One Washington voter picks between 28 candidates for governor

On a recent Tuesday, Danielle Smith stood outside a retirement home in Renton, preparing to go in and pick a candidate for governor.

Washington state hasn’t had an open governor’s race in 12 years. Twenty-eight candidates are on the ballot for the upcoming Aug. 6 primary. Fifteen of them were setting up inside, as well as representatives for two others and a write-in candidate.

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Smith is an undecided voter, one of an estimated 14% of voters in a recent poll who have yet to decide which candidate they're supporting in the governors’ race . She’s also on the board of the Renton Chamber of Commerce (which hosted the event). The Renton meet-and-greet was advertised as an opportunity to “meet just about all of the candidates for governor in one location.”

Smith is co-owner of a food truck that sells coffee and gourmet hot dogs. At this point, she hadn’t decided which candidate she’d pick. Smith usually votes for Democrats on the national level, but leans conservative on policing and drug use.

“We all see it. We see it when we go downtown,” Smith said. “We see it in our neighborhoods, like I'm seeing random people in areas I've never seen that just look like they need help.”

She said she would be open to voting for a Republican for governor.

Inside, a bunch of tables with candidates’ names and faces were set up in the dining room. Closest to the main doors, Democratic state Sen. Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah), who has attended more than 150 events so far in his run for governor, said this was the most unique.

“Speed dating for who you want to vote for for governor,” he called it.

“That’s kind of cute, though,” Smith said when she heard someone else make the comparison. “I love that. ‘Hey, I wonder if I'll take somebody home tonight.’”

Sometime before the event, the air conditioning in the dining room broke. Outside, a 98-degree day was beginning to turn into a cooler evening, but inside, voters fanned themselves with campaign literature. Candidates in their suit jackets looked red and sweaty. The two frontrunners, Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Congressman Dave Reichert, didn’t make an appearance, although two staffers for Reichert’s campaign did.

Most of the candidates who showed up aren’t appearing in polling, and haven’t raised much money. Vietnam veteran and independent candidate Frank Dare actually handed out slips of paper saying, "No donations please – just your vote."

His spiel: “If you vote for me, and I win, I'll invite you up in the Capitol. We’ll have a huge party. We’ll have skateboards, we'll have loud music. They need to know that we're in town.”

Dare has at least one vote – his wife Melissa. She’s voted for him in decades past when Dare ran for smaller positions in Thurston County and lost, she said.

After her husband turned away, she admitted: “I can't guarantee the governor's mansion." Frank Dare is confident in his ability to not only make it past the August primary, but win in November. "And he should be," Melissa Dare said. "But nevertheless."

Over at the table for Republican-endorsed candidate Semi Bird, Danielle Smith is asking Bird questions.

“What are your thoughts on the criminal justice system here in Washington?” Smith said.

“Oh, our criminal justice system in Washington state is terrible,” Bird said, adding that he wants to make drug possession a felony again and require security officers in public schools.

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When Smith asked Bird about small business, he said he wants to suspend business and occupation taxes for new small businesses’ first year of operation. Smith said she was impressed.

“He surprised me on his views on small business and how important it is to give those tax breaks,” Smith said.

She moved to Mark Mullet, who owns some pizza and ice cream shops himself. He’s a Democrat, and has criticized taxes his party passed, but when Smith asked him about tax breaks for small businesses, he changed the subject.

“It’s more ... my first priority is definitely on the public safety front,” Mullet said. “So I think my goal is, how do you make that the budgeting priority where the governor’s budget is really stepping up in a different way with cities and counties?”

More cops, more mental health services, better funding for courts so they can get through cases quickly, Mullet said.

The morning of the meet-and-greet, Smith was leaning toward voting for the other major Democrat in the race, Attorney General Bob Ferguson. But he’s not here. Neither is Reichert, the Republican who’s polling ahead of Bird, although some of his staffers came.

By the end of the event, Smith decided. Semi Bird was really friendly, but she felt his criminal justice talk was a little generic.

“I really think that Mark Mullet has his pulse on the things that I really care about,” Smith said. “He has practical solutions.”

Smith dropped her ballot off with the bubble next to Mark Mullet filled in. The rest of Washington’s voters have until Aug. 6.

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