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AWB Political Endorsements Will Strengthen Business Climate in Washington |
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Written On: May/June 2004 |
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Written By: by Scott Carlson |
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After a century of staying on somewhat neutral ground, the Association of Washington Business (AWB) will begin offering its members one more service when it comes to Election Day.
Members of AWB’s Executive Committee recently decided that the Association will begin endorsing candidates for legislative seats in an effort to create a more business-friendly Legislature.
“We’re looking for candidates who agree with us on our issues. We want to endorse candidates who want to make this a more competitive state,” said AWB’s Governmental Affairs Vice President Gary Chandler.
“However, gaining AWB’s support will be a rigorous process,” Chandler said.
“We will be going through their vote record, last year’s, and the vote record they have this year, and meld them together,” he said. “Any incumbent legislator that has voted with AWB 80 percent of the time or better is automatically endorsed. That’s the first cut.”
Candidates who don’t fall in that category still have a chance at being endorsed by AWB. All candidates who have a voting record of 79 percent or less, and challengers seeking an AWB endorsement, will face an even more meticulous screening process.
These candidates will be sent a questionnaire asking them to provide their thoughts on policy-related questions, important business competitiveness, i.e. taxation, health care, environment, tort reform, and workers’ compensation.
“We want to know their views on those issues, so our members can get a feel on how that candidate might vote in certain circumstances,” said Kristen Sawin, AWB’s Political Director.
After they fill the questionnaire out, candidates will still have to go through an interview process with a panel of AWB members.
“We want to know how well they know the issues,” Sawin said. “Most candidates will initially say what they think you want to hear, but when you speak with them face-to-face, some of them clearly don’t understand the issues, and it is apparent.”
Any and all members who want to participate in the interview process will be invited. The AWB staff will provide the interviewers with their voting record, questionnaire, if necessary, and their background information for consideration.
Although this marks AWB’s first official year of openly endorsing candidates, it won’t be the first time a candidate has been supported by the Association’s membership.
“In the past, AWB did endorse candidates in a way,” Chandler said. “Anybody that had an 80 percent voting record with AWB was always given what’s called a Cornerstone Award. So, to some degree, there was an endorsement of incumbents.”
“And last year we did endorse candidates of the 19th Legislative District,” Sawin said. “They held a special election, and we did endorse in the House race.”
This year’s AWB endorsements will far exceed any past support in an election season.
“The entire House of Representatives is up for re-election and, thus, eligible for our endorsement, as is half of the state Senate,” Sawin said. “There are more races due to movements in both the House and the Senate.”
“A more extensive endorsement of state candidates may be on the way,” said Chandler. AWB is considering whether or not to include statewide candidates in their support.
“Right now, we only endorse legislative and Supreme Court races,” he said. “The executive committee will make the decision whether or not AWB will endorse statewide election.”
“The statewide race endorsements will be determined by a board member-vote at AWB’s annual Policy Summit at Semiahmoo,” Chandler said. Included in this selection process would be races for governor, lieutenant governor, public lands commissioner, attorney general and the insurance commissioner.
If AWB’s executive committee approves statewide candidate endorsement, it could start as early as this election season.
Both Chandler and Sawin agree that endorsements will not disrupt or sever any of the Association’s working relationships in the Capitol. Almost all business organizations with a lobbying presence are politically active.
“Our endorsement exposes them to our membership, and our voting record is known by everybody. People have in the past and will in the future look to AWB for our endorsement,” Chandler concluded. “Most candidates, if they’re going to run as a business Democrat or business Republican, will want our endorsement.”
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