Thursday, May. 01, 2008

UPDATE: A challenger for Mr. Speaker

Seattle Republican Kim Cathleen Verde has signed up to take on House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, this fall.

There’s all sorts of things I’ve been unable to confirm without doing actual reporting, such as whether this is the same Kim Cathleen Verde who is active with the Washington Federation of Republican Women or if it’s the same Kim Cathleen Verde who apparently is a pretty darn good skier (scroll down).

What I do know is that she’s running in a district that hasn’t elected a Republican since 1974.

And here’s a fun fact. This will be Chopp’s eighth House campaign but only the third time he’s faced Republican opposition. And the GOP’s high water mark was the 15.2 percent Mark Griswold got in 2004.

I’ve also been able to confirm that Griswold is the same Mark Griswold who is serving as Verde’s campaign treasurer.

UPDATE: It's the same Kim Verde. You can find her website here and her press release below.

SEATTLE – Today Cathleen “Kim” Verde announced her candidacy for 43rd District Representative, GOP. She is running against incumbent Democrat, Speaker of the House Frank Chopp.

“He’s been in office too long and I believe he is out of touch with voters,” say Verde. “I’m running to let voters know they have a choice and to bring back some of the pride we once had in our city.”

Verde is a retired teacher and coach and holds a Master’s in Education. She makes her home in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle’s 43rd Legislative District. It is also home to Seattle University, Seattle Central Community College and several hospitals. Verde says that these organizations, along with the University of Washington, Benaroya Hall and many other resources, make Seattle a huge draw for people around the state, nation and world seeking to enrich themselves educationally and culturally. She’d like to see many of these places better funded and a renewed devotion to bringing more tourist dollars to our area through business development, especially on Broadway.

She’s also focusing her campaign on fixing transportation and education.

“Many of our lower income neighbors fear sending their children to public schools because of increased violence in the classroom. Children can’t properly learn when they have to focus on staying alive and free from physical and emotional harm.”

Verde spends much of her time donating to causes she believes in like the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera. She is an avid skier and placed first in the 55+ division of the Federation of International Skiing during the 2005/2006 season. She also enjoys travelling to and photographing remote places and combines that with her passion to make the world a better place, having been to, among other places, the Arctic to learn about Polar Bear habitats and to Botswana and South East Asia to help children affected by poverty.

The 43rd Legislative District includes the neighborhoods of Downtown, First Hill, Madison Park, Capital Hill, the University District, South Lake Union, Wallingford and Fremont. It has been represented by Frank Chopp since 1994.

For more information on Verde’s campaign please visit www.voteforverde.com

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