Let me start off by saying – I’m new to this whole “game” of politics. I’ve never really cared or been involved in politics, elections, or government. It was the wake-up call of the 2016 election that changed all of that for me. Since then, I’ve been on a deep dive to understand and learn as much as I can.
What I’ve learned: Politics IS a game.
When I started Conservative Ladies of Washington as “just a little Facebook group” two years ago, my purpose was to create an environment for likeminded ladies who love their country, love their families, want to speak freely, and want to step up and affect change. While personally and as an organization we typically align politically with the Republican platform, CLW was never and is not to this day, affiliated with “The Party.”
One of the things we defined early on as an organization was that we would make great efforts to fight the establishment by supporting America-First, Conservative Republicans. As former President Donald Trump would say…DRAIN THE SWAMP. And we all know, it’s swampy.
When I learned last Sunday that Snohomish County Councilman, Sam Low had announced that he would be “opposing” Representative Robert Sutherland for his house seat, I became very troubled. I live in Snohomish County. I voted for Sam Low. CLW supported Low for his re-election to the county council in 2021. I don’t know Sam personally, but what I do know, I think he’s a good guy.
However, as I read articles and learned that Sam “bills himself as a moderate Republican focused on transportation as his main priority” I became very concerned.
The last thing we need more of in Washington, or America, is a “moderate Republican.” That’s a huge red flag to me. I get it – maybe this district is pretty purple, and a moderate Republican seems more palatable to people. What we’ve learned about “moderate Republicans” is that we cannot rely on them to consistently vote the way we desperately need them to. We simply do not have room for “moderate”, for “lukewarm”, for RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). We are too far down the road, and we have a country to save, and we need elected leaders who we can rely on.
Over the last couple weeks, we have seen Representative Sutherland become a target of Governor Inslee, along with Representatives Klippert and Kraft who have been outspoken about election integrity. Last week, Inslee announced that he would be working to get legislation to make “lying” about election results a crime. He was specifically targeting Sutherland and other Republicans who attended Mike Lindell’s cyber symposium last fall.
Any time someone mentions “election integrity”, the left, the mainstream media, the moderates, put them in the category of being “far right.” Sorry, but I’ve lived in Washington long enough (46.75 years to be exact) to remember when Dino Rossi won the first two counts and Gregoire miraculously won the 3rd recount and became Washington’s governor. In fact, as a young 27-year-old who was voting for the first time, I threw up my hands and said: “I’m not voting if y’all are just gonna count until you get the result you want.” And I didn’t vote again until 2016.
Election integrity has been an issue in Washington state for decades. And the governor wants to make it a crime for people to talk about it. The timing is not lost on me – that as these announcements came from Inslee, it was a perfect time for a “moderate Republican” to step in.
From the moment I read the article announcing the great “GOP Duel” in Snohomish County, I was very disturbed. I’m not sure what the strategy is here but I see that this brings good probability for a Democrat to snatch up this seat. I see that this race is going to create division at a time when we are already greatly divided. I’m sure there are “party politics” to which I am not privy and I’m perfectly ok with that and would prefer it to remain that way.
I will take a position because these are the things that matter. These are races that we cannot afford to lose – we can’t afford to lose to a Democrat or put another “moderate Republican” (RINO) into our state legislature.
Robert Sutherland has a track record. We know where he stands. We know we can count on him to vote with us on the things that matter most.
We don’t need more deals with Dems in the legislature. I get it, it’s part of the game. Well, we’re not winning, so perhaps that’s not the best strategy.
I hope that Sam Low will reconsider. Filing isn’t until May, so he has time to reconsider, and I hope that he will do that. As a Snohomish County resident, I also have concern that he will not be able to give his full attention to the county council and the state legislature at the same time. But that’s really neither here nor there. We have a conservative in the 39th seat. He needs to stay there, and he needs our support.
Robert Sutherland has my support.
*By Julie Barrett, Founder, Conservative Ladies of Washington
