‘Lobbing political grenades is a distraction’: King County judge fires back after opponent demands he disavow GOP support

Sixty-two judges across Washington signed a letter this week defending King County Superior Court Judge Sean Patrick O’Donnell after his opponent in the race for Washington State Supreme Court Position 4 accused him of having a partisan agenda and demanded he disavow support from the state Republican Party, according to The Seattle Times.

O’Donnell appeared on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio and didn’t hold back.

“Lobbing these types of political grenades is a distraction from comparing records and comparing visions for the court,” O’Donnell said. “I will do that against my opponent any day of the week, because I’m proud of my record, I’m proud of the vision I have for the court.”

‘An incredible position for my opponent to take’

O’Donnell faces Court of Appeals Judge Ian Birk in the November general election. The race is shaping up to be the most expensive of the five Supreme Court contests this cycle, with Birk raising roughly $395,000 and O’Donnell bringing in about $334,000, according to The Washington State Standard. O’Donnell told Curley the conflict began when Birk accused him of carrying a partisan agenda — a charge O’Donnell called baseless for a nonpartisan judicial race.

O’Donnell has endorsements from Democratic U.S. Reps. Adam Smith and Marilyn Strickland, former Gov. Christine Gregoire, former Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, and a majority of the King County Council, as well as Republican-leaning supporters including King County Councilmembers Reagan Dunn and Pete von Reichbauer.

“It really is an incredible position for my opponent to say, ‘Disavow these people,'” O’Donnell said. “Like, what does it say? Do I support the other one? Like, how am I supposed to work that as an impartial justice?”

Birk declined to be interviewed by The Seattle Times but issued a statement saying “honesty matters” and that O’Donnell “needs to make a decision” about whether he’s comfortable with Republican support.

62 judges sign letter rebuking Birk

The letter, which O’Donnell sought signatures for and posted to his campaign site, rebukes Birk for what it calls “partisan attacks and insinuation” that violate the canons governing judicial campaigns, according to The Seattle Times.

“We as judges don’t get to pick who comes before us in cases,” O’Donnell said. “But everybody who comes before us should know that we’re impartial, that we don’t have bias. We’re not going to prejudge a case because of what their political beliefs are, but we’re going to decide the case based on the facts and the law.”

Curley read from the canons on air, quoting Canon 4’s requirement that judges and judicial candidates “shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the independence and integrity and the impartiality of the judiciary.”

“He proves your point, Judge,” Curley said.

O’Donnell said the demand to disavow support would itself be a political act, the very thing judicial canons are meant to prevent.

“We’ve been very lucky to keep impartiality out of judicial races,” O’Donnell replied. “We should continue to do that. And that’s something I’m embracing in my race for the Supreme Court.”

‘Not to infuse it with the worldview according to Sean’

Curley pressed O’Donnell on judicial philosophy, asking how he squares interpreting the law as written with acknowledging how society has changed. O’Donnell pointed to a case he decided as chief family law judge in King County, in which he upheld a state statute requiring the surrender of firearms under domestic violence protection orders against a Second Amendment challenge.

“Our framers were very smart when they drafted the Constitution, but they had no idea of the power of firearms,” O’Donnell said. “There was never a legislature in the 1700s or the 1800s that contemplated how guns would be present as they are today.”

He described his role in straightforward terms.

“My job is to serve in this job, not to infuse it with the worldview according to Sean,” O’Donnell said. “My role is to faithfully interpret the Constitution, faithfully interpret the statutes, faithfully interpret case law, and treat people in front of me with dignity, with respect, with fairness.”

The general election is Nov. 3, 2026.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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