GOP urges election officials to pull Rick Steves PSA

Pot and partisan politics have state GOP Chairman Kirby
Wilbur calling for election officials to pull a PSA with
travel guru Rick Steves.

In the spot, Steves, who built a travel empire out of
his Edmonds headquarters, provides directions for voters
on how to fill out their primary ballots. He points out
they could have two different Congressional races to vote
for because of a special election to fill the seat
Democrat Jay Inslee vacated to run full time for governor.

But in a letter to elections head Sherril Huff, Wilbur
says he “strongly objects” to his inclusion.

“I find it completely inappropriate that someone who has
taken a very public stance in trying to influence voters
for both a candidate and an initiative now be on
television teaching people how to vote on their ballots,”
Wilbur writes.

Steves has been a strong supporter of Democratic
candidates, campaigning for a number of them including
Inslee. He’s also been a vocal proponent of an initiative
to legalize marijuana, donating $350,000 of his own money
to the campaign, Wilbur complains.

“Being that he has very publicly endorsed both the
candidate and the initiative, having him on a commercial
is a very strong conflict of interest and I ask that these
ads be pulled from the air immediately,” Wilbur writes.