OPINION

Why a ‘Back the Blue’ #WalkAway Republican Is About to Become Seattle’s Next City Attorney

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The Democrats have put up a candidate for Seattle City Attorney so insane that a #WalkAway “Back the Blue” Republican is widely expected to win the race next month. Two former Democratic governors of Washington and the far left Seattle Times have endorsed the Republican, that’s how scary Nicole Thomas-Kennedy is. Democrats love to make fun of Republicans who say far out things, but they’ve met their match with Thomas-Kennedy. The Republican, Ann Davison, was a safe 21% ahead in a poll earlier this month.

The race is getting no coverage outside of the Seattle area because the mainstream media doesn’t want Americans to know just how frightening the left can be. Thomas-Kennedy is running as an “abolitionist” who wants to abolish the police and jails. She intends to dismantle the criminal division of the office and stop prosecuting crimes. That part of the office prosecutes misdemeanors; including DUIs, assault, theft and domestic violence. 

A former public defender, Thomas-Kennedy said “property destruction is a moral imperative.” and “I for sure hate this country.” She despises the police, referring to them as “serial killers,” “pigs, “Nazis,” “stains on humanity” and “ACAB,” which stands for All Cops Are Bastards. When rioters tried to shut down the Seattle Police’s East Precinct in the summer of 2020, she said the person who detonated an explosive device, blowing a hole in the precinct wall, was a “hero.” Similarly, when someone set fire to a construction area and trailer, she tweeted, “YAY! Thank you to the heroes that set the Children’s Jail on fire.” 

She said the police don’t deserve the COVID-19 vaccine and “Eat some covid laced sh*t and quit ur jobs.” When former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, who was forced out by radicals, promoted department efforts to rebuild community trust, Thomas-Kennedy responded with “Enjoy sitting in your dirty diaper you crybabies.” She said she has a “rabid hatred” for the police and “I currently read like a single issue law enforcement abolition anarchist.” 

She has a lengthy discussion on her campaign website of why theft should not be prosecuted, claiming that people steal because they’re hungry and want a sandwich. But as a former prosecutor, I can tell you that’s not true, very few people steal food because they’re hungry (they can get food at food banks), and if they are prosecuted for it, it’s only in order to have them plead guilty to a lesser charge than their more serious crimes.

Her campaign manager, who tellingly protects her tweets, is even scarier. Tye Reed said Biden should die after a speech he gave on race and social justice, saying his wasted breath was “hopefully his last.” Nothing happened to her of course, since she’s a leftist. She said about Seattle’s Mayor Jenny Durkan, "That b**** Mayor Durkan … is gonna get her a** beat one day." In response to a shooting, she wished, “Prayers the victim is a kkkop." She referred to Best as an "Uncle Tom motherf***** benefiting off the suffering of black folks." On Thomas-Kennedy’s campaign Facebook page, there is a photo of Reed wearing a shirt with a photo of a burning Seattle Police SUV with the slogan “This is a policy proposal.” 

Thomas-Kennedy defended Reed during an interview with Fox 13 earlier this month. "I think that she’s a Black woman in America that has seen a lot of people that look like her being killed by police and she was probably pretty angry about that." 

C. Kimi Kondo, who served 28 years as a Seattle Municipal Court judge, calls Thomas-Kennedy “an avowed anarchist,” and was one of 30 retired judges who endorsed her opponent. The Washington Democratic Party admitted they were not endorsing her, and refused to defend Reed’s tweets, with Democratic Party Spokesperson Alex Bond saying she “doesn't appear to have much affection for the Democratic Party or our elected officials and doesn’t work for us, so I'm not sure how or why our party would answer for inflammatory and irresponsible statements they might make.”

Democrat-turned-Republican Ann Davison has zero experience in criminal law and lost two previous races. She ran as a Democrat for city council emphasizing removal of homeless encampments from public spaces including parks. After that, she switched to the Republican Party and failed to make it past the primary for lieutenant governor. 

She’s annoyed the left by referring to them as “The Democrat Party” instead of “The Democratic Party.” She opposes a new law requiring school districts to provide sex education. She attended a “Back the Blue” rally in August 2020, posting photos of herself with the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild. She criticized Seattle’s policies banning residential evictions. She attacked Democrats for demonizing business and criticized Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s mask mandate. She recorded a video with #WalkAway Brandon Straka in June 2020, saying what caused her to leave the Democratic Party was how they looked the other way at homelessness. She said it’s not being green spending money to improve areas that are just then allowed to be destroyed by the homeless. “It breaks my heart what they’ve done to my city.” 

Granted, Davison is not a hardcore Trumper. She voted for Biden last year. She didn’t vote for either Inslee or his Republican challenger Loren Culp last year. 

Thomas-Kennedy is trying to back away from some of her most controversial tweets by saying she has a right to troll people on Twitter — but her platform on abolishing the police and the prisons is still on her website. She thinks she should get a free pass for her tweets — even though the left viciously cancels conservatives for tweets they regret.

Many Democrats endorsed Thomas-Kennedy anyway, including former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and Seattle City Councilmembers Tammy Morales and Teresa Mosqueda. They chose her in the primary over the incumbent, Democrat Pete Holmes, whose focus in office appeared to be eliminating crimes related to marijuana. While Thomas-Kennedy may be too radical today, the number of Democrats who are just fine with her is a disturbing sign of where things are eventually going.