Pure Politics :

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End Note Links to Political Stories on this Site’s other Pages: 

 

[1] Top Two Primary 

 

PhDs and Law Journal Articles are probably in process about this issue as I type.

 

   The Top Two Primary was finally okayed, sort of, by the US Supreme Court by the end of June 2008, which is only fair, as the US Supreme Court is the one who really started all the trouble in the first place.  For you see:

 

The Top Two Primary Initiative was passed a few years after the US Supreme Court, in 2000, or so, axed “our beloved” Blanket-style Primary, which had been adopted by those trouble-making Californians. 

 

The application to “our beloved” Washington State Primary, of the US Supreme Court decision, which had technically only dealt with the California Blanket Primary, had been stalled in the courts for a General Election or so, until the Top Two Primary was passed by Initiative, and it in turn, was stalled by litigation from all the Major and Minor Parties, for a few election cycles. 

 

“Our Beloved” Blanket Primary had been first adopted by Washington State sometime in the 1930s.  Washington had been the first state to do so.  Alaskans followed.  But it was not until the big juicy political prize of California adopted it that the world noticed, and, of course, the above US Supreme cases all followed.

 

The Washington Top Two Primary was first used this past August 2008.  Technically, there are NO political parties, Major or Minor, for purposes of candidates labeling themselves. 

 

Note: The Presidential Preference Primary is NOT affected in the State of Washington by the Top Two Primary.  It is a subject in and of itself, which deserves far more time than unfortunately is available at this stage of web site development. 

 

Under this new Top 2 Primary, all the partisan candidates just say they “Prefer” some party that does or does not exist, when they list themselves in our State Voters’ Brochure, during the Primary and General Elections. 

 

[2]  King County

 

King County, containing Seattle, WA, is the most densely populated part of Washington state, and as such, very much dominates state politics.  As vaguely recalled by the author of this Web Site, King County has as much as 1/2 to 1/3 of the voters of the state.  Thus, it is said, that the rest of us in Washington State vote, but Seattle and King County elects!  It can be safely said that King County and Seattle are the most liberal part of Washington State.

 

[3] Faith Ireland 

 

Faith Ireland was elected to the WA State Supreme Court in November 1998, after an unsuccessful run for that body in 1996.  Ireland chose not to run for a second 6-year term in early 2004. 

 

Ireland had been a King County Superior Court judge for 13 years (?) prior to serving on the WA State Supreme Court.

 

Faith Ireland changed her legal name of Faith Enyeart (Spelling?) shortly before her first run for the WA State Supreme Court.  According to Ireland, she took her mother’s maiden name, in honor of her mother’s 75th (?) birthday.

 

Faith Ireland is listed as the Majority Opinion Author for the 6-3 WA Supreme Court decision in the 2006 Public Disclosure Commission v. Washington Education Association [PDC v WEA].  WA Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders wrote for the Dissent.

 

PDC v WEA and its companion case, were reversed, 9-0, by the U.S. Supreme Court in the June 2007 Davenport decision. 

 

Since the 1990s, Ireland received a great deal of coverage from the press, not only for her decisions and rulings during her one term on the WA Supreme Court, but for her amateur power lifting hobby, her motivational speaking, and her giving up her sole child for adoption, during her days as a college student.