There are two Democrats in this race and three Republicans. The Republican candidates are not serious candidates, none having raised more than $8,000 (and one having raised $0.)

That's not surprising: The 1st Legislative District (Woodinville, Mountlake Terrace, Bothell, and Brier) is a classic Pacific Northwest blue bastion.

There's not much that the two Dems, statistician Derek Stanford and school teacher Vince DeMiero, disagree on. Both want dramatic tax reform, saying 'yea' to this year's high earners income tax initiative while adding that the idea actually doesn't go far enough to address Washington's regressive tax system. Both are social liberals (DeMiero makes a point of noting  he's a pro-choice Catholic, and Stanford, who's straight, is on the board of SEAMEC, an LGBT political group). And both are solid environmentalists.  (Footnote: Neither one is in line with PubliCola's ed reform agenda: Both have strong ties to the teachers union.)

Stanford has a broader vision, stressing the connection between multi-modal transportation, environmentalism, and jobs, while DeMiero has a laser-focused agenda, education and school funding.

But DeMiero's deep roots in the community—he's lived in the district since 1967 and teaches (journalism!) at Mountlake Terrace High School—and his long list of grassroots contributors tip the Cola scales in DeMiero's favor. (Stanford, until he moved to the district in the late 2000s, was a precinct committee officer in Seattle's 43rd District.)

Stanford's agenda is a blueprint of Democratic talking points (no pun intended) while DeMiero's agenda is driven by his service to his community.

PubliCola picks DeMiero.