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| Mike Wensman, Republican |
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| Candidate: Secretary of State |
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| Mike Wensman |
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| Age: 49 |
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| Residence: Mercer Island |
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| Occupation: |
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Business executive, state representative |
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| Education: |
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B.S. in engineering, Coast Guard Academy; J.D., George Washington University; M.L.T., Georgetown University |
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| Political history: |
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Former Mercer Island city councilman; state representative; chairman, Republican Caucus |
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| Endorsements: |
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Washington State Council of Police and Sheriffs, Washington Dairy PAC, Washington Education Association |
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| Campaign Web site: http://www.wensman.com |
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| Campaign theme: Vision, Leadership, Experience, Character. |
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| 1. |
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declared that blanket-primary elections like Washington's violate political parties' constitutional rights, what form of new primary-election system would you propose adopting? |
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The lowest cost is a closed primary, which requires party registration. The majority of voters want an open primary (same as the presidential primary). I will conduct hearings throughout Washington to make sure that we balance the interests of the bill payers -- taxpayers -- with the political parties' rights, major and minor. |
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| 2. |
Washington voters have been voting by mail in increasing numbers in recent elections. What do you think of this trend? What changes would you make? |
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I personally like to go to my precinct polling site to vote -- and would protect this option for all voters. There have been several allegations of fraud. I would aggressively investigate these complaints, stop permitting ballots to be sent to forwarding addresses, only mail permanent ballots to residences. |
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| 3. |
What would you do to increase voter registration and voter participation? |
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I will continue the effort to introduce the Kids Vote program. This effort seeks to bring voting to our schools. Participants in other states experience better lifelong voting habits. Also, I have made a promise to visit every high school in Washington to bring this message to our youngest voters. |
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