Trying to understand the upcoming county chair election is a lot like untangling the wires in Tom Mielke’s dorsolateral prefrontal brain.
No matter how simple you might think a brain can be, it’s complicated!
Mielke, of course, is county Councilor Mielke. He’s one of five people in the county chair race.
The others are fellow county Councilors Jeanne Stewart and David Madore, former county Commissioner Marc Boldt and Battle Ground Councilor Mike Dalesandro.
Stewart, Madore and Mielke are all Republicans, Boldt is running as an independent (but he’s really a moderate Republican), and Dalesandro is the lone Democrat in the field.
Analyzing this race could have been easy, but when Stewart and Dalesandro jumped in on the last day … well, it got messy.
Hey, it is what it is, so let’s get started.
Madore: This character — in my view — is finished as a political force here. He’s done so much stupid stuff he should simply call it a day and aimlessly play with those gadgets he sells.
But of all the “grande stupido” stuff he’s done, there was nothing more stupido than hiring Don Benton as the county’s environmental services director.
That is the chain he can not dislodge from his neck.
And believe me, he’s tried. Word on the street is, as public pressure mounted on Madore, he politely asked Benton if he would leave his $110,000 plus county job.
As the story goes, Benton then politely told Madore he knew a place where he could park his shiny new Tesla.
In other words, in what world does Madore live in where he actually thought Sen. Benton (yes, he gets two taxpayer checks) would do the right thing? If there are taxpayer dollars to be had or free lunches to be eaten, Benton will always be the first in line.
That’s sort of like asking Pooh if he wouldn’t mind putting the honey jar down.
None of this makes Madore very popular.
Mielke: Mielke was actually the brains (I apologize for using that word) behind the Benton hire. There was likely some horse-trading going on behind the scenes with Madore. So one minute, things were pretty normal around these parts, and the next minute, Benton was on the county payroll, and it was like what the…
Benton was in and crony politics had won.
Mielke usually plays second fiddle in the M&M duo, but he has his “take the lead” moments. This was one of them.
I honestly don’t quite get how Mielke keeps getting elected. I suspect it has something to do with a “Hey, Mielke is more like me than Clinton is” philosophy. But really, folks. Isn’t there a conservative out there with a light bulb that goes on every once in awhile?
All that said, you can’t count Mielke out, because he must have the “it” factor. (And I left out a few letters there.)
Stewart: Stewart has proved to be a solid county councilor and has — at times — been a good foil for the M&M boys. But there are two things working against her:
• Even though she had nothing to do with Benton’s hiring, she could have claimed the high ground by taking the lead in ridding the county of Benton. Remember, the county could save $750,000 if it simply eliminates his department. Effective, clean and simple. Instead, she took a wait-and-see backseat.
• The second issue with her winning the chair position is what would happen to her open seat. The same issue also exists if Madore or Mielke gets elected to the chair. If her seat opens, it’s the councilors who ultimately will decide who joins them.
And let this point settle in a bit, because it’s important. If you were afraid now, be very afraid then.
In the end, Stewart is well-liked and has a growing fan club.
Boldt: Boldt is running with no party affiliation. Of course this could hurt him. On the other hand, he has the reputation of being a moderate, and after seeing the shenanigans of the present council, that could be a plus.
Dalesandro: We don’t know a lot about this Democrat yet, but the best thing he likely has going at this point is he’s the only candidate with a “D” next to his name. That should get him to the general election, but winning there will be a tougher slog.
Analysis: When Stewart and Dalesandro jumped into the race on the last day, it jumbled up the possibilities.
My first instinct was to say this lineup dooms Boldt. He needed the Democratic vote to move forward, and much of that now will go to Dalesandro. But I do see a possible path forward for him. Boldt could get a bunch of the moderate Republican votes, a slice of the independent votes and even some Democratic votes.
If Madore, Mielke and Stewart split the rest of the Republican votes, that could put them in third, fourth and fifth place.
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That would then advance Boldt to the general election.
And remember, in Washington it’s the top two vote-getters who end up in the general election. So even though there’s no guarantee for the Democrat Dalesandro to get there, the numbers could provide him a shot to make the general election.
It’s still early, though. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. But wear your seat belt.
It could get bumpy.
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