Why we need Minjares for Prosecutor

It was an exceptional mistake for The Olympian Editorial Board to give Tunheim thumbs up for our County Prosecutor position instead of Victor Minjares — the smart, experienced and ethical individual have the unique opportunity to elect. Minjares comes from a rich, varied and extensive background in prosecution and representation — from L.A. District Attorney to Senior Counsel at Honda, from the Washington Attorney General’s Office and Judge Pro Tem at District Court to private practice unlike Tunheim who has simply worked all his career in the one place he’s at now, the place ironically which has sorely needed change and clean-up for a very long time.

Any lukewarm progressive positions we’ve seen Tunheim take lately have been either because Minjares’s electoral challenge here and his vocal criticism of our backwards and broken system have pushed Tunheim that direction -- or because Tunheim himself has been prosecuting people of color and others who have been unjustly, cynically and ignorantly targeted -- while police and other persons in authority are slipped through without scrutiny.

One can’t play that dark card forever. Victor Minjares is a gift.

We should be so lucky to have such an ethical, tough and willing servant to bring a clearer and nuanced justice to our County. Tunheim has had his entire career to bring needed change and modernity to Thurston County and he hasn’t done it. Letting him win this election won’t be the mandate for it.