Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Elections 2007: Bill Sherman for County Prosecutor
The sudden and unexpected death of longtime King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng in May necessitated a special election this November to elect his successor. Maleng had run unopposed in 2006, but that won’t be the case this time around. The Republican candidate is Maleng’s head administrator Dan Satterberg, running against Democratic Assistant Prosecutor Bill Sherman. As shown in the new “Candidates, Campaigns” section of my sidebar, I strongly support Sherman.
I’ve known Bill for something like five years, as a leader in the 43rd District Democrats organization, as a PCO, and as one of the top candidates in last year’s six-way race for our open seat in the State House. Before he began serving in the County Prosecutor’s office, he was in private practice in Seattle, and prior to moving here he worked with Bruce Babbitt in Clinton’s Interior Department.
In a county that’s been turning ever more progressive, ever more Democratic, over the last several decades, it’s astonishing to observe how very, very long the County Prosecutor’s office has been run by Republicans. Suffice it to say that no Democrat has been elected County Prosecutor in my lifetime ... and I’m no spring chicken. We’re talking 1948 as the last year there was a Democrat in that office. That’s fully half of Washington’s existence as a state.
Led by the indefatigable David Goldstein of HorsesAss.org, we are currently in the midst of a Netroots Fund Drive for Bill Sherman. The goal of the drive is to raise $5000 and draw 200 new contributors. I’ve already put some cash on the barrelhead, and you should too. Even if all you can spare is $5 or $10, your contribution will be very valuable to Bill’s campaign; this is one that the other guys are desperate to hang onto—it’s their last vestige of countywide office—and they’re pouring the big right-wing bucks into trying to turn the tide.
You can get to Bill’s secure donations webpage by clicking on either this link or the Bill Sherman icon in my just-added “Candidates, Campaigns” sidebar. Click away!!
I could recount chapter and verse of why it’s a good thing to back the Sherman campaign. But why rehash what’s already been better stated by the likes of:
- Goldy of HorsesAss.org (here, here, here, and here)
- Noemie at Washblog
- McCranium‘s Jimmy
- Daniel Kirkdorffer of On The Road To 2008
It’ll take work to elect Bill Sherman to the office of County Prosecutor. It’s work that’s amply worth doing. Right now, that work is principally monetary (to repeat, you can do a secure contribution by clicking this link). Later on, we may be back to ask for your help in literature drops, canvassing, and GOTV.
