This was not an easy choice.

We have two top candidates for this  position, Pramila Jayapal and Brady Walkinshaw.

They are both doctrinaire, effective  Seattle liberals .. as blue as the sky we sometimes see in June and as deep blue as those causes we heard so much about from the caste of Democrats who spoke out at this year’s historic Democratic Convention.

My choice is based on the way Brady approaches his campaign and on what I believe is a real commitment to the job rather than to using Congress as a stepping stone.  

In part this perception comes from my inability to get Pramila to comment on issues specific to THIS DISTRICT.  I tried, but she would not talk with me even when we met at a wine and talk party run by David Brewster.

Pramila  is an ambitious politician but  does not  even live in this Congressional  District.  In her Congressional District, Pramila has been an outstanding advocate for immigrants and under represented minorities.  That makes sense because she was part of the effort to create the ninth as a “‘majority minority” district.  

Why then has Pramila chosen not to run in the ninth and, instead run in District 7?

What worries me is that she admits to  being an opportunist .. to running now because Jim McDermott is  stepping down.  Is that a good reason?  Was she afraid of running as a person of color against Adam Smith?  Did she think she would have a privilege based on her skin color or history of advocacy for people of color?

Brady is very different.  He lives in and has worked in the 7th District for his full political career.  As a Cubano who grew up in the the far more conservative eastern part of our state, Brady Piñero Walkinshaw could (and does) talk about ethnic issues.  Even more relevant to Seattle, as a  married gay man, he certainly has the chops to identify as a Seattleite.

There is, however more to Brady.  This man is knowledgeable about  Seattle institutions .. from Gates to the UW to the Port and Amazon.  We were able to talk  easily about complex issues like the effects on jobs when invisible, non union workers in Amazon  fulfillment centers replace jobs for retail workers even at the level of Walmart.  We discussed his role as a Seattle Congressman in  fighting for the ice breakers the Coast Guard needs to maintain a US presence in the  critical NW passage trade routes opening up because of global warming.  And, as a UW Professor, I was excited to discover how much Brady knows about our faculty and about the challenges we face as a public university in an era where our major competitors are private universities with multimillion dollars of tax free endowments.

What impressed me most, however, was that Brady  sees this seat as an end  in itself. At age 32, this guy talks about building the kind  of career in the House that could have a long term  benefit not only for Seattle but for those causes we heard so much about from the caste of Democrats who spoke out at this year’s historic Democratic Convention.