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Campaign Fizz: King County Council Campaign Turns Ugly
Your one-stop shop for today's local campaign news, gossip, and analysis.
• In press release freak out this morning, John Wyble, a campaign consultant for King County Council candidate (and current Seattle Port Commissioner) John Creighton lashed out at Creighton's opponent Richard Mitchell, accusing him of "sleazy Rupert Murdoch style tactics" more fitting for Mitchell's "home country of England" than the Pacific Northwest.
Last week, Mitchell sent out a mailer referring to a story, originally published on PubliCola and subsequently picked up by the Seattle Times, about a restraining order that was taken out against Creighton by a former girlfriend, Susan Robinet, who dated Creighton for several years. The order, which restrained Creighton from “having any contact whatsoever, in person or through others, by phone, mail, or any means” with Robinet, was dismissed after Creighton paid her $5,000 and agreed to stay away from her. Mitchell also reportedly did a robocall focusing on the restraining order.
In her request for the restraining order, Robinet said that Creighton contacted her “repeatedly” after they stopped dating, sent her “an excessive amount of texts (89 last week),” told her he had been “pounding the 20 something receptionist” at her office, “threatened to come over” and continued to contact her by text and email. "I believe he is stalking me and I fear for my safety," Robinet wrote.
"You would think with the Rupert Murdoch scandal going on as we speak, Mitchell would think twice about sleazy, tabloid-style attacks, but it must be the kind of politics he's used to in Britain. It doesn't belong here," Wyble said in a statement.
Mitchell has lived in the United States since he was 12.
Contacted by phone, Wyble did not say any of Mitchell's statements were untrue, but called the 2009 incident and subsequent payment "water under the bridge at this point. It's been settled. It got dismissed. This has nothing to do with good government at the county."
I asked Wyble whether Creighton would be bringing up incumbent Jane Hague's 2008 arrest for drunk driving as part of his own campaign. "We don't have any plans to bring up the DUI issue," Wyble said.
• Over on KUOW, reporter Amy Radil has an interesting profile of all four candidates running for Hague's seat; the fourth candidate is former Bellevue City Council member Patsy Bonincontri.
• More last-minute contributions to Let's Move Forward, the pro-tunnel referendum group: $5,000 each from Liberty Mutual Group, an insurance company based in Dover, NH, and the Laborers' Political League Education Fund; $2,500 from Sabey Corp., a Seattle-based developer; and $1,000 from Alaska Airlines.
• And more last-minute contributions to Maurice Classen, who's running against Jean Godden. On the high end: Two maxed-out ($700) contributions developer Matt Griffin and the political arm of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy. On the low end: $30 from Michelle Gregoire, Gov. Chris Gregoire's daughter.
• In press release freak out this morning, John Wyble, a campaign consultant for King County Council candidate (and current Seattle Port Commissioner) John Creighton lashed out at Creighton's opponent Richard Mitchell, accusing him of "sleazy Rupert Murdoch style tactics" more fitting for Mitchell's "home country of England" than the Pacific Northwest.
Last week, Mitchell sent out a mailer referring to a story, originally published on PubliCola and subsequently picked up by the Seattle Times, about a restraining order that was taken out against Creighton by a former girlfriend, Susan Robinet, who dated Creighton for several years. The order, which restrained Creighton from “having any contact whatsoever, in person or through others, by phone, mail, or any means” with Robinet, was dismissed after Creighton paid her $5,000 and agreed to stay away from her. Mitchell also reportedly did a robocall focusing on the restraining order.
In her request for the restraining order, Robinet said that Creighton contacted her “repeatedly” after they stopped dating, sent her “an excessive amount of texts (89 last week),” told her he had been “pounding the 20 something receptionist” at her office, “threatened to come over” and continued to contact her by text and email. "I believe he is stalking me and I fear for my safety," Robinet wrote.
"You would think with the Rupert Murdoch scandal going on as we speak, Mitchell would think twice about sleazy, tabloid-style attacks, but it must be the kind of politics he's used to in Britain. It doesn't belong here," Wyble said in a statement.
Mitchell has lived in the United States since he was 12.
Contacted by phone, Wyble did not say any of Mitchell's statements were untrue, but called the 2009 incident and subsequent payment "water under the bridge at this point. It's been settled. It got dismissed. This has nothing to do with good government at the county."
I asked Wyble whether Creighton would be bringing up incumbent Jane Hague's 2008 arrest for drunk driving as part of his own campaign. "We don't have any plans to bring up the DUI issue," Wyble said.
• Over on KUOW, reporter Amy Radil has an interesting profile of all four candidates running for Hague's seat; the fourth candidate is former Bellevue City Council member Patsy Bonincontri.
• More last-minute contributions to Let's Move Forward, the pro-tunnel referendum group: $5,000 each from Liberty Mutual Group, an insurance company based in Dover, NH, and the Laborers' Political League Education Fund; $2,500 from Sabey Corp., a Seattle-based developer; and $1,000 from Alaska Airlines.
• And more last-minute contributions to Maurice Classen, who's running against Jean Godden. On the high end: Two maxed-out ($700) contributions developer Matt Griffin and the political arm of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy. On the low end: $30 from Michelle Gregoire, Gov. Chris Gregoire's daughter.
