Just for fun

There's a race in Seattle that's interesting - why it's phrased as Republican v Democrat is beyond me, political affiliation shouldn't matter in a DA's race. Seattle Post-Intelligencer Democrats vie for prosecutor's seat

After 59 years of Republican prosecuting attorneys of Democrat-leaning King County, state and local Democratic Party leaders are hungry to win this high-profile office that rarely offers a competitive race...

...The previous DA, Norm Maleng, was a "prosecutor for 28 years until he died May 24. Maleng was widely regarded as fair-minded and someone who kept the office free of politics. He typically was re-elected easily with bipartisan support...

...Of the candidates Sherman also has raised more money -- approximately $43,000 to Scully's $23,000, according to their campaign finance reports. Satterberg, unopposed for the Republican nomination has raised $117,000... (Dan Satterberg, (was) Maleng's chief of staff for 17 years, is now the interim prosecutor.)

...Each claims to have a resume giving him unique qualifications:

Sherman, 39, calls himself the only "courtroom prosecutor" in the race since neither other candidate now takes cases to trial. To underscore that experience, he promises to personally prosecute one case a year if elected. He says he had management experience in the Clinton administration before going to law school, as co-leader of a reorganization plan that reduced costs in the office of the interior secretary by about $10 million a year.

Sherman most recently prosecuted cases in the domestic violence unit and previously worked in the prosecutor's filing and charging unit, and as a negotiator in the early plea unit. He estimates he has tried 40 criminal cases. He previously was an associate in a Seattle law firm.

Scully, 34, prosecuted misdemeanor and traffic cases in District Court, then prosecuted juvenile court cases and then worked in the prosecutor's appellate unit, followed by stints working in the Sheriff's Office on criminal-case development and prosecuting drug cases, adult felonies and fraud cases. He said he took 30 to 40 cases to trial.

Scully was a United Nations war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, the Netherlands, for 15 months in 2005 and 2006, prosecuting Serbs accused of mass killings in Kosovo. Since November he has been legal director of Futurewise, a land-use conservation organization, arguing cases before the Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board.

Sherman has called for placing greater emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable crime victims, such as victims of domestic violence, elder abuse and elder fraud. Scully has promised greater emphasis on gang violence and fraud. He thinks there have been "profound inequalities" in the application of the death penalty.

However, while Scully as well as Sherman have said they have policy problems with the death penalty, especially in light of convictions later overturned by DNA evidence, both say they wouldn't rule out using it and would decide its application on a case-by-case basis.

Scully wants to steer more drug cases into drug court to replace jail time with close supervision and drug testing, which he said are more effective. He also would institute rotating senior deputy prosecutors through District Court to help junior deputies with complex cases..."

Comments on the article agree: Why is this a partisan race anyway? Why take an office that has not fallen into the political bullcrap this country is finding itself deeper and deeper in and try to make it more political. Do the research folks - there is only one guy that should be running this office from amoung these candidates, and he's already doing the job. Don't replace him just because he doesn't have a "D" after his name.