Earlier today, we reported that former KIRO-TV anchor and King County Executive candidate Susan Hutchison says she supports the legislation passed in Olympia this year that expands domestic partner rights, and she supports R-71, a referendum on this year's ballot asking voters if they want to uhpold the legislation.

The news may be surprising to some. Hutchison, who says she's "nonpartisan,"  is widely considered to be a Republican and a social conservative. (A regular financial contributor to the Republican Party, Hutchison was on the board of the Discovery Institute, which famously fought—and famously lost —a  battle to have intelligent design, née creationism, taught in public schools.)

Hutchison's opponent, King County Council Member Dow Constantine (who gladly flaunts his Democratic Party bona fides), calls Hutchison's position on R-71 an "abrupt shift" calculated for the general election.

They point to Hutchison's rating from SEAMEC, a local group that grades candidates on gay and lesbian issues. SEAMEC published its findings druing the primary. They were unable to schedule an interview with Hutchison, and rated her with a "?" because they had insufficient information.

Constantine got straight A's from the group and earned a "5" for "Highly Recommended.'



We have a call in to SEAMEC to find out why they couldn't get an interview with Hutchison.