Republican feud in the 26th LD gets rough

Plus more PAC money in Lands Commisson race, Ferguson pushed back on an attack ad, and some recommended reading.

There’s a nasty intraparty fight going on at the Republican end of the primary for an open state House seat on the Kitsap Peninsula, and it’s turning into a proxy war between factions of the GOP.

The race between former Rep. Jesse Young, R-Gig Harbor, and Jim Henderson, a lobbyist for the rental housing industry, has drawn in warring factions. The conservatives who control the state and county Republican parties are on Young’s side and the more moderate leadership of the House Republican caucus is backing Henderson. 

Here’s why you should care about this: This factional warfare among Republicans played out at the party convention this spring, which resulted in some endorsements for candidates likely to get comprehensively smoked in next week’s primary. If similar candidates prevail in the 26th primary, it could further shrink the GOP minority and help Democrats inch toward a supermajority in Olympia.