In Snohomish County, Dave Somers woke up Sunday morning to find that someone had plastered stickers to his campaign signs - stickers that declare that Dave is "GAY ENDORSED." The small print? That the endorsement comes from Progressive Majority Washington. This election will determine whether conservatives or progressives control the majority on the Snohomish County Council and Dave's opponents are trying to rile up conservative voters by defacing signs and playing on homophobia.

In Clark County, the local Republican Party emailed 2,000 of its supporters to notify them that Steve Stuart, Progressive Majority's candidate for County Commissioner, had fallen on financial hard-times. In the very same email that GOP operatives claim they will not make Steve's financial troubles a political issue in the race, they encourage their activists to contact their local news media about just this issue. It's a political about-face and voters deserve better. Steve has huge community support in Clark County - this is just another example of smear tactics from a desperate campaign.

And out in Port Orchard, voters received a fake "Voter Guide" for City Council that compares conservative Jim Weatherill with Progressive Majority candidate Fred Chang. The hit piece stereotypes Chang for being Chinese-American as well as being gay, and notes that he's endorsed by "ultra-liberal political organization, Progressive Majority Washington". Weatherill claims he's not involved, even though the mail disclaimer reads that it's paid for by his campaign committee. Given that Fred won the primary with 48% to Weatherill's 28%, the conservatives are pulling out their dirty tricks in the final stretch.

Info via The Progressive Majority

This entry was posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 at 5:11 PM. Want to discuss? Leave a comment below.