Camden: Awards time for highlights, lowlifes of 2018 election

They warned of local taxes on “groceries” when what they really wanted to prevent were taxes on soda. Asked for examples of local government that had placed — or discussed — a tax on any grocery item other than soda, they couldn’t name one. But all of their commercials talked of local governments reaching into the pockets of working folks by taxing groceries, creating images of city councils hitting you with taxes on milk, eggs, hamburger or baby food.

Would the initiative have passed if they’d been up front about it? Or would it have just cost them more than $20 million to get it over the top?

A Big Daddy Pollitt Citation

A Big Daddy Pollitt Citation, named for the character in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” who spoke of the powerful odor of mendacity, to opponents of I-1631. They never missed a chance to claim, incorrectly, that the measure was a carbon “tax” when in reality it’s a fee. While that may not make much difference to the people who would have paid it, in Washington there’s a significant legal distinction because a tax can be used for almost any purpose the Legislature decides, but a fee must be used for something connected to the item or activity being charged.

Opponents doubled down on this with ads late in the campaign that featured people complaining about gasoline taxes going up, and none of it being spent on roads. An assist goes to the folks at the Washington Policy Center, who write about fiscal issues enough to know better, for also calling it a carbon tax.

The Silver Slug Award, for the slimiest tactic of the campaign season, to Republican activist Glen Morgan. He put together a campaign to convince Democratic voters in Spokane’s 6th Legislative District to write in Joe Pakootas instead of Jessa Lewis in the state Senate race. It was one of four similar schemes in districts with close races.

The 6th District campaign cost Morgan and a rich backer $4,200 for mailers sent around the district. Republican Jeff Holy beat Lewis by about 5,000 votes, so the 122 write-ins cast in that race had no effect and cost about $34 each. Maybe more if the facetiously named Conscience of the Conservatives committee gets fined by the Public Disclosure Commission.

A Coupon for Copy Editors R-Us, to sponsors of the Initiative 1639, for someone to read over the next gun control proposal they come up with. The full text on the back of the petitions didn’t conform to the standard format for amending state statutes, causing a series of challenges that temporarily bounced the measure off the ballot, and might still be the basis to challenge the measure in court now that it has passed.