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Hobbs Wins Surprise Endorsement

This Washington   December 30, 2011 at 6:45 am Josh Feit

Flaming liberal Brendan Williams endorses conservative Steve Hobbs in crowded field of Democrats.

Former state Rep. Brendan Williams, a hard-hitting lefty who resigned his seat in 2010 because he was frustrated with Democratic leadership, has decided to endorse state Sen. Steve Hobbs (D-44) in the crowded field of Democrats running in the redrawn 1st Congressional District.

Williams’ endorsement is a surprise because Hobbs is a leader of the Roadkill Caucus, a group of conservative Democrats who commandeered the state senate away from liberal leadership to thwart the unions, pass conservative budgets, and give Republicans more power than their numbers dictate. In short, the ascension of Hobbs’ conservative economic agenda in the legislature (and anti-teachers’ union agenda) is exactly what sent Williams running for the hills.

However, with the addition of rural Whatcom County, the 1st—Democratic US Rep. Jay Inslee’s once-blue district (Inslee’s now running for governor)—has become more of a swing district.

Williams called Hobbs, an Iraq vet, an authentic voice for the middle class.

Williams, who had been supporting super liberal state Rep. Marko Liias in the intramural (Liias dropped out yesterday because he was re-disricted into the 7th) thinks Hobbs (who’s liberal on social issues, by the way, such as gay rights) gives Democrats their best chance. Williams also likes that Hobbs, an Iraq vet, is authentically middle class.

In his inimitably candid style (loaded with backhanded compliments about how the Democrats on the redistricting commission remade the 1st), Williams said:

In designing a 1st Congressional District weighted toward Republicans, the Redistricting Commission made centrism essential. My friend Steve Hobbs is an unrepentant centrist. Even where we disagree, I know where he stands. In a Congress dominated by the super-wealthy, Steve can be an authentic voice for the middle class because he is middle class. With his fiscal conservatism and social progressivism — along with his military service — Steve is best-suited to win a district made very challenging. Furthermore, as a Snohomish County officeholder he can best take on a presumptive Republican nominee from Snohomish County – John Koster.

Koster, an ultra-conservative who ran and lost narrowly to US Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA, 2) in 2010, has been redistricted into the 1st.

There’s also a (not so backhanded) dig at Suzan DelBene in Williams’ statement. DelBene, the “super-wealthy” ex-Microsoft executive who put $2.3 million of her own money through loans and direct contributions into her 2010 campaign against US Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA, 8 ), has also been redistricted into the 1st and is likely to announce her candidacy in a week or so.


  • BuschLeague

    In a change of roles, apparently Hobbs has promised the job of “congressional wingman” to Aaron Reardon. He has also told Reardon’s squeeze that she can have a job as the wight lifting instructor on his staff.

  • David Kelley

    I was just going to say that Senator Hobb’s connection to Aaron Reardon may prove costly if that investigation ever gets anywhere.  Only time will tell…

  • Deb Eddy

    Wonderful!  I am and will continue to be a strong supporter of my friend, Sen. Hobbs.  And snarky comments about the Snohomish executive are kind of beside the points,guys.

  • Anonymous

    I am stunned by Williams’ endorsement of Hobbs. Williams has struck me as being a person of principle over party. Perhaps it is that Williams sees Hobbs as marginally better for this position than Koster. That may well be, but I would not be in favor of exporting Hobbs just because Koster is even more undesirable.
    Despite the fact that Hobbs continues to put a “D” behind his name, he has been unabashedly proud of NOT being a Democrat, but rather an “R”, a member of the Roadkill Caucus. This obstructionist faction has held the legislative process hostage while attempting to extract concessions that will hurt the middle-class. Roadkillers say they want to reduce, then reform, then consider revenue; however, there is no reason to believe that once they have participated hand-in-hand with their Republican allies in gutting education and other social services, in “reforming” worker protections and due process out of the law, that they will in fact then vote for revenue. His specious “Reform before Revenue” stance, which appears on the chamber doors of the Senate Republicans, has been evident since his vote for 2261, an omnibus education reform hoax that comes with a huge price-tag but no way to pay for it. Even as the worst recession in recent history stared him in the face he steadfastly refused to acknowledge that his support for false ed reform was a charade given that he had no means to pay for what he was endorsing. He says he wants to overturn with the will of the people by removing voter-approved 732 and 728 because they don’t come with a revenue source, but he has made no mention of overturning his own vote for the same reason.

  • David Kelley

    Who is being snarky?  Senator Hobbs and County Exec. Reardon are thick as thieves, and so you need to at least acknowledge that any connection between the two could cause some problems if indeed it is found to be true that Aaron did misuse County funds for personal gain.  Not trying to take potshots here, just pointing out a political reality.

  • Trevor

    Guess what? Fiscal conservatism doesn’t help the middle class.

  • Monster

    the state going broke and defaulting doesnt help the middle class either.

  • Anonymous

    Well…. could be that a Williams endorsement for Hobbs means a Hobbs endorsement for Williams run in the 10th, just sayin

  • Deb Eddy

    Wow. I haven’t seen that many superficially conclusory statements in a long time. 

  • shutup peasants

    yes, how dare the peons comment about their betters like that.

    all statements must be documented.  Two prior legislators would NEVER have an implicit back scratching arrangement, that’s outrageous!

  • People Vote

    Goodman is the only announced candidate who can motivate the grassroots volunteers to work their butts off.  So we Democrats should get behind Goodman and get focused for a victory and the others should drop out of the race. 

  • Sarge

    @People Vote: Goodman can motivate the grassroots, but he isn’t the only one. Darcy has been very good at that in the past, and she can raise lots of dough. I wouldn’t count on anyone dropping out. The person that should drop out is Darshan Rauniyar. He’s out of his league in this field. Can’t see his campaign getting any traction. Here’s a scary thought. What if there are six Democrats on the ballot, and none make it into the top two? 

  • jimu

    That’s a ridiculous statement.

  • glacierpeaks

    Ouch, these are our choices now that my guy Marko is out? Sounds like the same choice we Gen-Xers always get: “Candidate A has the same neoliberal beliefs as Candidate B, but you should still vote for him because of [INSERT BOOMER CULTURE WAR ISSUE HERE]“.

    If that’s who the Democrats are these days, then I don’t care if they up and vanish like a…

  • Deb Eddy

    Perhaps both you and “CinnaThePoet” should consult an English dictionary for word meanings, diagram those sentences, analyze for logic.  As long as we accept empty rhetoric like Cinna’s as true debate about public issues and accurate commentary about a person’s positions, this country is going to continue is slightly downward trajectory.  You do no one any favors by defending it, “shutup peasants,” except maybe you just misunderstood my comment and/or replied to the wrong post.

  • Anonymous

    Pridemore another ” I am not a roadkiller ” right… endorsed Hobbs.

  • diagram this

    like i said, ”please get a dictionary and diagram” + “shutup peons”…

    how totally snotty can you get?

    it’s a fact brendan quit claiming to be so liberal he couldn’t stand roadkill, now he’s endorsing one, there is more than probable cause here to claim backscratching and opportunism.

    and by the fucking way if you’re worried about the downward trajectory pls. look in a mirror — the people in power and specifically the democrats have failed for thirty years to stem job losses, decline and reduction in middle class standards of living so don’t lecture us about sentence diagramming, okay?  because that would be being an asshole. 

  • Ed Debby

    oh please, go diagram your sentences, and get a dictionary.  you’re missing the main point, which is tohave properly diagrammed sentences.

  • Anonymous

    more likely an endorsement for insurance commissioner, where Williams makes a nice six figure salary courtesy of the taxpayers, if Kreidler retires.

  • Anonymous

    Only in far left and far out of touch Seattle would there be a debate over a liberal endorsing a moderate.  Maybe Brendan and others want to keep the seat Dem and see Hobbs as the only legit candidate to do so.  DelBene?!? yeah, right.  Darcy Burner?  Even more hilarious. 

    And really, who cares what Williams has to say.  I guess publicola needs its version of Al Sharpton to go to get a meaty quote.  Williams became a big whiny baby when the House didn’t send itself off a cliff.  Now he makes a sweet 6 figure income in an insurance commissioner sinecure, building up his state pension so he can suck off the taxpayers the rest of his life.  Of course, if you represent Olympia, you have to be a commie.