Washington State Primary Ballot: Who Are They?

I had a new experience yesterday:  I got my primary election ballot in the mail!  Coming from Pennsylvania and having registered non-partisan, I was not allowed to vote in Pennsylvania primaries.  I always thought that was odd:  if you're a political party, wouldn't you care about what the people with no party affiliation thought about your candidates as much as or more than those in your party?  Since people in your party are not likely to change sides, the independents are the people most likely to be swayed to your side in an election!

Anyhow, I was dismayed when I saw the primary ballot for two reasons.  First, I saw that the ballot included such names as "Mike the Mover" and "Goodspaceguy."  To me, these non-names don't inspire much confidence in the candidates, and it turns out their websites didn't either.  Second, when I started searching for candidates, I noted that many didn't even have a website, or if they did their website didn't include meaningful information about their platform.  I don't want this to be a blog about anything but facts and opinion supported directly by facts, so I will keep this post simple.  What follows is simply a table of candidates on the Washington State Primary Election ballot, and if I could find a website why you should vote for them in their own words.  I hope you will use this information to make the best informed decision in the upcoming primary and election, and may the best candidate win!  Please also be aware of the election pamphlet available at the King County website, which I found helpful but incomplete.

For United States Senator
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
Michael Baumgartner	Republican	votebaumgartner.com
Will Baker	Reform	No Website Found
Chuck Jackson	Republican	scaryreality.com
Timmy (Doc) Wilson	Democratic	timwilsonforsenate.org
Art Coday	Republican	artcoday.com
Maria Cantwell	Democratic	cantwell.senate.gov
Glen (Stocky) R. Stockwell	Republican	washingtonstateeconomicdevelopment.vpweb.com
Mike the Mover	Republican	theoriginalmikethemover.com

For United States Representative
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
Don Rivers	Democratic	donriversforcongress.com
Goodspaceguy	Employmentwealth	colonizespace.blogspot.com
Scott Sutherland	GOP	vote-wa.org
Andrew Hughes	Democratic	andrewhughesforcongress.com
Jim McDermott	Democratic	mcdermottforcongress.com
Ron Bemis	Republican	ronbemisforcongress.org
Charles Allen	Democratic	charlesallen2012.com

For Washington State Governor
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
Rob Hill	Democratic	No Website Found
Rob McKenna	Republican	robmckenna.org
Jay Inslee	Democratic	jayinslee.com
James White	Independent	whiteforgovernor2012.com
Christian Joubert	No Party Preference	holisticgovernor.com
Shahram Hadian	Republican	hadian2012.com
L. Dale Sorgen	Independent	imagineliberty.us
Max Sampson	Republican	No Website Found
Javier O. Lopez	Republican	Website Down

For Washington State Lieutenant Governor
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
Glenn Anderson	Republican	glennanderson2012.org
Brad Owen	Democrat	bradowen2012.com
James Robert Deal	No Party Preference	fluoride-class-action.com
Bill Finkbeiner	Republican	billfinkbeiner.org
Dave T. Sumner, IV	Neopopulist	No Website Found
Mark Greene	Democracy Independent	brandnewelections.us

For Washington State Secretary of State
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
Jim Kastama	Democratic	jimkastama.com
David J Anderson	No Party Preference	No Website Found
Sam Wright	Human Rights	thehumanrightsparty.org
Karen Murray	Constitution	murray4sos.org
Kathleen Drew	Democratic	kathleendrew2012.com
Kim Wyman	Republican	kimwyman.com
Greg Nickels	Democratic	gregnickels.com

For Washington State Treasurer
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
Jim McIntire	Democratic	jimmcintire.com

For Washington State Auditor
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
Troy Kelley	Democratic	troykelley.com
James Watkins	Republican	watkinsforauditor.com
Mark Miloscia	Democratic	markmiloscia.com
Craig Pridemore	Democratic	craigpridemore.com

For Washington State Attorney General
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
Bob Ferguson	Democratic	electbobferguson.com
Reagan Dunn	Republican	reagandunn.com
Stephen Pidgeon	Republican	stephenpidgeon4ag.com

For Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
Stephen A Sharon	No Party Preference	No Website Found
Peter J Goldmark	Democratic	petergoldmark.com
Clint Didier	Republican	clintdidier.org

For Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Name	Why you should vote for
James Bauckman	jamesbauckmanforspi.wordpress.com
Randy I Dorn	randydorn2012.com
Don Hansler	No Website Found
John Patterson Blair	johnblairportal.wordpress.com
Ronald L (Ron) Higgins	www.higgins-spi-2012.com

For Washington State Insurance Commissioner
Name	Party	Why you should vote for
John R Adams	Republican	infojohnadams.com
Mike Kreidler	Democratic	mikekreidler.com
Scott Reilly	Republican	scott-reilly.org
Brian C Berend	Independent	No Website Found