How the Realtors threw a hard elbow in wine country

A tale of calculated political retribution over an arcane issue of real estate taxation

Oct 07, 2020

∙ Paid

Beware the political wrath of the Realtors. An Eastern Washington Republican lawmaker learned that lesson the hard way when a calculated and aggressive independent campaign mounted by the political arm of the Washington Association of Realtors torpedoed his bid for a state Senate seat over an arcane issue of real estate taxation.

Rep. Bill Jenkin, R-Prosser, finished third in the primary in August behind Democrat Danielle Garbe Reser and fellow Republican Perry Dozier, a Waitsburg-area farmer and former Walla Walla County Commissioner, in a race for an open Senate seat in the 16th District, which stretches from Prosser to Walla Walla.

Here’s why this matters: A powerful interest group, operating within the law and the rules, improved the political and policy-making playing field to its advantage. How they did it:

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