Things get rough on the Kitsap Peninsula

Plus more on the KC Prosecutor race

A reader out on the Kitsap Peninsula sent us this snapshot of one day’s worth of the political mail he’s getting:

Folks out in the 26th Legislative District, which stretches from Gig Harbor north to Bremerton, are just getting absolutely buried in this stuff. Their digital feeds are clogged with political messaging and campaign ads will crowd out beer commercials during today’s football games. That’s because the district is home to the most hotly contested state Senate race in the state: first-term Sen. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, vs Rep. Jesse Young, R-Gig Harbor. And things are getting rough.

Here’s why you should care about this. A Randall loss/Young victory would likely¹ shift the partisan balance in the Senate at least one vote to the right, empowering the moderates in the Democratic majority, who tend to act as a brake on the progressive left. Democrats took the majority in a special election in 2017. More wins in 2018 and a subtle shift in 2020² led to the current progressive-driven caucus, which led to things like the cap-and-trade bill, the low-carbon fuel standard, and the capital gains tax.