‘You saw what they did to you’: Curley urges support for WA initiatives, names 5 Supreme Court picks

KIRO Newsradio host John Curley urged listeners to vote yes on all three statewide initiatives and complete the judicial portion of their ballots. Curley argued that Washington’s Supreme Court races could be crucial to the future of the state’s income tax.

On “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Curley and KIRO producer Joe Wallace walked through his recommendations for five Supreme Court contests.

Curley advocated for measures concerning parental access to school information, eligibility for girls’ school sports and the repeal of Washington’s new income tax. He warned that voters who oppose the tax could mistakenly vote no on the repeal initiative.

“You saw what they did to you when it came to the natural gas. You saw what they’ve done to you more than 11 times, where they ‘well, I know you only want a $30 car tab, but bleeeehh,'” Curley said, summarizing his position on the initiatives.

Washington’s voter guide can be found here.

A yes vote would repeal the income tax

Curley described hearing from listeners who supported his position but misunderstood which vote would accomplish it.

Wallace had warned him that even longtime listeners could get confused, Curley explained.

Initiative 645 would repeal Washington’s new income tax and prohibit future state and local income taxes. A yes vote supports repeal; a no vote keeps the tax in place.

Curley emphasized that voters backing all three measures could follow the same recommendation throughout the initiative section: vote yes.

Curley’s five Supreme Court recommendations

The discussion then shifted to judicial elections, with Wallace reading the matchups and asking Curley to identify his preferred candidates.

Curley endorsed:

• Scott Edwards over Colleen Melody.
• David Stevens over Jaime Hawk.
• Sean O’Donnell over incumbent Steven González.
• Dave Larson over Theo Angelis.
• Todd Bloom over Debra Stephens.

Curley connects judicial races to the tax fight

Curley argued that voting on the initiatives alone was not enough. He urged listeners to consider who could eventually hear a constitutional challenge to the income tax.

He criticized Governor Bob Ferguson’s appointments of Melody and Angelis, suggesting that the governor wanted a court receptive to his tax policy. That was Curley’s characterization, not an established finding about either justice’s independence.

Curley also expressed his belief that the income tax violates Washington’s Constitution and pointed to Edwards’ argument that changing the constitutional framework should require an amendment.

“If you want to change the Constitution,” Curley said, “change the Constitution, do that.”

His broader message was that voters frustrated by court decisions should not leave judicial races unanswered.

Natural gas decision shapes his argument

Curley invoked the court’s rejection of the voter-approved natural gas initiative and earlier disputes over car-tab limits as reasons to pay attention to Supreme Court elections.

“You saw what they did to you when it came to the natural gas,” Curley said.

He framed his recommendations as a way for voters to influence the court’s direction, while acknowledging that the candidates he supported would face difficult legal questions if elected.

Wallace closed with another recap: Edwards, Stevens, Larson, O’Donnell and Bloom.

“You got it,” Curley said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jcurleyshow