KIRO NEWSRADIO OPINION

‘An adorable, cautionary tale’: Jake and Spike weigh in after WA voter writes in Jimothy for every race on their ballot

Jul 26, 2026, 5:00 AM

Washington Rep. Travis Couture posted on X about low voter turnout in Washington, stating, “If common sense people turn in their ballot, it has more weight to it.” He also had a message for those who think their vote won’t make a difference, saying, “It certainly will never count if you don’t turn it in.”

One voter replied to Couture’s post with a photo of their ballot, but instead of selecting any of the candidates on the ticket, they had written in Jimothy, the viral Ballard raccoon known for his unusually round shape, for every single race.

“Jimothy has a real chance as a write-in!” Couture replied to the post.

Couture then quoted the picture of the ballot and stated, “I would laugh myself to absolute death if Jimothy the raccoon beat Pramila Jayapal.”

Jake and Spike warn Jimothy’s fame could be his demise

KIRO hosts Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill also found the ballot amusing, but warned that Jimothy’s fame could follow a familiar rise-and-fall trajectory.

“The level of fame that Jimothy the raccoon is getting is, unfortunately, we’ve seen it before, and we’ve seen where this path leads,” Jake said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “We like to put him up on a pedestal until we knock him off.”

“Yeah, and we don’t know anything about him,” Spike responded.

“We know very little about his character,” Jake agreed.

“How many other cuties have we fallen for, only to be betrayed by their true character?” Spike joked.

He called Jimothy’s stardom “a cautionary, bushy tail.”

“It’s an adorable, cautionary tale,” Jake responded.

He posed a question to listeners: If you were forced to replace one elected official in Washington with Jimothy, who would it be and why?

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3

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‘An adorable, cautionary tale’: Jake and Spike weigh in after WA voter writes in Jimothy for every race on their ballot