Take Pride and Take Heart

Whenever the subject of politics arises people often pull me aside to ask, almost in a whisper, “You do think that the KP is by and large conservative politically, don’t you?”

Or the opposite, “Come on, just say it, you know it’s all those liberal voters who dominate the KP now.”

Mind you, each one thinks their group is in the minority.

Over the years I’ve become fascinated by how the residents of Key Peninsula vote, and 2024 was no exception. Our long, narrow Peninsula contains 17 different voting precincts, each one numbered and identifiable on a map.

Anyone with a computer and internet connection can access the county auditor’s website to see how Pierce County voted, down to the precinct. Dig a little deeper into previous elections and you can explore years of voting data.

But all that data is meaningless, an endless stream of codes and numbers, unless you can relate it to something that matters to you.

It should come as no surprise that I relate practically everything to this community. What do people here think? How might an issue affect residents here, our schools and parks, or this incredible natural environment we share?

That’s what KP News is all about. Making our lives together here more rewarding, enjoyable, satisfying and fun. We have things to talk about!

Here’s what I discovered this year:

Voters in Pierce County chose Kamala Harris for president with over 53% of the vote compared to Donald Trump’s nearly 43%. Key Peninsula voters agreed, but by a considerably smaller margin, with less than one percentage point difference between the two.

And that’s about as far as the blue wave crested before crashing onto the shores of Key Peninsula.

While Pierce County overall preferred Bob Ferguson for governor, giving him a win with nearly 51% over Republican Dave Reichert’s 49% — the KP did the opposite and cast 53% of its votes for Reichert and 47% for Ferguson. Statewide Ferguson beat his opponent by a wide margin to win the governorship with 56% over Reichert’s 44%.

Democrats swept Washington’s executive offices, winning every single seat.

Yet in race after race, KP voters bucked trends most typical west of the Cascades, choosing only Steve Hobbs (D) for Secretary of State from the entire slate of state executive offices.

The widest margin on the Key Peninsula came in the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction, where local Peninsula School Board member David Olson trounced incumbent Chris Reykdal by a whopping 18% of KP votes. But hometown advantage for Olson was no match against Reykdal’s lead, prevailing over Olson 53% to 47% statewide.

Every bit as interesting as analyzing voting patterns and political trends for me was diving into our precinct maps. What stood out was the surprising number of precincts where vote counts were split equally between candidates or fell within just a few votes.

The second of two failed Key Peninsula Fire District maintenance and operations levy votes has a tortured story all its own, detailed in this edition and others available in our online archives. But the bottom line is that emergency services may not continue with the same response times or level of service with a budget shortfall caused by the levy loss without risking significant impacts on the fiscal health of the department.

With the long and corrosive election cycle finally behind us, here’s where I take comfort. We remain connected, win, lose or draw. We know how to work together side by side, how to network, who to call for help with nearly any challenge that presents itself.

Our recent political climate has become dependent on the language of hate, disdain and disrespect. It has exacted a horrible toll on our ability to engage in productive civic dialogue. We spend more time talking at people than we do listening and don’t kid yourself, listening takes practice. And willingness.