This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Formation | 2007 |
---|---|
Founder | Aaron Ostrom |
Type | 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization |
Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
Region served | Washington (state), United States |
Aaron Ostrom | |
Staff | 14 [1] |
Website | https://fusewashington.org/ |
Fuse Washington is a progressive advocacy organization in Washington state. It is a member of the ProgressNow network. Fuse, a 501(c)(4) organization, along with its sister organization the Fuse Innovation Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, claims to be the state's largest progressive organization because of its email list of more than 100,000 people. [2] [3]
Fuse was launched in 2007 by executive director Aaron Ostrom. [4] Since then, the organization has grown to a staff of 14 [4] with a ten-member board of directors. [5]
Like other ProgressNow organizations, Fuse uses e-mail campaigns and grassroots organizing to inform its subscribers about local politics and lobby elected officials. [6] Fuse focuses primarily on campaigns involving climate change, racial justice, tax reform, political accountability, and workers rights. [7]
Fuse started their Progressive Voters Guide in 2008 as an online elections guide to races and initiatives in Washington state. The guide includes the endorsements and voting recommendations of many progressive organizations. Fuse's current partners include Washington Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, the Washington State Labor Council, The Stranger , UFCW Local 3000, and Unite Here. [8]
Fuse worked with Progress Virginia to expand their guide to Virginia for the 2019 elections. [9] ProgressNow Colorado used Fuse's site to create a guide in 2020, [10] along with California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. [11] In 2022, Fuse added an eighth state, Arizona, [12] to their voters guide website.
Fuse Washington [13] and its affiliated federal Super PAC, Together for Progress, [14] and state PAC, Fuse Votes, [15] combined spent more than $1.5 million in the 2022 election. More than half of that spending was focused on the race in Washington's 3rd Congressional District and another 30% was focused on Washington's 8th Congressional District. Fuse ran ads in which they described Republicans Joe Kent and Matt Larkin as extreme and opposed to abortion. [16] Fuse's work in the 3rd district received more attention after Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez won her election by less than 1 percent. This was considered a significant upset in a district that had "relative absence of spending from national Democrats." [17]
Fuse attended a fundraiser for Cathy McMorris Rodgers and recorded comments by Republican Representative Devin Nunes that received widespread attention after being aired on The Rachel Maddow Show . [18] In his remarks, Nunes said that Republican leaders in the U.S. House had delayed impeaching then Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein because it would have delayed the Senate's confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. [19] Nunes also said that a Republican majority in Congress was necessary to protect President Donald Trump from investigations. [20]
Less than a week before Election Day, Fuse released video footage in which Republican congressional candidate John Koster said he opposes abortion even in cases involving rape. [21] The video, taken by a Fuse activist at an Everett, Washington fundraiser for Koster,[ citation needed ] quickly attracted national and international attention. [22] [23] Critics in the media likened Koster's comments to other controversial remarks on rape by Republican Senate candidates Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock. [23] Koster was defeated by Democratic opponent Suzan DelBene one week after the clip was posted. Koster conceded the comments may have affected the race's outcome in one of Washington's most competitive districts. [24]
Fuse played a major role in an independent expenditure campaign to support pro-light rail candidates Claudia Balducci and John Stokes for City Council in Bellevue. [25] Fuse set up a political committee called Eastside Progress to coordinate a series of direct mail pieces with Washington Conservation Voters, the Cascade Bicycle Club, and the Bellevue firefighters, which spent approximately $30,000. [26] The independent expenditure campaign pit Fuse and its allies against Kemper Freeman and two other prominent Bellevue developers who contributed $69,000 to their political committee in support of Aaron Laing, Stokes' opponent. [27] Late in the campaign, Fuse organized a protest in Bellevue against what it called negative mail pieces against Balducci and Stokes. [28] The protest garnered a counter-protest by members of the group Build A Better Bellevue, which has opposed Sound Transit's light rail plans for Bellevue, [29] and the King County Republican Party. [30]
Balducci won re-election with more than 65% of the vote, [31] but the race between Stokes and Laing was very close. Stokes led after the initial count by only 51 votes out of 35,000 cast, which was a narrow enough margin to trigger a manual recount. [32] The hand recount confirmed Stokes' victory and increased his margin to 54 votes. [33]
Shortly before the 2011 general election, Fuse's Spokane Organizer Tanya Rioridan [34] filed a complaint against Spokane mayoral challenger David Condon with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission. [35] The complaint accused Condon of skirting campaign finance laws by funneling money through the Washington State Republican Party. [35] As reported by The Pacific Northwest Inlander, "Five donors to Condon's campaign — who had already given the maximum donation to him — gave an accumulated $25,000 to the state party over the course of three days in October, which the state GOP, in turn, handed right back to Condon, the citizens group says." [36] Despite the allegations, Condon went on to defeat incumbent Mary Verner win the Mayor's race by nearly 3,000 votes. [37]
Fuse was one of the first organizations to endorse Joe Fitzgibbon for the Washington House of Representatives in the 34th Legislative District. [38] It quickly became a contentious primary between four candidates in the Democratic-leaning district [39] and continued into the general election. Two labor unions and Fuse accused Fitzgibbon's general election opponent, Mike Heavey, of giving conflicting answers on candidate questionnaires. [40] These accusations devolved into a back-and-forth about Heavey's credibility and economic credentials several days before ballots were mailed. [41] Fitzgibbon went on to win the election with 56.5% of the vote. [42]
Fuse was an early opponent of State Supreme Court justices Richard B. Sanders and Jim Johnson [43] The organization was particularly active in trying to defeat Johnson, [44] who Fuse Executive Director Aaron Ostrom called an "ultraconservative legislator who is legislating from the bench." [45] Sanders was narrowly defeated by Bainbridge Island attorney and legal ethics specialist Charlie Wiggins, [43] while Johnson won his primary election and was unopposed in the general election. [46]
Less than two weeks before Election Day, Fuse broke the news that Republican candidate for United States Senate Dino Rossi received $4.5 million in support from outside groups that did not disclose their donors, the most of any candidate in the country. [47] [48] [49] In the final days of the campaign, Rossi's total support from groups with undisclosed donors increased to nearly $7 million. [50] In addition, Fuse reported that Jaime Herrera Beutler received $934,599 [51] in her successful race for Congress in Washington's 3rd congressional district.
In 2017, Fuse was active in [Protests against Donald Trump] in Washington state, with a focus on defending the Affordable Care Act. In February, They helped organize a protest outside the office of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers [52] and a march with hundreds of attendees outside the office of Rep. Dave Reichert. [53] In addition, Fuse hosted a town hall with 800 attendees for Rep. McMorris Rodgers that she did not attend. [54] Over the summer, Fuse organized protest outside a fundraiser she held in Bellevue, Washington and outside a town hall event she hosted with limited seating. [55]
In 2014, Fuse obtained a letter from the Pacific Coast Coal Company to Black Diamond residents detailing plans to reopen the John Henry No. 1 Mine, which had been closed since the mid-1990s. [56] The organization claimed that more than 1,400 people had submitted comments through them in opposition to the mine. Fuse continued working against the project in 2017 when the federal regulator overseeing the mine found that it would have no significant impact on the environment, a finding which Fuse disagreed with [57]
On May 24, 2012, Fuse and fellow progressive organizations Color of Change, CREDO Mobile, People for the American Way, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and SumofUs, delivered a petition with more than 500,000 signatures asking online-retailer Amazon.com to cut ties with the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). [58] At an Amazon shareholder meeting the same day, Amazon General Council Michelle Wilson announced Amazon would not renew its membership in ALEC [59] citing “public concerns.” [60] Fuse spokesperson Collin Jergens commended Amazon's decision saying, “We are happy Amazon.com has decided to sever ties with the shadowy corporate front that is ALEC: Legislators' job is to represent voters, not be guided by the interests of giant corporations." [61]
After Democratic State Senators Tim Sheldon and Rodney Tom announced in December 2012 that they would caucus with Senate Republicans in the upcoming legislative session, [62] Fuse launched King Tom Watch – a satirical website intended to lampoon Tom for his role in creating a Republican-led majority in the Washington Senate. [63] On January 31, 2013, Fuse members gathered outside the Washington State Capitol and presented Tom with a portrait depicting the majority leader as a monarch. [64]
Fuse publicly criticized Tom for supporting legislation to repeal the state's Family and Medical Leave Act [65] and co-sponsoring a bill to undercut the minimum wage by instituting a temporary "training wage" for new workers. [66] In an effort to attract attention to the “training wage,” Fuse organized a press conference during which House Democrats Mike Sells, Timm Ormsby, Sherry Appleton, and Laurie Jinkins introduced legislation to establish a “training wage” for freshmen legislators. [67] [68]
Fuse was an early opponent of Washington State Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna. Shortly after McKenna announced that he was participating in a lawsuit to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Fuse collected and delivered petitions from 36,000 people urging McKenna to drop the lawsuit. [69] Since then, Fuse has continued to criticize McKenna's participation in the lawsuit [70] [71] because they believe his efforts would "allow big insurance companies to deny coverage to sick patients, increase the cost of prescriptions for seniors, and make it harder for small businesses to provide health care coverage for their workers.” [72] In an effort to stop McKenna's challenge, Fuse supported a lawsuit filed by Seattle lawyer Knoll Lowney that alleged McKenna's challenge to the Affordable Care Act was an unethical attack on women's health care options. [73] [74]
In addition, Fuse prominently criticized McKenna's refusal to represent Commissioner of Public Lands Peter J. Goldmark in a lawsuit against the Okanogan County Public Utility District. [75] [76] Fuse has also been cited as a source for opposition research about McKenna's campaign finance disclosures and fact-checking McKenna's public statements. [77] [78]
Fuse's Sizzle and Fizzle awards are a humorous way to recognize the political figures that they think have done the best and worst job in the previous year.
In 2012, Fuse awarded Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna a Fizzle award for his on-going effort to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Additional Fizzle awards were given to State Representative Mark Hargrove for comparing same-sex marriage to a person marrying bacon and Senator Don Benton “for putting the interests of Wall Street ahead of his constituents.” [79]
Fuse's 2012 Sizzle awards were given to State Representatives Hans Dunshee, Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, Jamie Pedersen, and Luis Moscoso, State Senators Derek Kilmer, Frank Chopp, and Lisa Brown, and the Washington State Budget and Policy Center. [79] [80]
In 2011, Fuse gave a Fizzle award to Governor Christine Gregoire for "conceding the political landscape to Tim Eyman and conservative business interests", along with State Senator Jim Kastama and Bellevue City Councilmember Kevin Wallace. [81] Winners of its 2011 Sizzle awards included state Representative Laurie Jinkins of Tacoma for being a "vocal champion for legislation to fund K-3 education by finally ending tax breaks for Wall Street Banks," as well as Chris Reykdal of Tumwater. [82]
Timothy Donald Eyman is an American anti-tax activist and businessman.
Dino John Rossi is an American businessman and politician who served as a Washington State Senator thrice, from 1997 to 2003, in 2012, and again from 2016 to 2017. A Republican, he is a former chair of the Washington State Special Olympics.
Richard Conlin is a former member of the Seattle City Council, first elected to council in 1997 and reelected in 2001, 2005, and 2009. He was elected, unanimously, by the council to be its president on January 7, 2008 and was unanimously reelected on January 4, 2010.
Robert Marion McKenna is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17th attorney general of Washington from 2005 to 2013 after serving on the Metropolitan King County Council from 1996 to 2005. A member of the Republican Party, he ran for Governor of Washington in 2012, losing to Democrat Jay Inslee.
Michael Sean McGavick is an American business executive and a graduate of the University of Washington.
Washington's 8th congressional district is a district for the United States House of Representatives located in western Washington State. It includes the eastern portions of King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, and crosses the Cascade mountains to include Chelan and Kittitas counties. The district's western part includes the exurban communities of Sammamish, Issaquah, and Maple Valley but does not include Seattle and Tacoma's more immediate suburbs. On its east side, the 8th's population centers include the rural communities Wenatchee, Leavenworth, and Ellensburg. It is currently represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democrat Kim Schrier, who was first elected to the seat in 2018.
Rosemary Ann McAuliffe is an American politician from the state of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Washington State Senate from 1993 to 2017.
Sanford "Sandy" Brown is an American travel writer, tour guide, and United Methodist minister from the Seattle, Washington area. He has been a leader in advocacy against homelessness and gun violence and in favor of marriage equality.
Dick Knight attended Shoreline High School in Seattle, Washington where he was a high school tennis standout competing with and against other tennis great Tom Gorman. From 1966 to 1970 he attended the University of Washington where he was named Tennis Captain and the first U.W. NCAA Coaches All American. He was inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame in 1995 and the USTA Pacific Northwest Hall of Fame in 2015.
Suzan Kay DelBene is an American politician and businesswoman who has been the United States representative from Washington's 1st congressional district since 2012.
Elections were held on November 2, 2010, to determine Washington's nine members of the United States House of Representatives. Representatives were elected for two-year terms to serve in the 112th Congress from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. Nonpartisan blanket primary elections were held on August 17, 2010.
The 2012 Washington gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012. Candidates in the election were chosen in an August 7, 2012 primary election, under the state's nonpartisan blanket primary system, which allows voters to vote for any candidate running in the race, regardless of party affiliation. The two candidates who received the most votes in the primary election qualified for the general election.
Michael J. O'Brien is an American politician and former member of the Seattle City Council who represented District 6 in northwest Seattle. He was first elected in 2009 to a different, city-wide council seat. He was the leading proponent of the opt-out list for the Yellow Pages. He was the only opponent of the proposed deep bore tunnel under downtown Seattle on the city council. He was chair of the local chapter of the Sierra Club before running for office. In this capacity, he was one of the leading opponents of the 2007 Roads and Transit ballot measure.
Mark Anthony Miloscia is an American politician and former public school teacher who served in the Washington State Senate from 2015 to 2019. A Democrat for more than twenty years, in 2014 he switched to the Republican Party and ran for election to represent the 30th Legislative District in the state senate - winning by more than ten percentage points. In 2016, Miloscia ran for state auditor as a Republican, he lost the general election to Democrat Pat McCarthy by 5 percentage points. He represented the 30th legislative district for seven terms, from 1999 to 2013, in the Washington House of Representatives. He was endorsed by The Seattle Times newspaper for re-election in 2018.
Referendum 74 was a Washington state referendum to approve or reject the February 2012 bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. On June 12, 2012, state officials announced that enough signatures in favor of the referendum had been submitted and scheduled the referendum to appear on the ballot in the November 6 general election. The law was upheld by voters in the November 6, 2012 election by a final margin of 7.4% and the result was certified on December 5.
Laurette T. Koellner is an American business executive, the former president of Boeing International.
The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the 10 U.S. representatives from the state of Washington, one from each of the state's 10 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on August 2.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the 10 U.S. representatives from the state of Washington, one from each of the state's 10 congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. Going into this election, the Democratic Party represented seven seats, while the Republican Party represented three seats.
The 2024 Washington gubernatorial election will be held on November 5, 2024. The top-two primary will be held on August 6. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jay Inslee announced on May 1, 2023 that he would not run for a fourth term. Inslee, who previously served in the U.S. House, was first elected governor in 2012 and won re-election in 2016 and 2020 by increasing margins each time.
The 2024 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the ten U.S. representatives from the State of Washington, one from each of the state's congressional districts. The elections will coincide with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections. The primary elections are scheduled for August 6, 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)