11 August 2022

Friends,

Congratulations to my opponents in the primary. As of today, the Washington Secretary of State primary results for the 39th Legislative District House Position 1 race are as follows:

Candidate	Party Preference	Vote	Vote %
Robert Sutherland	Republican	12,760	33.20%
Sam Low	Republican	10,440	27.16%
Claus Joens	Democrat	8,894	23.14%
Karl de Jong	Democrat	6,280	16.34%

Only the top two candidates will continue on to the general election, and as you can see from the results neither one is a Democrat. The results also suggest that redistricting did not make the 39th LD any more Democratic than it was before, with 60% of the voting results voting Republican and 40% voting Democrat. This is consistent with the 39th LD voting results after the past two redistrictings.

Ironically perhaps, I have spent most of my life avoiding politics. That all changed when my father died of lung cancer on June 24, 2013, at 72 years old. His doctor advised that if he had better insurance than Medicare, he would live at least 3 years, and may have even beat the cancer. But since he was just on Medicare, they would not pay to cover the treatments, so he was placed on hospice instead and given 90 days to live. He died on the 90th day. My father worked his whole life without ever filing bankruptcy or being a financial burden on anyone. Being retired and on a fixed income was a death sentence.

That pissed me off and brought me into politics, to support Bernie Sanders and Universal Healthcare. Medicare is expected to become insolvent in just 5 years. Social Security is expected to become insolvent in about 10 years. With 40% of Washington State residents on Apple Health, a Medicare subsidized health plan, this is a huge problem looming in our future. I see few politicians with the courage to face this problem today.

I promised my family I would try to make a difference in the political arena and run for political office 3 times. This was my third attempt. Since I will not advance to the general election in November, I am refunding all political contributions I received this year. Those who contributed through Act Blue will find their contributions reversed through the Act Blue system. I greatly respect your commitment to supporting a free and fair Democracy. I believe you are in the best position to determine how your hard earned dollars should be allocated to support it.

I cannot thank you enough for supporting my candidacy for office. Your kindness, grace, and compassion will have a lasting impact on me far beyond the current election cycle.

May God Bless you and keep you safe.