politician who can bridge divides and who is more interested in getting work done than culture wars or partisan bickering. In his announcement, Kilmer pointed to the Modernization Committee he is a part of, which "showed that Congress can do things better when folks check their partisan agendas at the door and just focus on working together."
"That group of Democrats and Republicans were, to use the words of former Secretary John Gardner, 'loving critics' of Congress. We passed over 200 proposed reforms to make Congress work better, and I’m proud that more than a quarter have already been fully implemented."
Kilmer also led the New Democrat Coalition, which he calls the “best kept secret in politics.”
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Suspicious letters targeting Pierce, King elections share striking similarities
Two suspicious letters recently sent to local elections offices in Washington state contain striking similarities, including political symbols and threats.
The text of the letters sent to Pierce County Elections on Nov. 8, and to King County Elections during the primary election on July 31, both call for an end to elections. They also include threats and political symbols. Officials say the Nov. 8 letter sent to King County was also similar.
Officials say both the recent Pierce County letter and the July letter to King County also bore postmarks from Portland, Oregon.
Letters containing white powder prompted evacuations and disruptions to ballot counting on Wednesday in King, Pierce, Spokane, and Skagit counties. Steve Bernd with the FBI’s Seattle office confirmed that the agency is investigating these incidents. Similar mailings were also reported Thursday in multiple other states including Georgia and Oregon.
The King County letter has not been made public before now, even though it was received months before the current spate of mailings. It was laced with fentanyl, as were some, but not all, of the suspicious letters delivered to elections offices Nov. 8. A letter sent to Okanogan County during the election primary contained powder that was determined to be harmless.
The Pierce County auditor's office in Tacoma, Washington, released images of the letter it received, which read in part: “End elections now. Stop giving power to the right that they don't have.”
It continued, “Also be aware your ballot drops are very susceptible to noxious chemicals.” The letter included several symbols whose meaning and connection to each other or to the sender remain unclear. The symbols included three arrows pointing down and to the left, which has been adopted by Antifa, an LGBTQ Pride flag, and an inverted pentagram.
The letter sent to King County Elections ahead of the August primary said, “There must be no more elections” in similar all-caps, adding, “We are a communist country now and communist countries do not have elections.” It also said, “enjoy some complimentary white powder” and “recommended” obtaining Narcan, which is used to reverse overdoses from fentanyl. Traces of that drug were found in the letter.
Joshua Fisher-Birch, a research analyst with the Counter Extremism Project, said people should not be quick to blame far-left groups for the letters just because of the symbols included. In fact, he said the opposite could be true.
“While this threat includes anti-fascist and what appears to be a Satanist symbol, as well as a version of an LGBTQ+ Pride flag, it is extremely likely that the sender does not belong to any of those groups or communities, but, in fact, holds far right or extreme right beliefs, and is seeking to blame antifascists, Satanists, and LGBTQ+ people," Fisher-Birch said. "The message that there should be ‘no more elections’ because the U.S. is ‘a communist country’ does not fit with the symbols. Overall, this resembles previous hoaxes by the far right in an attempt to blame the left.”
Halei Watkins, communications manager for King County Elections, said the office does not have an image of the latest letter or information on its postmark, but it appeared to have a similar appearance and messaging.
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Introducing 'Text Me Back': A comedy and conversation podcast with Lindy West and Meagan Hatcher-Mays
KUOW launches its new comedy and conversation podcast "Text Me Back!" Thursday, hosted by bestselling Seattle author Lindy West and her real-life best friend and democracy policy expert Meagan Hatcher-Mays.
In each episode, Lindy and Meagan hilariously digest what’s going on in the news, their lives, and their text threads with their singular combination of political smarts, embarrassing sincerity, and pop culture devotion.
Listen to the first episode now, available in all major podcasting platforms.
"Text Me Back!" is a podcast about best friendships and making your favorite people laugh even when the world gets you down. New episodes of the 12-episode first season will be available every Thursday.
Lindy and Meagan first met at Seattle’s Garfield High School, where they graduated in 2000. Now living in opposite Washingtons, Lindy and Meagan model a modern long-distance friendship — what it looks like to stay in touch, learn from each other, and support each other through all the that the world throws at us.
"I am so excited to make this podcast with my best friend at the incredible KUOW," Meagan said. "Lindy and I really wanted to make a show that was funny and comforting, especially given how unfunny and extremely uncomfortable the world is right now. In times like these, you need a best friend, and we hope our podcast can be that for listeners."
"Text Me Back!" is a first-of-its-kind podcast for KUOW, whose other chart-topping hits include the popular nature podcast "THE WILD with Chris Morgan" and the investigative docuseries "Ghost Herd."
“We are so excited to collaborate with Lindy and Meagan on this project,” said KUOW director of new content Brendan Sweeney. “Many of us are feeling the weight of the news and the loneliness of this current moment. We believe a podcast about best friendship, a podcast that can find humor in dark times, and a show that can be an effective companion for listeners as they navigate the news.”
Listeners can find Text Me Back! available today in all major podcasting platforms.
CONTACT
Michaela Gianotti Boyle
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Mayor Harrell declares victory for Seattle's new housing levy
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and other leaders are declaring victory for the city's affordable housing levy after initial ballot counts show it leading with voter approval.
"I’m inspired by the continued support voters show towards creating more equitable, resilient, and healthy communities,” Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda said in a statement. “Since the passage of our first-in-the-nation Housing Levy, Seattle’s successes through our Housing Levy investments are clear — more than 16,000 people estimated to live in Levy-supported homes at any given time, investments in first-time homeownership opportunities, and housing stability for thousands of families and individuals — who are our neighbors, the workers, and the communities who make up the fabric of our city. This levy will build on these successes and provide more support to stabilize the workforce serving our most vulnerable neighbors."
RELATED: Why housing is on the ballot in Seattle and Tacoma this year
The city's current housing levy will expire at the end of 2023. Seattle's replacement housing levy was passing with 66% after the first ballot count Tuesday evening (the percentage will change as more votes are counted in the days ahead).
The new $970 million, seven-year levy will spend money in several different areas. These are just estimates, but backers expect it could build more than 3,000 apartments. The levy will buy some older apartment buildings too, and invest in workers who keep up that housing.
A small fraction of the money will help people with down payments for a home purchase. Home ownership builds wealth, and some families, especially Black families, have historically had a harder time getting loans.
Passage of the levy was never in doubt, as there was no organized campaign against it.
Roger Valdez wrote the statement arguing against the levy. He told KUOW that he did so only because no one else stepped up.
"I've been pleased that having written the statement," Valdez said, "there has been some discussion about the costs of subsidized housing,"
Voter support for the levy is also not surprising since Seattle voters have passed housing levies for almost 40 years. Public officials have come to rely on it. This new levy is just a piece of the housing funding puzzle.
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Envelopes containing 'white powdery substance' stall ballot counts at elections offices across Washington state
Suspicious mailers have been reported at multiple elections offices throughout Washington state, including the King County elections headquarters in Renton, which was evacuated Wednesday. Traces of fentanyl were reportedly discovered in one envelope.
“This morning, our office received a piece of mail — not a ballot envelope but a regular a piece of mail through the regular mail stream — that contained a white powdery substance in it," said King County Elections spokesperson Halei Watkins from the parking lot of the Renton headquarters. "We immediately isolated and evacuated the building ... Hazmat and law enforcement are on site.”
RELATED: WA Secretary of State calls suspicious envelopes 'terrorism' after election center evacuations
Watkins said ballot processing will be delayed. Election night was Tuesday. She said the elections office prepared for this type of situation with drills earlier this year.
After tests were performed on the powder, Renton police reported that traces of fentanyl were found. The police department said it will be coordinating with the FBI to investigate further.
Washington's Secretary of State Office reports that envelopes containing powder also arrived in the mail at Pierce, Skagit, and Spokane county elections offices Wednesday morning. Each office was evacuated and ballot-counting operations were interrupted.
"She just barely peeked inside, and she saw that there was a powder," said Skagit County spokesperson Jenn Rogers, talking about the worker who discovered the envelope at the auditor's office in Mount Vernon. "So she immediately bagged up the envelope with the powder inside, it didn't dump out anywhere, and she reported it to the authorities, and they evacuated the office."
In Tacoma, the envelope that arrived at the Pierce County Elections Office came with a message that stated, "End the election now," KING5 reported. Officials concluded the powder was baking powder.
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Will Seattle become a law-and-order town after this election?
Former Naval officer Bob Kettle had been drinking water all night at Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub in downtown Seattle on election night. When the first results came in, a pint of Guinness awaited him.
Kettle currently has a 12 percentage point lead over the incumbent, progressive Councilmember Andrew Lewis, in the race to represent District 7, which includes downtown.
For months, Kettle and his well-heeled supporters have been slamming Lewis for being too “permissive” on crime.
Lewis countered by pivoting to the center this year, touting his support for law enforcement and saying his earlier support for defunding the police was a mistake.
Kettle’s resume as a former Naval intelligence officer pledging to make the city safe may seem a little off for a deep-blue liberal city like Seattle. But voters have been telling pollsters that crime is one of their top concerns, with homicides nearly at a record high, and sensational stories of shootings, car jackings, and teen muggings making headlines.
Still, this still isn’t Midland, Texas. When your average Seattleite says they’re getting a little freaked out about crime, they often add quickly, almost defensively, that they want the city to do more to address “root causes.” Even the centrist candidates this year, including Bob Kettle, play up their support for “alternatives” to policing.
While it's technically too early to say who will win, with many more ballots to be counted, Lewis lagged far behind his opponent.
Elsewhere in the city on election night, the six other candidates who ran on centrist messages about public safety issues like Kettle were ahead in six races.
In District 3, which includes Capitol Hill and the Central Area, the more moderate candidate Joy Hollingsworth was ahead of progressive Alex Hudson by 17 percent.
“We are going to build Seattle to be our home again," Hollingsworth told supporters, "where our kids are protected. When you’re from the community, you’re accountable to the community.”
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Seattle may be taking swing to the center after years of lefty candidates
Seattle's three incumbent city council members were trailing after the first ballot drop on Election Night.
It wasn't supposed to be this exciting.
As the first batch of ballots dropped in King County on Tuesday night, the three incumbents for Seattle City Council trailed behind their more conservative opponents.
This possible move to the right suggests that Seattleites may want leaders who are tougher on crime as homicide rates approach record highs and homeless encampments get pushed around the city.
Andrew Lewis, of District 7 (downtown), has 44% of the vote so far, behind Bob Kettle, who had 56%. Kettle is a stay-at-home dad and former Navy officer.
In south Seattle, incumbent Tammy Morales got 45% compared to community activist Tanya Woo's 54%.
The race was tightest in the Ballard area, where incumbent Dan Strauss has moved more center and was endorsed by Mayor Bruce Harrell — the only incumbent to get the mayor's stamp of approval.
When the preliminary results landed, Strauss laughed and said, "I'm going to send us back to mingling while I go find another 400 votes."
If these numbers hold, Seattle will have an entirely different city council in 2024.
The more conservative candidates rallied in districts without incumbents, too.
In West Seattle, activist Maren Costa had 41% of the vote, compared with tech attorney Rob Saka, 59%.
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Election 2023 results: Seattle City Council & King County races
These are not final results. They reflect the numbers from the third ballot drop on Friday, Nov. 10.
King County Council
District 4
Jorge L. Barón: 59.9%
Sarah Reyneveld: 39.68%
District 8
Teresa Mosqueda: 54.92%
Sofia Aragon: 44.76%
Seattle City Council
District 1
Maren Costa: 45.37%
Rob Saka: 54.21%
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Suspicious packages sent to Seattle synagogues part of national rise in threats to Jewish, Arab, and Muslim communities
Several suspicious packages that have been sent to Seattle-area synagogues have prompted the FBI to join the investigation into the incidents.
“FBI Seattle, Seattle Police Department, and Seattle Fire Department responded to several suspicious letters sent to Jewish synagogues in the Seattle area, some of which contained an unknown substance," FBI Seattle said in a statement.
"Law enforcement and public safety officials are working to determine how many letters were sent, the individual(s) responsible for the letters, and the motive behind them."
RELATED: Mayor Harrell says Seattle police increasing patrols around places of worship
The FBI said it would not comment further about the "ongoing matter," but did state that "the public can be assured that law enforcement will continue to keep the public's safety as its top priority."
The most recent package was discovered Monday evening at a synagogue in Seattle's Hawthorne Hills neighborhood. The Seattle Fire Department concluded that it was not hazardous.
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Why ballots are rejected in Washington state and how to make sure yours counts
Around 1% of Washingtonians' ballots are rejected every election. It’s more likely to happen to specific groups, including people of color, younger voters, and rural voters, according to a new report by the University of Washington’s Evans Policy Innovation Collaborative project.
Researchers studied why those ballots are being rejected and have offered ideas to voters and elections officials about how to make improvements.
The most common reason ballots get rejected is that they're turned in too late. Ballots need to be postmarked or placed in a ballot drop box before 8 p.m. on Election Day. Authors of the recent study recommend getting it in as early as possible, which many voters are increasingly reluctant to do, waiting until Election Day to vote.
Other times, there are problems with a voter's signature, which is how ballots are verified in Washington state. Some people simply fail to sign their ballot altogether, or their signature doesn’t match the one their county elections office has on file.
“We found that most people don't even know what signature is being used to compare on their ballot or really why they should sign at all,” said Cali Jahn, a co-author of the new report.
The report recommends voters make sure their ballot signature matches the one on their driver's license, because most people register to vote when they get licensed. If not, use the one that you used when you registered to vote.
If your signature doesn't match, elections staff will try to contact you to resolve the problem, but that process can take time — another reason to get your ballot in ASAP.
“In terms of getting their voices heard, it is incredibly important for voters of color, younger voters, voters in rural areas to make sure that they are signing their ballot accurately and turning it in early. That way they can correct it should there be an issue,” Jahn said.
The report authors also offer advice for elections officials on how to make it easier for voters, including redesigning the ballot envelope.
“I think we have some great design recommendations in there, working alongside the Center for Civic Design, to improve the number of signatures that we get and the accuracy of those signatures," Jahn said.
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Some King County voters received mysterious mailings due to clerical error
King County Elections said a “clerical error” is to blame for problems with a recent mailing. The agency sent about 14,000 letters to addresses that did not match the names on the envelope. Some recipients said the mistake created confusion and could harm public trust in the agency.
Jack Walsh is a city councilmember in Federal Way, in South King County, currently seeking re-election. He told KUOW all the voters in his household recently received letters from King County Elections bearing their address, but with other people’s first and last names. Only their middle names or initials were correct.
When he heard similar reports from friends, he became alarmed. Walsh said he contacted King County Elections and was told there had been a mix-up. Walsh called the mistake “gross incompetence” and a waste of public money. He said he’s also worried that mistakes like this could harm public trust.
“One of the things it can do is make people doubt the election process,” he said. “Even if the election process itself is going perfectly, people may doubt it and say, ‘If there’s problems, I’m not even going to turn in my ballot.’”
RELATED: See all of KUOW's ongoing coverage of the 2023 elections.
The mailing was not a ballot, as Walsh initially feared, but a letter informing people that they can request elections materials in languages other than English.
Halei Watkins, the communications manager for King County Elections, said the agency sent the letter around the same time that ballots went in the mail, “because folks are paying attention to elections at this time we were hoping it would hook them in that way.”
She said the letter went to 30,000 voters “who live in ZIP codes that have a higher likelihood of communities that speak Russian or Somali, based on 2020 census data,” to let them know that they can now request elections materials in those languages.
“Unfortunately, due to a clerical error, about half of the mailings that we sent out did feature the wrong names,” Watkins said. “Nothing in the envelope is tied to a specific voter, so we’ve been telling folks, ‘If it doesn’t apply to you, just go ahead and recycle it.’ But of course it can be a little confusing when you get something from us that doesn’t have the correct name on it.”
Watkins said King County Elections has heard from about 50 people who had questions about the mailing.
“Anytime that happens, of course our concern is going to be that it casts a greater shadow on elections," She said. "In every conversation we’ve had with voters so far they’ve been really understanding about the issue.“
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The other reason Bezos may be moving to Miami
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently announced that he is leaving Seattle for Miami to be closer to his girlfriend, parents, and the Florida operations of Blue Origin, his space company.
But Bezos also has a history of picking cities based on another factor: taxes.
In the past, taxes have always been a top consideration for Bezos. He reportedly launched Amazon in Seattle in the 1990s because of the city's low sales tax burden. At the time, online retailers paid sales tax based on the population of their home state. Washington also famously doesn’t have an income tax.
In his online announcement about the move, Bezos reminisced about Amazon’s original home in the Seattle area, his garage.
In recent years, Washington has become an increasingly more expensive state for the wealthy. State legislators recently passed a capital gains tax, which would mean a big price tag whenever Bezos sells Amazon stock.
Washington's capital gains tax has been challenged in court, and was upheld by the state's Supreme Court. It has already prompted some wealthy residents to leave the state. Backers of the capital gains tax point to research showing these types of policies are not a top consideration when wealthy people choose to move.
Washington's capital gains tax continues to face legal challenges with conservative groups aiming to get the issue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Seattle leaders have eyed a local capital gains tax of their own. In 2023, Seattle Councilmember Alex Pedersen introduced a proposal to replace the city's water tax with a local 2% capital gains tax.
Bezos lives in Medina, and therefore would not be on the hook for any such taxes in Seattle.
In his new Florida home, Bezos won’t be on the hook for state income or capital gains taxes.
RELATED: What could Amazon's Jeff Bezos be losing or gaining from the move?
Update 11/7/2023: This post has been updated to include Seattle Councilmember Alex Pedersen's proposal to replace the city's water tax with a local capital gains tax.
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