John,

The turnout for the Washington State Primary earlier this week on August 4th was record-setting! The turnout benefited pro-environment candidates with 96% of WCV-endorsed candidates moving on to the General Election.

As we move toward the General Election, you and I know that elections have real consequences. Governor Inslee continues to lead on climate and the environment, in partnership with the House—but the Senate has to make progress that is more meaningful. We will continue to focus our efforts on maintaining the strong pro-environment Executive Branch and House, while electing more champions to the Senate. We have an opportunity to elect the strongest pro-environment Legislature in our state’s history—let’s seize this moment! 

In statewide races:

• Governor Inslee, the greenest governor in the nation, looks to be in a strong position to govern for a third term with 51% of the vote. He will be facing Loren Culp who has no plan to combat climate change.
• In the race for Lieutenant Governor, we congratulate both of our endorsed candidates who have moved on to the General Election, Denny Heck and Marko Liias. We congratulate both on a well-run race.
• The race for Secretary of State is critical to the health of our elections. Our endorsed candidate, Gael Tarleton, has laid the groundwork to win in November. We are proud of the campaign WCV’s former Legislator of the Year is running. 

And in our priority races for the Senate: 

• In East King County's LD 5, a Democrat-against-Democrat race is shaping up to be one of the closest races this year. WCV-endorsed Ingrid Anderson is currently leading incumbent Mark Mullet by just a few hundred votes. WCV is deeply invested in this race as Senator Mullet has been a holdup in lots of important environmental legislation passing the Senate, such as the Clean Fuels Standard. These are great results for Ingrid and we congratulate her on a hard fought race thus far.  
• In LD 10, our endorsed candidate Helen Price Johnson comfortably leads incumbent Ron Muzzall who holds a 0% on WCV's Legislative Scorecard. Helen is in a strong position now for the General Election and we look forward to continuing to work to get her across the finish line in November. 
• In an exciting race for State Senate in South Pierce County in LD 28, WCV-endorsed candidate T'wina Nobles is currently in the lead by a slim margin of 23 votes over incumbent Steve O'Ban, who consistently votes against the environment and public health of his community. T'wina was outspent almost 2:1 in her race and it is one of the most watched races in the state this year. 

Congratulations are in order for strong performances by WCV’s other statewide endorsed candidates. You can view all of WCV’s endorsements here.  

The fossil fuel industry continues to invest heavily in Washington state politics. Sending their money through the Enterprise Washington’s Job PAC, Tesoro, Phillips 66, and Koch Industries have already invested over $400,000 to elect pro-fossil fuel candidates. They have spent the majority of their money supporting Ron Muzzall in LD 10, attacking T’wina Nobles in LD 28, and opposing Julie Door in LD 25. 

This spring, WCV launched our Evergreen Future Campaign to demand more from our elected leaders. As we recover from an economic recession and seek justice for frontline communities, we need leaders who prioritize public health, protect workers, and invest in policies that address climate change, clean up toxic pollution, and restore our forests and waters. 

Our endorsed candidates are signing on to this vision, and they have been talking about it on the campaign trail. Washingtonians want and deserve a better, safer, cleaner, and healthier world, and Evergreen Future can help get us there. Getting our endorsed candidates elected to office is the first step.

As we head toward the General Election, it’s a great time to learn more specifics on how the candidates are preparing to get to work right after Election Day. If you would like to support our work to elect environmental champions this election season, please consider being a volunteer for a text or phone bank, or make a donation to support the WCV Action Fund. 

Thank you for all you do to make this work possible,

Lennon Bronsema
Political Director