The Seattle Times and The Chronicle editorial boards aren’t always on the same page, but we are in at least one recent case.
The Seattle Times has endorsed Sean O’Donnell for Washington State Supreme Court Position 4 as the “clear choice” because of “his breadth of experience, including leadership in Superior Court as chief criminal judge.”
O’Donnell has proven over many years that he is a judge and not a political partisan dressed in judge’s robes. His record as a judge in King County isn’t right wing or left wing. He calls the cases based on the facts, justice and the law.
Here’s more from the Times: “O’Donnell has endorsements that span the political spectrum in King County and the state, from Republican King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer to former Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire.”
O’Donnell’s opponent, Ian Birk, put out a partisan hit piece and The Seattle Times responded by warning that O’Donnell’s opponent “appears to violate judicial conduct rules during the campaign, voters ought to take notice … Birk’s claims are balderdash. O’Donnell has the support of Democrats, Republicans and independents. He is running for a nonpartisan position. In an open letter to voters released last week, 62 judges across Washington protested Birk’s serious and false accusations about Judge O’Donnell. In judicial races, bipartisan support is something to be celebrated rather than demonized, they wrote.“
Here, one candidate for supreme court, Birk, falsely accuses the other, O’Donnell, of being a political partisan. The public record shows that the exact opposite is the case. Public Disclosure Commission reports show that Ian Birk has made 66 political donations in this state and all of them are to one partisan side: Democrats and Democratic causes.
That’s his right as an American, but it shows he’s a political partisan. He was appointed to his current position by a Democratic governor.
O’Donnell does not have that record of partisanship. His support comes from a wide group of supporters. Take the facts together and Birk has shown that he is willing to falsely accuse his opponent of being exactly what his record shows he is: a partisan political activist running for judge.
We will not agree with every decision O’Donnell makes when he is elected to the state supreme court. We know that.
Here’s what we believe about Birk: He has a fixed political ideology and would vote to uphold the new state income tax; and that he would have joined the majority consistently overturning the will of the voters, including when the court voted to reinstate the ban on natural gas.
The fact that we don’t know how O’Donnell will vote on the court is exactly the way it’s supposed to be.
We are convinced he will make his decision based on the law and the facts of the case — not on a fixed political ideology.
