It Is Actually Good to Make Polluters Pay to Pollute  by Stranger Election Control Board

This initiative would repeal the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) and prohibit the state from ever implementing a similar law, cutting billions of dollars in funding for transit programs, ferries, clean energy projects, air quality improvement, and a bunch of other stuff that’s good for the environment and for the organisms who live in it, including the filthy rich psychopaths who got this initiative on the ballot. 

 

Destroying the Nation's First Long-Term Health Care Benefit Would Suck  by Stranger Election Control Board

Though our present gerontocracy suggests otherwise, we’re currently wading through the largest wave of people hitting the retirement age in American history. This “silver tsunami” wildly increases the demand for long-term health care, which is a nice way of describing the kind of care that involves paying someone to come wipe asses, pull up pants, and generally help our sick and dying family members age with dignity while the rest of us toil away at our jobs. 

Seventy percent of us will need this care after age 65, but less than 5 percent of us buy it on the private market because the premiums are sky-high and growing higher, the coverage is skimpy and getting skimpier, and people with serious pre-existing conditions are, for the most part, ineligible. People assume Medicare will cover this kind of care, but it doesn’t really. Medicaid kinda does, but to access that care you need to spend down your life savings and literally impoverish yourself, which isn’t exactly ideal. Moreover, if a bunch of our elders impoverished themselves just to qualify for Medicaid, they’d basically bankrupt the state. 

 

Follow along for continuous Election Night 2024 coverage! by Stranger Election Control Board ????

Welcome to the General Election 2024 Live Blog. Election Day is here, and it’s time to grab your anxiety meds and vice of choice and tuck in for a wild ride.

Chances are, we won’t know the results of the presidential election tonight (though we’ll likely know who won Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan by the end of the night—we’ll keep you posted.) 

But in the meantime, we should have results for some of our most important local elections before we all go to bed tonight. As always, we’ll be lurking at their parties, judging their snacks, and capturing the election night magic/anxiety/crushing defeat.

If you haven’t voted yet, there’s still time! But run, don’t walk. 

Check your voter registration here. If you’re not, you can still register and vote at one of seven voting centers in the county, which are open until 8 pm today. Remember to bring your Washington State driver's license, and a state ID, or memorize the last four digits of your social security number when you go. If you’re already registered to vote, awesome. The ballot should be in your mailbox unless you took it out and put it somewhere weird, but if it’s not, you can print out a new one or go vote in person at a King County voting center. Once you’ve filled out your ballot, find your nearest drop box here. 

Once you’ve voted, if you need to be with people who are just as stressed as you, come on by The Stranger and KEXP’s election party at the Crocodile. The party started at 4 pm but we'll be there until midnight—join us!

Now back to business. Want a refresher on the races as we count them down? Check out our endorsements here. 

Here’s a very non-exhaustive list of the things to know going in: 

• We’re going to elect a new governor! (Bob, you better have food at your party this time.) Both The Stranger and the Seattle Times endorsed Bob Ferguson, and he was squarely in the lead in recent polls, so we’re not too worried about MAGA-dude Dave Reichert running the state.
• Alexis Mercedes Rinck! The most recent polling puts the progressive newcomer a whole 24 points ahead of Council appointee Tanya Woo. Woo came in second in the August primary, but Woo’s campaign manager called the gap between the two candidates (Rinck’s 50.2% to Woo’s 38.4%) “brutal.” It looks like Woo’s big business supporters abandoned her in the general, so we’re hoping to send a proper progressive to City Hall tonight. 
• Now here’s one for the books, folks—a real blue-on-blue showdown in the 9th Congressional District. We’ve got 14-term Congressman Adam Smith, who is also a House Armed Services Committee bigwig, going head-to-head with civil rights firebrand Melissa Chaudhry. What’s the primary dividing line? What else: Gaza and the ongoing horror show that Smith pretends to wring his hands over while quietly writing blank checks for the next round of airstrikes. He's made empty calls for a ceasefire, while Chaudhry has called for an arms embargo. With no fears of a Republican winning in the state's only majority POC- district, it'll be interesting to see if the race serves as a referendum on Smith's support of the Israeli genocide. 
• Have you read about Superintendent Chris Reykdal’s opponent in this election? Local families say David Olson is cozy with Moms for Liberty, a far-right parents group that opposes inclusive policies and lessons on race, gender, and sexuality in school; and he helped the Peninsula School District push away critical race theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training while parents and students raised concerns about racism and discrimination in his district. The race for Superintendent of Public Instruction is a nonpartisan race, which is likely why the most recent polls show that 21% of voters plan to vote for Reykdal, 18% for Olson, and a whopping 61% had no idea who they’re voting for. We hate this, and we’ll be watching it closely. 
• All eyes are on Clallam County. This little bellwether county at the top of the Olympic Peninsula has backed every presidential winner since 1980. Will they keep their streak? 

Check back regularly—we’ll keep you updated through the night!

Outgoing Governor Jay Inslee Takes the Stage 9:26 pm Jay Inslee speaking at the convention center. SECB

Inslee was the last to speak at the WA Dem election party, opening his speech by saying, “I’ve been waiting for Bob Ferguson to take over my job for years…”

People Are Doing Therapy Crafts at the Crocodile 9:11 pm Color the pain away. BILLIE WINTER

Sure, we got a lot of good news locally, but holy shit things are still VERY TENSE. So folks are crafting, donating to Shout Your Abortion, and, of course, drinking at the Crocodile to soothe the stress.

Shout Your Abortion's free swag at the party. BILLIE WINTER Cheers or something! BILLIE WINTER Attorney General Bob Ferguson Declares Victory 9:02 pm Bob Ferguson made it clear he's not gonna take Trump's bullshit (if it comes to that, please god don't let it come to that). SECB

Ferguson declared victory in the Washington State Governor’s race from the stage at the WA Dem election party, as he leads his opponent, former US Representative Dave Reichert, by about 13 points. Ferguson declared that if the presidential election results in another four years of Donald Trump, there is no other statewide candidate in the nation more “prepared to defend your freedoms against that administration than I am.”

Everything We Know So Far About Local Results 9 pm

Alright folks, do yourselves a favor and turn a blind eye to that "other race" going on (unless you’re a glutton for punishment and want to dive headfirst into an instant doom spiral). But hey, there’s actually some decent news in the local returns. Here’s your super-quick breakdown that won’t exactly soothe your soul but might take the edge off:

• Nick Brown is mollywhooping Republican Pete Serrano in the Attorney General race. Brown, who has that “Obama” appeal we’re told, is ahead 56.85% to 43.06%.
• Chris Reykdal, who’s held down the Superintendent of Public Instruction role since 2017, might not be packing up anytime soon; he’s beating David Olsen 53.1% to 45.84%.
• Over in the Commissioner of Public Lands showdown, Dave Upthegrove is trouncing Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler 54.6% to 44.87%.
• Sal Mungia’s narrowly ahead of Dave Larson, with 50.6% of the vote to Larson’s 49.91% in the race for State Supreme Court Position #2.
• Seattle is maybe, possibly, finally, saying goodbye to Tanya Woo. The never-elected city council member currently trails Alexis Mercedes Rinck 42% to 57%. 
• In Congressional District 9, genocide enabling Adam Smith will most likely defeat Melissa Chaudhry. The race currently sits at 70% to 30%, respectively. 
• In what we believe experts refer to as a one-sided ass-kicking, Democratic Socialist Shaun Scott has a gargantuan lead of 68% to 31% over Andrea Surez in the race to replace Frank Chopp in the 43rd district.
• And in what should be a surprise to no one Bob Ferguson is likely our next governor. He currently leads Dave Reichart 56.47% to 43.34%

Turning to the initiatives… 

The good: Initiatives 2066, 2109, and 2124 are sinking fast, with nearly 60%, 70%, and 54% of counted ballots giving them the thumbs-down. There’s a little light at the end of the tunnel!

The not-so-great: Initiative 2117 is pulling 53% in favor.

Still, three out of four ain’t bad! 

And finally, in the race everyone was teetering on the edge of sanity about for the last five months. In the state auditor’s race, Pat McCarthy leads Matt Hawkins 59.21% to 40.66%. If you’ve been losing sleep over this one, maybe you’ll get a nap tonight. 

Nick Brown Feels Good After Initial Results (But Won't Wear Sparkly Cowboy Hat) 8:56 pm Nick, why won't you wear the cowboy hat too? SECB

Nick Brown thanked his team and his supporters and told us he didn’t see a world where he wouldn’t win at this point. As of 8:39 pm, Brown had 56% and his opponent, Pete Serrano, had 43%. As Brown thanked everyone and headed to main ballroom to give a speech, he pointed out his kids, who were sporting those blue cowboy hats.

All But One Initiative Rejected 8:45 pm State Representative Nicole Macri reacting to tonight's local results. SECB

Spirits were high in the Defend WA room at the WA Dems Election Party. Defend WA organized the campaign to reject the four initiatives that sought to repeal the Capitol Gains Tax, the Climate Commitment Act, Washington’s public Long Term Care program WA Cares, and a law intended to reduce Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions. Voters roundly reject the first three of those initiatives, I-2109, I-2117, and I-2124. Unfortunately for Washington’s hopes to decrease our reliance on natural gas in favor of electric power, voters appear to have voted yes on I-2066, which would effectively prevent the state from trying to electrify anything in any building. Insane. State Representative Nicole Macri said Defend WA knew that would be a hard fight because of a lot of early misinformation about the law I-2066 sought to repeal. She says Washington tried to get ahead of the nation, but the change confused voters, and they seem to want the state to go a little slower. But the results aren’t finalized. At last check, numbers showed 51.1% voting “Yes” and 48.84% voting “No.” Also, Macri said the fact that the capitol gains tax remained in place was great. “We need this,” Macri said.

Holy Fucking Shit, Shaun Scott 8:37 pm Shaun "Holy Fucking Shit" Scott speaks. SECB

“Holy fucking shit!” screamed the man next to us, reading the election results from his laptop. “Shaun Scott–67 percent.” That’s as far as he got before the emcee took over to lead a call and response shout of “I believe that we can win.” Rep. Darya Farivar got 87.52%, while Alexis Mercedes Rinck got 57.32%. She acknowledged the anxiety people may be feeling about the presidential race, but she and the crowd kept up the energy.

Election officials have not counted all the voters, but all three candidates are looking like winners, which would be a serious victory for local progressive politics and a rebuke of reactionary conservatism.

Rep. Farivar told the room that they all had work to do.

“I’m so grateful that locally we have Alexis to defend things at the City level,” she says. “I am absolutely thrilled I’m going to have a partner in these shenanigans.”

Scott began his speech by saying his victory came five years ago to the hour of his 2019 defeat running for City Council—and that tonight he finally got it done for the essential workers, the students, the parents, the teachers, and everybody who would benefit from the economic justice he campaigned on.

Alexis took the mic last. The crowd cheered when she said a queer Latina would represent them on Seattle City Council.“But I know I stand on the shoulders of many who pave the way and I promise I won’t be the last.”

The TV is back on, but people are too busy hugging and shaking hands to pay much attention.

Suarez Is Cheery, Losing 8:34 pm Suarez promises to run again. SECB

Suarez kept a cheery attitude despite dismal results—31.4% to Shaun Scott's 67.7%. She says she can't swing back from her poor showing at the first drop. But even though she lost, Suarez maintains that she won.

"When you run, you win just by getting your message out there," says Suarez. "Winners never quit, and quitters never win."

Saurez hugged her small group of supporters after her results dropped. She comforts them by promising to run again. She's not sure for what, but she's always had one eye on the citywide council seats in 2025.

No One Seems to Notice the Local Election Wins at the Dem Party 8:17 pm Look, y'all! Local results are in! SECB

At the large WA Dem party at the convention center, all eyes remained fixed on the national races as Dems swept local results. Speeches will come later, but initial results show the Governor, Attorney General, and Lands Commissioner races all went to the Dems. 

The First Batch of State and King County Results Are In! 8:06 pm

See statewide results here!

See King County results here! 

We're reading and thinking and typing as quickly as we can to bring you some analysis very soon...

For now, a cat in a stroller:

A cat in a backpack at the Sea-Meow convention at the Seattle Center last weekend. MADISON KIRKMAN Hey! We Were Watching That! 7:59 pm Turn it back on! SECB

Somebody shut off the TV at Saint John's. The presidential race is looking a little scary, isn’t it?

Nick Brown Jumped in the Ocean This Morning 7:55 pm Yes, that *IS* Nick Brown. SECB

Attorney General candidate Nick Brown woke up at 5:15 this morning and jumped into the ocean to start his day. Then he did some other campaign stuff, and right before heading to the Dem watch party, he had dinner with his campaign team and Governor Jay Inslee. Brown said he’s excited for his chances tonight and he had a better ground game than his opponent. As we chatted, someone walked past and said, “That’s Nick Brown.” He looked up, confused for a moment, and then said, “I gotta get used to that.” The charm is charming.

Upthegrove's Mooching off Brown’s Campaign 7:49 pm Dave Upthegrove and his husband Chad. SECB

Candidate for Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove just arrived with his husband Chad. Upthegrove doesn’t have his own suite at this thing, it would have cost him $2,000, which made us gag. We appreciate thrifty Upthegrove stashing his stuff in Attorney General Candidate Nick Brown’s room. Upthegrove says he feels good about his chances to win his race, and he hopes to be toasting with a glass of champagne at his parent's house later tonight.

Meanwhile, at Our Election Party at the Crocodile... 7:46 pm Billie Winter

Thank god for Miss Texas 1988.

You Have 15 Minutes to Drop Off Your Ballot 7:45 pm

This ballot box on Capitol Hill even comes with live music! 

Polls close in 15 minutes! But the party is just getting started at this dropbox on Capitol Hill... pic.twitter.com/ddNfGYQw63

— The Stranger ???? (@TheStranger) November 6, 2024

Capitol Hill Protest Update 7:30 pm

A total of five people have been arrested for property damage, according to SPD. The property damage was, apparently, spray paint. They used the helicopter for some spray paint.

There are now five total arrests. The group has broken up. We will update here with additional information if anything changes. pic.twitter.com/YcmKUium3V

— Seattle Police Department (@SeattlePD) November 6, 2024

Loose Protest Leads to Arrests on Capitol Hill 7:10 pm

The Seattle Police Department made at least four arrests for property destruction at a protest on Capitol Hill tonight. Some flyers posted earlier in the week called for people to show up at Cal Anderson Park at 6 pm on Election Day to protest the “genocide abroad and a militarized police state at home.” Apparently, a lot of cops are out on the hill tonight on their bikes according to one of the photographers we have assisting us with election coverage. SPD said the King County Sheriff’s Office has their helicopter out to assist them with the situation.

The Social Justice League Will Save Seattle 7:08 pm People are too nervous to party at Saint John's. SECB

We’ve arrived at Saint John’s in Capitol Hill for the combined election night party for progressives Shaun Scott, a candidate for the 43rd District, District 46 Rep. Darya Farivar, and Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the Seattle City Council candidate challenging appointee Tanya Woo for Position 8. The Stranger endorsed all three of these progressive candidates this year, and if the results tonight are anything like the midterms, all three are likely to win.

It’d be a jolly vibe if everyone wasn’t so goddamn nervous about the presidential election. The people wearing Harris/Walz shirts are looking from their phones to the big screen TV showing minute-by-minute updates from NBC. The room was filling up and a group of guys asked to sit at our table, including Harrison Jerome, a volunteer with the Rinck campaign from the start because he thinks she’s good on housing affordability. “I’m a renter and I want to live in Seattle and by my parents,” he said. “But it gets harder and harder every year. Feels like if you didn’t move here in the ’90s you pretty much have no hope of owning a home.” As we talked, his eyes barely left the screen.

A minute later, Rinck walked in the door, trailed by a cameraman from Fox 13 with a blindingly bright light. On the back porch, she tells me she tried to take it slow today. She made some calls, did some sign waving, and ran off the pre-election jitters. She says that over the past few weeks, voters have been eager to share their personal experiences with affordability, safety, and their loved ones struggling with substance use disorder.

“They just want to be heard,” she says. “...They want to know how the City can play a role in addressing those things.”

Boooo, Bob Ferguson!  6:56 pm Ferguson's folks are turning people away at the door. SECB

Ferguson won’t let anyone in his party. So excited for this man to represent the Democratic Party. Big tent with no room for the people. ☹️

He won't let us in and we're jealous because we want to make friends with this girl. SECB Good Gossip (but No Free Booze) at Andrea Suarez's Party 6:49 pm TELL US WHERE WOO'S PARTY IS, ANDREA. SECB

State House candidate Andrea Suarez of We Heart Seattle fame hosted a small gathering at Cotto (no free booze, remind us to Venmo request Brady). In a small crowd of less than a dozen, Suarez gave us lots of attention. She said she had never seen us in so much clothing! We called her rude in the moment, but we forgive her. She also loudly prompted We Heart Seattle's Tim Emerson to tell us how many people the organization has housed this year. He said eight. Suarez said there's a lot of good We Heart Seattle does, but people get fixated on the times she's moved tents and stuff. She said more coverage should come about the positives of her controversial organization after the election.

But after an Aperol spritz, we really gossiped like girls. We learned that Suarez recently officiated a wedding for two of her "original litter pickers," relitigated her talent show-related trauma, and shit-talked consultants.

Suarez also tattled on Council Member Tanya Woo, who told us she wasn't having a public party. Turns out she's hosting a gathering on the waterfront. Suarez grumbled about Woo not agreeing to a combined party. She said she feels a little insecure about the fact that people came to her party early so they could get to Woo's event in time for the results.

Speaking of, Council President Sara Nelson popped in briefly. She left around 6:15 pm, probably to get to Woo's event, according to Suarez. Feeling snubbed, we plotted briefly to crash Woo's party. We offered to pick up litter for 3 hours in exchange for the address for Woo's secret party, but she didn't rat her all the way out.

Unfortunately, we just missed Council President Sara Nelson. She kept plenty of space between us before she rushed out the door.

Oh Hey, Kay!
6:39 pm And another one. SECB

Democratic convention delegate Kay Acholonu doubled up on the cowboy hats, sporting the one from tonight and the one from the Democratic Convention. 

Immaculate Vibes at Representative Pramila Jayapal’s Party 6:33 pm DO THE HATS LIGHT UP????? SECB

In a swath of empty, lonely, cold rooms, Jayapal’s party set itself apart as the place to be in this convention center tonight. She lucked out that the air conditioning in her room crapped out, we walked in and immediately felt like we were actually at a party, not a failing mega church’s Sunday service (seriously convention center lighting is terrible for the vibes). Jayapal says she expects Democrats to win the presidency tonight, as well as the House. We noted that one of her former campaign staffers, Shaun Scott, is on the ballot tonight, and she says a whole host of great new and old local candidates are on the ballot this year, name-checking Bob Ferguson among them. We left Jayapal with a drink in her hand and in conversation with Leesa Manion, who seemed relieved to no longer be standing in a mostly empty room.

Do You Need to See a Picture of a Cat Wearing a Cheeseburger Hat? 6:29 pm

That fucking New York Times needle is back, goddammit. 

A cat in a cheeseburger at the Sea-Meow convention at the Seattle Center last weekend. MADISON KIRKMAN You Have Two Hours Left to Vote, Seattle! 6 pm

Washington polls close at 8 pm! Not even registered? There’s still time! Haven’t dropped off your ballot yet? Find the nearest drop box and get to it! 

As Hannah Krieg wrote on Monday:

As of 9 am Monday, 50% of King County’s 1.4 million registered voters cast a ballot. That’s a much higher engagement rate than in typical odd-year elections, where less than half of registered voters usually participate. However, turnout still falls short of the nearly 86% we saw in 2020.

Young people need to pick up the slack. About 21% of registered voters are 65 or older, but with a whopping 71% of those voters turning in a ballot, they make up 30% of the returned ballots. As for voters under 35, they account for 28% of all registered voters, but make up only about 19% of the returned ballots. Young people: You tend to vote better than old people. Sorry, not sorry. Please get to the ballot box!

Early Birds Arrive at the Big Dem Party 5:53 pm King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion (center) starting the party at the Convention Center. SECB

King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion arrived at the Dem party at the Convention Center. She looked around for a second and commented how quiet everything was. They’d only just opened the doors, but we agree with her. Manion said she feels like the election will be solid on the local level, and she’s “going to live in the land of hope” about the presidential race.

And Now for a Message from the Great Riz Rollins 5:33 pm

Riz Rollins has entered the chat with some thoughtful words for the night, from our election party at the Crocodile: 

          View this post on Instagram                      

A post shared by The Stranger ???? (@thestrangerseattle)

Alllllll the Democrats Are Gathering at the Convention Center, Where They're Passing Out Sparkly Cowboy Hats 5:20 pm It's giving Cowboy Carter. SECB

We arrived at the Seattle Convention Center to the smell of popcorn and the vibes of one of those conferences where you learn to sell real estate. Candidates expected here tonight include US Senator Maria Cantwell, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Bob Ferguson, Governor Jay Inslee, US Representative Pramila Jayapal, Candidate for Attorney General Nick Brown, King County Councilmember and Public Lands Commissioner candidate Dave Upthegrove, and the Defend WA Coalition who mounted the opposition to the statewide initiatives. Excited to see Ferguson spend the whole night avoiding someone placing one of these sparkly hats on his head.

Chris Reykdal Is More Nervous About Presidential Race Results Than His Own 5:14 pm Brandy the dog (left) and Chris watching early national results before Washington's numbers come in. COURTESY OF CHRIS REYKDAL

“It’s been a long 18 months, but I’m glad it’s over,” says Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal. Just home from work, he plans to swing by a function with the Thurston County Democrats tonight. He'll be back by 8 pm to lock in and watch the numbers.

Reykdal got screens. His campaign manager’s got screens. They’ll be watching the county-by-county numbers in his race, as well as races in the Legislature, the open State Supreme Court race, the Commissioner of Public Lands Race, and the I-2109 ballot measure to repeal the state’s gains tax, a big deal for education. They’ll throw MSNBC on the TV for the presidential. The clear favorite, Reykdal is more nervous about Trump and Harris than his own race.

The Superintendent race is technically a non-partisan, but the only non-partisan part about it is that voters won’t see either candidate’s political preference on the ballot. Practically speaking, the Democrat-endorsed Reykdal and his Republican-endorsed challenger David Olson have vastly different visions for our schools.

Reykdal is a progressive former teacher, former state legislator and the two-time OSPI incumbent. He cares about feeding poor kids, diversifying the workforce, paying teachers what they deserve, and protecting queer and trans kids from the onslaught of “anti-woke” attacks from right-wingers.

Republican-endorsed David Olson is one of those right-wingers. As a member of the Peninsula School District school board, he made friends with his local chapter of Moms for Liberty. He said in his nearly 11 years on that board fighting DEI and “critical race theory” was one of his proudest moments.

Despite this clear contrast, a Northwest Progressive Institute survey of 571 likely voters found that despite the stark ideological divide, 61% did not know who they were voting for. Of those who did know who they supported, Reykdal held a narrow three-point lead (21%) over Olson (18%). 

Andrew Villeneuve, founder and executive director of the NWPI, said in an email that the lack of party affiliation explains the large group of undecided voters in this race, even though previous polling shows Washingtonians are enthusiastic about Reykdal’s policy positions. “For those voters taking the time to study the candidates, it should become apparent pretty quickly that Chris is fired up to tackle the tough issues head-on.” (The NWPI has worked with Reykdal for years on issues like no-cost meals and school seismic safety, he says.)

Rekydal says that’s just a reality of his race. “I do think it’ll be closer than it was four years ago, but I also think it’s just the fact that there isn’t an obvious D or an R by a name,” he says. “They just don’t have the traditional political cues.”

The Big East Coast Dump Results...  5:04 pm

Several polls on the East Coast just closed, and the New York Times is projecting: 

Trump wins Florida, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Harris wins Maryland, Massachusetts, and Delaware.

Polls are still open here in Washington for another almost 3 hours! Get your ballots in! There are tons of local elections worth voting on! 

Here's another cat in a backpack.

A cat in a backpack at the Sea-Meow convention at the Seattle Center last weekend. MADISON KIRKMAN Vermont Goes to Sanders and Harris 4:30 pm

But you already knew that wouldn't happen, didn't you?

Related: New York Times called Kentucky and West Virginia for Trump. 

Don't worry, we have more cat pictures for later.

MSNBC Calls Indiana for Trump 4:06 pm

Don’t panic. It’s early.

Here's a picture of a cat preparing for space travel.

A cat in a backpack at the Sea-Meow convention at the Seattle Center last weekend. MADISON KIRKMAN Melissa Demyan's Brain Feels Like Goo 3:55 pm Demyan with her partner in their special occasion tracksuits. COURTESY OF MELISSA DEMYAN

Melissa Demyan, the brave labor organizer taking on Rep. Larry Springer, the Stranger Election Control Board’s least favorite so-called Democrat in the State House, says her brain feels like goo right now. Her campaign’s reached more than 63,000 voters, knocked on 10,000 doors, made 1,300 phone calls, and pitched 500 signs in lawns. And this morning, she and her partner put on their matching Adidas tracksuits—saved for special occasions—to do some last-minute get-out-the-vote effort. When The Stranger called her (we only took 5 minutes of her precious time, we are very considerate!), she said she still had one more “lit drop” before she could head to her party at Ixtapa in Redmond Ridge. She plans to treat herself to a sipping shot of the nicest tequila in the house while she watches the results roll in for her race and across the country. Jane Fonda will not be in attendance.

Iconic actress Jane Fonda endorses labor organizer Melissa Demyan to unseat 20-year incumbent Rep. Larry Springer in the 45th LD, who she said we should really call a Republican. Fonda also asks voters to vote NO on the Let's Go Washington initiatives. pic.twitter.com/0jaW7IYQmc

— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) October 11, 2024

Every action counts for Demyan. She came within striking distance of Springer in the primary, but he outspent her about five to one. Still, given the outpouring of community support and her team's tireless ground game, she anticipates a close match. Either way, Demyan’s proud of the race she and her supporters ran. Demyan felt especially hartened when a supporter responded to a campaign text to tell her that her 8-year-old is telling everyone they encounter that she’s her favorite candidate besides Kamala Harris.

Melissa Chaudhry: Not Stressing, Eating Cake 2:45 pm Why didn't you send a picture of the cake, Melissa? COURTESY OF MELISSA CHAUDHRY

After a long weekend of door knocking, flyering, and general get-out-the-voting, U.S. House of Reps candidate Melissa Chaudhry is ready to celebrate with her supporters and the broader movement against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. “I’m doing party prep and not stressing. I repeat—not stressing,” Chaudhry told the Stranger Election Control Board in a phone call this afternoon.

She’s throwing a party at the Mall of Africa Restaurant in SeaTac where her supporters will enjoy food, non-alcoholic drinks (coconut water appears to be the crowd favorite, she says), and a cake frosted to resemble her campaign yard signs.

Until then, Chaudhry says she’ll be keeping up with prayer, but she won’t be praying for a victory. Her competition, Warhawk Rep. Adam Smith, secured more than 50% of the vote in the primary. Flushed with cash from the defense industry and pro-Israel PACs, Smith has a pretty good chance at winning the general too.

If she loses, Chaudhry says she will continue to do “much of the same work” she’s done on the campaign.

“Dozens and dozens and dozens of people have told us that they're registering to vote or their whole families are registering to vote for the first time because of my campaign,” says Chaudhry. “And that's the kind of grassroots engagement and political empowerment that we need to make democracy real.”

She also hopes her campaign sends a clear message to Smith that his constituents want investment at home, not in genocides across the globe.

A Rainbow Appears
1:44 pm Don't forget to breathe. SECB

As we were preparing all our election night coverage, this rainbow appeared over the city. Good omen? 

Sure, the national election provided a cure-all for the will to live. But let’s not throw the whole bottle out with the booze. In Seattle, King County, and Washington State, we turned a deeper shade of blue last night. And there are a few things worth cheering about. Here are our six takeaways from the night as you numb the existential dread with your breakfast whiskey. by Hannah Krieg

Sure, the national election provided a cure-all for the will to live. But let’s not throw the whole bottle out with the booze. In Seattle, King County, and Washington State, we turned a deeper shade of blue last night. And there are a few things worth cheering about. Here are our six takeaways from the night as you numb the existential dread with your breakfast whiskey.

 

A Stranger Victory

Okay, because who doesn't need a dose of levity to start off this morning. Once again, The Stranger’s anointed candidates claimed victory last night, at least locally. Like we said in the primary, we acknowledge that we had some overlap with lesser endorsement boards, such as the Seattle Times Editorial Board, in the race for Governor and Attorney General. However, we only endorsed the same person in the Superintendent of Public Instruction race because the Times had to come to our side on Chris Reykdal after Reykdal trounced the Time’s first choice in the primary. Our candidate for the 43rd Legislative District Shaun Scott also beat the Time’s choice in the primary, and yet the Times refused to see the light and endorsed Andrea Suarez, who Scott walloped. Current election results show him receiving 68% of the vote compared to Suarez’s 31%. Our candidates also swept in the race for Lands Commissioner, the open seat in the 5th Legislative District, and the citywide Seattle City Council seat. Also, we rightly endorsed a “no” vote on the Initiative to eliminate WA Cares, which created a public long-term care option. 

Our endorsement has never carried more heft and girth. We promise to protect you from the loathsome choices of the Seattle Times Editorial Board in perpetuity. 

 

Washington voters rejected the right

Donald Trump won last night. We’re concerned about the growth of right-wing populism in this country and what will happen as Trump rebuilds the federal government in his image with his cadre of idiots: JD Vance, Elon Musk, RFK Jr., and his dumbass sons. So it’s heartening that Washington elected Democrats who will fight that version of the federal government and that voters heartily rejected the right-wing in this election.

In the 43rd District, “Democrat” Andrea Suarez suffered a colossal and deserved loss. The Executive Director of We Heart Seattle, who zealously aligns herself with far-right proponents of treatment-first homelessness policy, ran a stupid campaign that played to the basest, most reactionary fears of Seattleites. Even more concerning than her ideology was her sheer ignorance of how policy even works. The fiercely progressive Shaun Scott earned 67 percent of the vote in the first ballot drop because he was a strong candidate with popular policies that appealed to a broad coalition of progressive voters in a renter-heavy district. Also likely to face sweet defeat is Trump-backed Joe Kent, who currently trails Democratic congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. 

The statewide races for Superintendent of Public Instruction and Attorney General were not blowouts like the Suarez-Scott race, but the MAGA-y candidates David Olson and Pete Serrano are lagging far behind Superintendent Chris Reykdal and Nick Brown. Olson ran on proudly opposing DEI and "critical race theory" as a school board member and encouraged voters to join Moms for Liberty, an extremist group. Serrano is all about undermining gun safety laws and wouldn't commit to enforcing our shield law for people seeking abortions and gender-affirming healthcare, which will be a very big fucking deal now. 

 

State Executives Ready to Tangle With Trump

With President Donald Trump primed to retake the Oval Office, Washingtonians can at least take comfort in the fact that we elected two of the best people to defend Washington’s laws in our future Governor, Bob Ferguson and future Attorney General, Nick Brown. Ferguson, who as of election night led the race with 56% of the vote compared to former US Representative Dave Reichert’s 43%, took the stage Tuesday night to thank his supporters before acknowledging the grim outlook facing the nation in its presidential election. Ferguson declared that if Trump once again became commander-in-chief, no other statewide candidate in the nation would be more “prepared to defend your freedoms against that administration than I am.” During Trump’s last term, Ferguson sued the administration 82 times, challenging policies on issues such as access to contraception, 3-D printed guns, and most notably Trump’s initial travel ban on people from seven majority-Muslim nations. Right alongside Ferguson working on the response to Trump’s travel ban was Brown, who ended election night with 56% of the vote compared to Pasco Mayor Pete Serrano’s 43%. At the time of the travel ban, Brown worked as general counsel to Governor Jay Inslee and worked closely on that issue with Ferguson’s office. He also promised in his campaign to defend the state’s shield law. Together, Ferguson and Brown seem to be the perfect dynamic duo to fight any policy that a Trump presidency could bring to Washington state. 

 

Washingtonians Love A Tax

With the projected defeat of three out of four of the proposed ballot initiatives, Washington voters sent a clear message to millionaire hedge fund manager Brian Heywood: We love taxes, especially on the rich. Washington voters seem likely to reject I-2109, I-2117, and I-2124, all of which would have cut taxes. I-2109, which early results showed 63% of people voted “No” on, would have eliminated the state’s capital gains tax. I-2117, which 61% of people voted “No” on as of election night, would have ended the Climate Commitment Act–a cap-and-trade program that effectively acts as a tax on companies exceeding the emissions cap. Finally, I-2124, which 55% of people rejected, would have eliminated the WA Cares program, a tax that helps people pay for long-term care. 

Heywood billed these initiatives as “Vote yes, pay less,” and Washington voters took one look at how voting “Yes” would cut funding to schools, cut money for transportation and clean water, and end a program that could help them and their families in a health emergency, and they said, “No.” 

In fact, the only bill they did vote “Yes” on had no clear fiscal impact, I-2066, which sought to make it easier and more affordable for people in the state to switch from gas to electric power. On election night, I-2066 still remained tight, with 51% of people voting “Yes,” and 48% voting “No”. It’s easier to scare Washington voters into voting against a bill based on unfounded fears of being forced to give up their gas stoves than it is to convince them that cutting taxes benefits them.

 

So THIS is Why Even-Year Elections are the One Thing Sara Nelson Hates More Than Progressives

Council President Sara Nelson argued against moving local elections to even years and it's clear why — under a more representative democracy, her pearl-clutching ideology would lose every single time. Typically, Seattle elects its City Council members, Mayor, and City Attorney in odd years, which tend to have much lower turnout than even-year elections. This year, because Council Member Teresa Mosqueda ditched her citywide position early, Seattle got to vote for a council member in a presidential year, the highest turnout opportunity of them all. 

In a more representative sample of voters, Seattle picked a progressive, Alexis Mercedes Rinck, over conservative Tanya Woo. This marks a strong rebuke of the policies of the current conservative council, headed by Council President Sara Nelson. The current council won their seats in 2023, when about 46% of voters cast a ballot for their district seats. In all seats but one, a race between progressive Council Member Tammy Morales and Woo, the conservative contender prevailed. 

This year, more than 56% of registered Seattle voters cast a ballot and the progressive candidate, Rinck, scored 57.3% on night one. Her support will likely increase as late ballots come in. But even if her results froze, she garnered more votes than all the council winners of 2023 combined. She’s also a few thousand ahead of where Nelson finished in 2021. So maybe the NextDoor types hold the “majority” of seats, but Rinck holds the majority in representation.

 

Capitol Hill is Still a Communist Hellhole

And we wouldn’t have it any other way. After Council Member Kshama Sawant decided to give up her long-held City Council office, political commentators began lamenting (or mostly celebrating) the end of socialism in Seattle. No clear successor emerged from the barrage of milquetoast candidates who ran in the District 3 race in 2023. Instead, the city’s most progressive district elected Joy Hollingsworth, a centrist who attempted to permanently enshrine a subminimum wage for restaurant workers. Politicos forgot the neighborhood’s lefty sensibilities so quickly, 43rd LD candidate Andrea Saurez tried to smear her opponent, Shaun Scott, by calling him a communist. As it turns out, the LD that contains Sawant’s old stomping grounds doesn’t consider “communist” an insult. Scott, a candidate endorsed by both Democrat and lefty organizations, won his seat in a landslide – almost 68% to Saurez’s 32%. So basically, if you're a Capitol Hill communist (bonus points if you have a funky colored mullet), you might have a chance at beating Hollingsworth if you run a truly leftwing campaign. Or maybe these results give Hollingsworth a little wake-up call. An image of Hollingsworth at a Saurez campaign event floated around Twitter a few months ago. If your preferred candidate, who shares your constituency, loses dramatically, you should probably take note and adjust accordingly, i.e., stop attacking workers' rights.

Seattle's only news roundup. by Charles Mudede

We wake up today with this certainty: None of it mattered. The secret documents, the sky-high covid deaths, January 6, racist statement after racist statement, the economic crash, the sexual assault allegations, the pussy grabbing, Moscow,  Roe v. Wade, the conviction, and what have you. All of it amounted to a hill of beans. And there will certainly be more outrages in years to come; and once again, they still will not matter one dot. If we, on the left, come to this understanding, we can move on by simply asking: What, then, does matter? What truly counts in American politics? What is its actual ground? This kind of clear thinking might prove to be invaluable.

We also have to accept the fact that California no longer represents the future of America. In the past it did, but not anymore. The future is now found in Texas. Elon Musk knew this. He relocated himself, Space X, and X to what has become our whole country: the Lone Star State.

Kamala Harris only won deep blue states: And Trump is going back to the White House because millions of people decided to "sit this one out." And the Senate returns to the GOP. As for the House, its final composition is yet to be known. Now, how are we to read all of this, and, particularly, the outcome of the presidential race? Well, Trump's first term in office is something like the first book in Octavia Butler's Parable series, Parable of the Sower, which was published in 1993 and features a Trump-like president who basically strips America of its economic assets. The second term will be like the second book, Parable of the Talents, which was published in 1998 and features an out-and-out Christofacist president who promises to “Make America Great Again.” Butler never completed the third book in the series.   

"Welcome to how our only world ends. It will be like this every summer: getting worse, and worse, and worse until there’s nothing worse left."https://t.co/vs5HAmUloY

— The Stranger ???? (@TheStranger) July 23, 2024

Florida and South Dakota gave abortion access the middle finger. But Arizona, Colorado, New York, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, and Nevada protected reproductive rights. However, with the Senate, and possibly the House, under GOP control, the whole states’ rights business might turn out to be worth no more than the salt you put in greens.

The Stranger Election Control Board had a good night. Alexis Mercedes Rinck is going to beat incumbent Tanya Woo for Seattle City Council Position 8. The same goes with Democratic Socialist Shaun Scott. He will certainly beat Andrea Suarez in the race to represent Washington’s 43rd Legislative District. And the man who did not catch the Green River Killer isn't going to Olympia. Bob Ferguson handily defeated Dave Reichert for the governor seat. Sen. Maria Cantwell gave her opponent nothing but the boot. And, altogether, it seems Washington became bluer, saner, a little world, a precious stone, set in the reddest of seas.   

Now that the whole country is basically Texas, Seattle might consider not staying in bed with conservative council members. Now is the time to get up and go hard to the left.   

Voters showed Washington State Ferries (WSF) some love this time: The Prohibit Carbon Tax Credit Trading initiative  went down in flames. This means WSF will get electric ships and some badly-needed government cheese. However, the Ensure Access to Natural Gas measure , which wants to decelerate Puget Sound Energy’s departure from carbon liberation and protec the buyers and sellers of natural gas statewide, left the gate in the lead: 51% to 48%.

Joe Kent is facing a second round of wound licking. His opponent in Washington's 3rd Congressional District race, Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is, at this point, ahead by 4 points.

The sun will be out today. That's something.

A termite mound that's been around for something like 34,000 years was recently discovered in South Africa. Of course, termites haven't called this mound home for thousands of years. And this is a shame, because termites are really delicious. You catch them during the rainy season; this is when termites take to the sky with lots of fat in their bodies (they are trying to start a new colony—the circle life, that sort of thing). A little cooking oil and a few minutes on the burner turns these brown critters into a tasty snack.

Let us end with this scene from Downtown 81. Ronald Reagan is president. Hip-hop is emerging. And Jean-Michel Basquiat is getting his groove on in the ruins. What I want to point out is the way he moves. So smooth. So cold. So internal. This is being with others to be by yourself. This is exactly how I feel today. Dancing to the aftermath.    

Last night, The Stranger's reporters spread across the city, watching the results roll in with local politicians. And everywhere we went, Emerald City Dispatch went, too. by Hannah Murphy Winter

Photos by Emerald City Dispatch

Last night, The Stranger's reporters spread across the city, watching the results roll in with local politicians. And everywhere we went, Emerald City Dispatch went, too. The photographer collective joined the Democrats' watch party at the Convention Center, the Washington Bus' Party at the Ballot Box on Capitol Hill, the victory party for Shaun Scott and Alexis Mercedes Rinck at Saint John's, and, eventually, Linda's Tavern, where all of Seattle's politicos often land at the end of a long, hard, emotional election night. 

The night started with high hopes, strong drinks, and good music. By the end of the evening, after many anxious hours and panic-inducing updates from MSNBC, the inevitable began to sink in. Still, people found community in each other. These four photographers captured it all. 

DJs Riz Rollins and Larry Mizell Jr. at The Stranger's watch party at the Crocodile. Ryder Collins/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At the Convention Center. Ryder Collins/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At the convention Center. Ryder Collins/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At the Convention Center. Ryder Collins/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At the Convention Center. Ryder Collins/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At the Convention Center. Ryder Collins/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger Miss Texas 1988 and Stranger Editor Hannah Murphy Winter At The Stranger's Watch Party. Ryder Collins/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger Outside of the Convention Center. Marcellus Bonow-Manier/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger Police at a protest near Cal Anderson Park. Marcellus Bonow-Manier/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger Bob Ferguson's victory speech at the Convention Center. Marcellus Bonow-Manier/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At the Convention Center. Marcellus Bonow-Manier/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger The Stranger's Shane Wahlund at the Crocodile. Marcellus Bonow-Manier/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At the Washington Bus' Ballot Box Party. Alex Bunting/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At The Stranger's Watch Party. Alex Bunting/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At Saint John's. Alex Bunting/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger Crafts at the Shout Your Abortion booth at The Stranger's watch party. Alex Bunting/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At The Stranger's watch party. Alex Bunting/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At Linda's. Liam Griffith/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At Linda's. Liam Griffith/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger Liam Griffith/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger At The Stranger's watch Party. Liam Griffith/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger Liam Griffith/Emerald City Dispatch for The Stranger

The Stranger's morning news round-up. by Ashley Nerbovig

Goooooood morning: The National Weather Service predicts a 50% chance of rain today, with a breezy evening ahead. Meteorologists expect wind speeds to possibly top 29 miles per hour, so batten down your rotting porch pumpkins people!

Time to talk dollars: Want to tell the City Council how to spend your tax dollars? Go to public comment tonight at 5 pm at City Hall. Or you can participate remotely. You can go to tell them to support a capital gains tax, or oppose cuts to tenant services. Or tell the Council to respect the Jumpstart spend plan and actually use the payroll tax to pay for affordable housing, as it was intended. Check back on the blog for more coverage of the budget from Hannah. 

ICYMI: With the blowout loss for former Council Member Tanya Woo, Hannah tells City Council Member Sara Nelson to count her days. Local politicos plan to mount a serious challenge to the conservative Council President Nelson next year in the hopes of ousting her and her pro-cop, pro-business agenda out of office.

Rob Saka Seeks Street Car phase-out: Saka proposed phasing out the South Lake Union streetcar and redirecting the funding to bus service in the City. The budget for the street car is about $4.4 million, which isn't a whole lot of money when you consider Saka wants $2 million to remove the Delridge median so he can take a left turn.

Last week, the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) completed its investigation into Seattle Police Department (SPD) Officer Kevin Dave, who hit and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula as she crossed through a crosswalk in January 2023. The OPA found Dave violated the department's driving policies as well as its policies requiring officers to follow the law. The City must hold a Loudermill hearing for Dave, which allows him to tell his side of the story before deciding on his discipline, so it may be a couple months before we know the final outcome. In the meantime, Dave continues to fight the traffic ticket Republican City Attorney Ann Davison issued him for his killing of Kandula. Seattle Municipal Court shows Dave's next hearing is scheduled for 8:30 am on December 18 in courtroom 301. 

BREAKING: OPA concluded its investigation into SPD Officer Kevin Dave on Friday and sustained policy violations for breaking the law and vehicle operation. Next step will be deciding discipline for him.

— Ashley Nerbovig (@AshleyNerbovig) November 11, 2024

What's your plan for this week anyway? Maybe you're checking out Christmas Dive Bar? Or maybe it's too soon? Maybe you're trying to enjoy something with more Thanksgiving vibes? Well, as always, our sister publication EverOut has you covered with the top 41 things to do this week in Seattle.

Republicans likely to control the US House: As it stands, Republicans have won 214 seats in the House, with Democrats at 205, and 16 races yet to be called. To control the House, Republicans need only to pick up another four seats, which they seem highly likely to do. Congress returned to Washington this week, ready to start setting Trump's right-wing agenda into motion.

Trump plans to pick Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State: The worst people in American continue to jockey for a position in Trump's new administration, with Florida Republican Rubio possibly securing the role of America's top diplomat, according to Politico. We're sure to hear more names in the coming days, including people such as Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, who Trump may consider for Secretary of Education. The nightmare continues. 

Israel kills 14 in Gaza: Two Israeli strikes killed 14 people in an area Israel had mostly declared to be a humanitarian zone. The deaths included at least two children, according to the Associated Press. 

Migos’ “Bad And Boujee” (Feat. Lil Uzi Vert): Been a minute since I checked out Tom Breihan's the Number Ones column, and I'm glad I plumbed it for a song today because I normally wouldn't think about Migos around holiday season, but that's when "Bad and Boujee" climbed to the number one spot on the charts, so I suppose that makes it a holiday classic.

Reading a sex-advice column at a time like this might seem a little pointless. by Dan Savage Reading a sex-advice column at a time like this — to say nothing of writing a sex-advice column at a time like this — might seem a little pointless. But I’ve lived long enough to know that seemingly pointless distractions, small comforts, and guilty pleasures have the power to sustain us in bad times. Taking a moment to read (or write or illustrate) a sex-advice column — or listen to or make some music or watch or make some porn — doesn’t mean you’re complacent or complicit. (Unless you voted for him, of course, in which case you can fuck the fuck off.) Because it’s the little things — the small pleasures — that keep us sane, keep us connected, and keep us going. Anyway, sitting down to write a column this week lifted my spirits a bit. I hope reading this week’s column lifts yours. — Dan P.S. All…

[ Read more ]

"These pigs locked me up to see what color I'd rot into!" by Suzette Smith

Like any fan of Seattle hardcore band the Blood Brothers, I have found myself at a show, pressed up against a wall of people, shouting the wrong lyrics to their songs. For instance, on their hit "USA NAILS" there's a hook where you think you're singing a cheer-style "one, one, and two!" but the lyrics are actually: "These pigs locked me up to see what color I'd rot into!"

The energetic screamo group was active from 1997-2007, during which time they released five critically-acclaimed albums, completed several European tours, and even played a set on Jimmy Kimmel Live, overcoming the reservations of the show's freaked-out producers. Perhaps the best indicator of their success is the fact that their US reunion tour—which hits Seattle on November 14 and 15—is selling out in several cities.

Ever ones to cut the bullshit, Blood Brothers don't have a new record; they're playing the fucking hits. Still, the tour is timed with Epitaph's anniversary reissue of one of their biggest albums Crimes (2004) on vinyl.

When we sat down to talk to Johnny Whitney, who fronts the band with fellow singer/screamer/guttural whisperer Jordan Blilie, he noted that plenty of lyrics websites list incorrect verses for Blood Brothers songs. "It's hilarious how wrong some of them are," Whitney said. "The lyrics on Spotify are not even close to what I'm actually saying. Just buy the fucking CD, and look it up. Come on, people."

We spoke with Whitney and Blilie separately, over sprawling phone calls that we have organized into this piece. For clarity, we're listing their responses together, as we seek to get into the nitty gritty of this group's  danceable, screaming-nightmare material.

Foremost, Whitney and Blilie both began by gushing about the other three members of their band: frenetic drummer Mark Gajadhar, vigorous guitarist Cody Votolato, and ultra-versatile bassist Morgan Henderson, who is currently best known as a member of Fleet Foxes.

"I cannot fucking believe that I got to work with these guys," Whitney says. "I just took all those things for granted at the time. Everybody was, and still is, coming from totally different places [musically], but there was always something really special about all of us together that was there from the moment that we started."

THE STRANGER: Johnny, I've always gotten the impression that you're the major force behind the lyrics.

JOHNNY WHITNEY: I came up with the majority of the lyrics, but it certainly was collaborative between Jordan and I. I would freewrite as much as I could, to have material to draw from, and going back to those notebooks kept things as free and fresh and not contrived as possible. The drawback of that approach is the lyrics are very abstract and hard to parse direct meaning from, but that's also kind of the point. I found myself writing about the absence of answers, or the absence of concrete truths that you can hold onto.

A lot of times, my process would center around coming up with a cool idea: a song name or some common refrain that we would want to work into a song, like "Burn Piano Island, Burn." Something that has a hook or conveys an image or feeling. Then we would reverse engineer the lyrics from that.

JORDAN BLILIE: I would absolutely say that I felt like Johnny was the driver, and for good reason. He's really good. When you see someone who is in a flow state, you do your best to accentuate and collaborate, to help mold and shape and add your pieces. It was always stuff that I was really excited to dig into. It was just that rich and that vibrant. The challenge for me was what can I add to it, you know? It always pushed me to try and come up with the most creatively-inspired stuff that I could.

You two have such an engaging stage style. People would call it sassy, but that has always felt like a description from people who have never been to a play and can't recognize theater. Do either of you have a background in theater arts?

WHITNEY: I wanted to be a child actor—I actually auditioned for that movie Blank Check (1994). Actually, a year after Jordan and I met, we were both in a Jr. High production of Alice in Wonderland. He was the Mad Hatter, and I was the Mock Turtle.

BLILIE: Why would you say that? [Laughs]

Jordan Blilie (left) and Johnny Whitney (right) Suzette Smith Jordan Blilie screams on the tour's first night in San Francisco. Suzette Smith

"USA NAILS" was such a hit, and it involved a phone number everyone could scream. How did that come to be?

WHITNEY: The name and the "1-900-USA-NAILS" comes from the chain nail salon, but we reverse-engineered it into a song about somebody using their one phone call from the county jail to call a phone sex line. It's the idea of loneliness, disaffection, and parasocial relationships with things that exist solely for their own profit or gain.

And yet it's also danceable. There are these moments live where you have an audience of people shaking their asses and shouting "to see what color I'd rot into!" Did you start with that idea and work backwards, or just jam it into that moment of the song?

WHITNEY: At that time, the band would all sit together in a room and have a kind of song tribunal about how each part should go. Then, at some point, we'd have a semi -finished version and [Jordan and I] would just try to fit lyrics to the songs. Especially on Burn, Piano Island, Burn. Some of those songs needed an editor so bad, right? I wouldn't change a thing about it, but looking back, there are parts where it sounds like everybody's playing a different song at the same time, but it kind of works, right? And for the lyrics, sometimes we just had to make it work.

That wasn't the first time Jordan whispered his lyrics in a guttural tone, but it's one of the more emblematic, right? How did that start?

BLILIE: By necessity—I don't have much of a range, you know? I have this weird baritone. Very early on we were drawing from crust punk, where you just have two voices screaming. And we didn't put a whole lot of thought into even what the other person was doing. But then, as we continued to develop, the stuff became more complex, and there was more room for different sorts of shadings of what we could do vocally. So it was just finding out: What is it I can do other than scream at the top of my lungs?

WHITNEY: Jordan's part at the end just works right? He was very inspired by Jarvis Cocker.

BLILIE: Yeah, you can trace that right back to Pulp. If you listen to any Pulp song, there's gonna be some whispery storytelling, with the compression cranked up so you can kind of hear every lick of the lips.

<a href="https://thebloodbrothersofficial.bandcamp.com/album/burn-piano-island-burn">Burn, Piano Island, Burn by The Blood Brothers</a>

BLILIE: Some of my favorite moments of writing with Johnny are the ones that we would where we would crack each other up.

Can you give an example?

BLILIE: Every lyric of "Guitarmy." We really got a kick out of the idea of opening our major label debut with the words, "do you remember us?" Because of the audacity, the absurdity of it.

So you guys all started this band when you were in your teens.

BLILIE: Yeah, we started when we were like, 15-16.

Are there any lyrics that have not aged well, in your opinion?

BLILIE: I'm sure they're the ones that we're not playing. [Laughs.] This question reminds me of something one of my professors said. It was my first class at UCLA, Queer Lit from Walt Whitman to Stonewall. In class discussions my fellow classmates would critique writing from the 1800s for not satisfying certain criteria, and our professor would say: You cannot look at the text backwards. You have to look at it forwards. You can't apply current day criteria to something that was written when that criteria didn't even exist. You have to engage with it in the context of when it was written. I don't think anything we wrote is in a canon warranting that level of examination, but it's useful nonetheless. It's a way for me to remind myself that I was 20, and I had the tools of a 20-year-old. It helps me to not beat myself up too much about it.

WHITNEY: There's a story behind this. When we were doing the song "Camouflage, Camouflage" on Young Machetes, Jordan and I were going back and forth on the lyrics. He was like, "Yeah, I'm great with all this." But he put a line through one verse, where I say: "All the girls in Montreal are smashing skateboards in the street." And I was just like: Fuck you, dude. I'm gonna keep this in. But he was right, because it sounds stupid, and it's like, really horny and makes me want to light my skin on fire. So I'm changing it to something else, probably something different every night.

Johnny Whitney (left) holds a crowd member's hand for support. Suzette Smith The crowd supports Johnny Whitney while he sings. Suzette Smith 

I wonder about imagery in Blood Brothers' songs that seems to be responding to beauty standards at the time. Like, in "Ambulance, Ambulance" you've got this blistering segue to the chorus: "What is love? / What is scam? / What is sun? / What is tan?"

WHITNEY: That's a double meaning. Because it's like tan—like suntan—but also tan is a blah color, right? It's like the color of a dentist's office wall. If you think of the idea of love being something that could feel on-fire, passionate, the color of a dentist's office wall is the opposite. Although, tanning does come into play in a lot of our lyrics. I've noticed as well.

Or on "Beautiful Horses" the lyrics are "gallop into your romance novels / dance atop heavy pectorals."

BLILIE: I think we were seeing an increasingly vapid culture, and we were trying to dig into that—dig into: What does it do to someone when they're bombarded by these sorts of images and messages? There was a lot of that in that writing; I can't say specifically with "Beautiful Horses," but I think "Trash Flavored Trash," would probably fit under that umbrella.

<a href="https://thebloodbrothersofficial.bandcamp.com/album/crimes-bonus-track-version">Crimes (Bonus Track Version) by The Blood Brothers</a>

In "Rats and Rats and Rats for Candy" there's an ongoing narrative of rats living inside a woman. It's like a play. There are characters. And the rats eventually chew out of her and try to find a new body to live in. I wondered if that was also about beauty standards or body dysmorphia?

WHITNEY: That song, it's about that, but it's also about manipulation, right? Not to get too personal, but I grew up with somebody who weaponized being sick—faked being sick—for their entire life in order to manipulate people and extract something they needed out of them. The character in that song is kind of a victim, but like a siren at the same time. They're trying to lure somebody in.

Is that person the rats, or are they Candy?

WHITNEY: The rats are in Candy. I mean, it's both.

What about "The Shame?" Your group resonates so much with "everything is gonna be just awful / when we're around" that you're putting it on t-shirts 20 years later. What does it mean?

WHITNEY: The whole premise of that song is having to sell yourself—how to commoditize yourself. It's about how you function in a capitalist society. You sink or swim by your ability to market yourself, make yourself desirable—whether it be in relationships, job market, blah blah blah. I've always been repulsed by that and was especially at the time we wrote it, which was in Venice Beach, while we were recording Burn, Piano Island, Burn. It was the longest time I'd ever been in LA, and that's the epicenter of being a self-salesman. That line encapsulates the feeling of being sold something. And you're in a position where, in order to survive, you have to be your own salesman.

Salesmen show up in other songs, like "The Salesman, Denver Max." That's another one that almost feels like a short story.

WHITNEY: I initially cribbed the idea for that song's lyrics from the Joyce Carol Oates short story, "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" It follows a narrative of a very dangerous, predatory man in the process of stalking and kidnapping somebody. “Denver Max” was a huge, uncomfortable gamble for me, because I wrote the entire song on my acoustic guitar, recorded it to a 4-track, and then played it for the guys—totally expecting them to hate it. It was really daunting to try to contribute as a songwriter; Cody, Morgan, and Mark are such talented musicians. I think they may have hated it; I don't really remember how we ended up recording it. It was nobody's favorite thing, but we just tracked it, and it sounded great and worked.

Have you read anything by playwright Caryl Churchill?

WHITNEY: Never heard of her.

"Live at the Apocalypse Cabaret" has a lyric in it that reminds me of her play Far Away, which has a scene of milliners making hats for people to wear at a public execution, so I always felt a symmetry there, because of the lyrics "the cross-eyed map of the afterlife is knitting tiny neck ties." 

WHITNEY: I'm going to be super honest, the songs that I'm the most familiar with the lyrics of, at this very moment, are songs that were going to be playing, because I've been rehearsing them. But I do remember, with that song, we were trying to be funny without being silly. Like, a cross-eyed map is a map that makes no sense, where you don't know where you're going. Knitting tiny neckties are noose ties. It's like dressing yourself up for death, right? It's trying to dress up something that's really heinous and horrible and incomprehensible, and also trying to navigate that, through a map that makes no sense.

At this moment you have cracked my understanding of a play you haven't even read. But I digress, I've read that "Celebrator" was a direct response to Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue."

BLILIE: That pumped up patriotism felt gross when taken in context with the images and much of the information that we were seeing come out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Is that why there are so many mentions of amputated limbs on Crimes?

BLILIE: The bulk of Crimes was trying to engage with war so that's where you get a lot of that grizzly imagery.

Well, personally, it's so nice that you're touring right now. Blood Brothers are great for when you need to scream, but you can't. You can scream along to the Blood Brothers in your head, or out loud at a show.

BLILIE: I'm glad that we could be of service, in that regard. It's hard for me not to go into a really bleak mindset when I look at our current political landscape. I find myself equal parts enraged and terrified. And there are times when I have to just close all news down. I guess it is a good time to get up and scream.

The Blood Brothers play the Showbox Thurs, Nov 14 and Fri, Nov 15. Thursday's show is all ages, and Friday's is 21+. 

This story was originally published in our sister paper, Portland Mercury.

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Talk about a well-oiled machine…

When Diana Madaras opened Madaras Gallery, naysayers were aplenty…

A word about monsters…