WA Voters Embrace Candidates With Progressive Economic Recovery Agendas
WA Voters Embrace Candidates With Progressive Economic Recovery Agendas
Voters’ Top Concerns Were COVID and the Economy, and Washingtonians Were Clear in Rejecting a ‘Starve Our Way to Recovery’ Ideology
SEATTLE -- Voters in Washington have decided on more than legislative races - they’ve decided on a roadmap to recovery, and the message is clear: save our economy by increasing investments in our communities, provide direct relief to struggling families, and tap the massive untaxed wealth of the super-rich to do it.
Across the board, candidates who performed well ran with a clear vision for recovery and a clear articulation for what kind of economy they support - one that puts people above the interests of the rich and big businesses. In races like LDs 5, 11, 36, and 37 where two Democrats campaigned against each other, the candidate with a higher CAPE rating is winning. Additionally, victories against trickle-downers in LDs 10, 17, 28, 42 and 44 show that voters well outside of Seattle want a better plan for an equitable, quick recovery.
“As Washingtonians, regardless of background, where we come from, or what we look like, we all want to see our state and our communities prosper, and the majority of us want all our neighbors to share in that prosperity,” said Rich Stolz, chief executive officer of OneAmerica Votes, the state’s largest immigrant rights political organization. “Since March, trickle-down politicians and the pundits, parties, and lobbyists that support them have attempted to use this crisis as an excuse to make draconian budget cuts to social services they’ve ideologically opposed for years. But in Washington we understand that our economy is healthiest when everyone can participate in it, and to get back on track we need to ensure everyone has the resources they need to stay housed, stay healthy, and help support small businesses in their communities.”
COVID didn’t cause this economic crisis, it merely ignited an economy left flammable by years of trickle-down policies promoted by politicians of both parties that allowed a handful of the super-rich to amass untaxed wealth while pro-worker policies like minimum wage increases and paid sick leave took statewide initiatives to secure. CEOs and shareholders aren’t the job creators in our economy, though - people are, and that’s why our economy crashed as consumer demand collapsed overnight. More than 1.4 million Washingtonians have filed new unemployment insurance claims since March and countless small businesses have shuttered, some forever. To stop this negative feedback loop, we have to provide direct support for families and small businesses and kickstart our economy by increasing investments, not scaling back. In short, we need to keep cash flowing through our economy, and lawmakers at the state level need to act urgently. Pursuing the same trickle-down policies that primed our economy for this crisis through budget cuts will only siphon more money and more consumers out of the economy.
“Washington voters turned out in record numbers and delivered a clear mandate for jobs, not cuts,” said Rachel Lauter, executive director of Working Washington, a statewide workers’ rights organization. “But we know that won't stop the giant corporations that have seen massive windfalls during this pandemic - and the politicians who work for them - from pushing brutal cuts to everything but their own profit margins. Now we need the legislators we just elected to do their jobs, give us what we voted for, and make the investments we need to get the economy growing from the middle out.”
History, data, and basic economic principles do not support a case for knee-jerk cuts to the state budget. Slashing state spending like we did during the Great Recession isn’t the “tough choice” - it’s the easy way out. Voters have sent a clear message that legislators must put Washington’s workers and families first by driving an equitable economic recovery. There’s no question - that means bold, progressive plans to tax the rich and increase state investments in services and infrastructure to keep cash flowing through our communities. If they fail to act, or act with the same penny wise, pound foolish strategy they used during the Great Recession, they will deepen this crisis for people and small businesses and slow Washington’s recovery.
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About CAPE
The Civic Alliance for a Progressive Economy (CAPE), is a political organization founded by Civic Ventures, Working Washington and OneAmerica Votes, dedicated to the principle that prosperity comes from greater economic inclusion, and that the more people we include in our economy, the more the economy will grow. The economy isn’t Wall Street or quarterly reports - it’s people.