Letter writers endorse legislator and AG candidates, and urge Biden to step aside

Jessica Bateman is our best Senate choice

I got to know Jessica Bateman when we worked together at United Way of Thurston County before she became a legislator. She led Olympia’s successful community drive to pass the Home Fund that has added hundreds of new units of affordable housing in the past six years.

As our 22nd Legislative District Rep., she has proven herself to be a very effective leader, tackling the challenges of affordable housing and mental health services across the state. She worked across the aisle and pulled together a broad coalition of liberal and conservative organizations to get new laws passed to build more housing in our urban areas. She has been laser focused, smart and effective, and will continue to be as our new state senator.

Please join me in voting for her in the upcoming primary!

Paul Knox, Olympia

Nick Brown is the best AG candidate

I am writing to encourage you to vote in the Aug. 6 primary for Nick Brown for Attorney General.

Your vote is important this year not only for national elections, but also for state offices. The November election will be critical to preserve democracy and protect people’s rights. Who our state’s Attorney General is matters greatly in protecting our rights here in Washington.

I am a retired assistant attorney general who served our state for 30 years under four different Attorneys General, two Republicans and two Democrats. I know first-hand who we have in that office matters. Nick Brown has extensive and broad experience that we need in our Attorney General. He served as an attorney in the JAG Corp, as U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, and as General Counsel to Gov. Inslee. He brings a wealth of knowledge and is exceptionally well qualified.

Nick Brown is the best choice for Washington’s next Attorney General. Check his website for more information.

Linda Sullivan-Colglazier, Tumwater

Open Letter to President Biden

Dear President Biden,

I am writing to ask you to please pass the baton now, without delay. You have accomplished a lot for our country and millions of citizens thank you for that. You saved us once from a second Trump presidency, for which we are also eternally grateful. Now please safeguard our country again by accepting the fact that beating Trump depends upon a revitalized campaign that can only come with a fresh new candidate. Please act now, in the best interests of the country, before it is too late.

Thank you for your service.

Ted Whitesell, Olympia

A successful single-term President

Sadly, President Biden’s debate performance was weak. I agree with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman that although he “is a good man and a good president … he must bow out of the race.” If he insists on staying in the race, he will likely lose to Donald Trump, and thus be indirectly responsible for a slow erosion of democracy in America.

Or President Biden can, for the good of his country, quickly release his delegates and open the race to younger Democrats, one of whom can gain enough swing voters to win the presidency and maintain our democracy into the future. Biden’s debate performance doesn’t mean that he couldn’t do the job of being president if elected — I certainly believe he could — but rather that he is not likely to be elected, so whether he could do the job becomes moot.

President Biden has served his country well, capped by a presidency that ended the chaos and damage of the previous Trump years and provided significant advances in climate legislation, environmental protection, and support both for hi-tech and for folks striving to make ends meet.

As one octogenarian to another, I thank him for a job well done, and suggest that he can best be remembered as a successful single-term president, who did the gracious thing by opening the way for a successor to continue his work.

Samuel Merrill, Olympia