Week in Review: Seattle politics, policing, and Starbucks

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with contributing columnist Joni Balter, Geekwire’s Mike Lewis and KUOW’s David Hyde.

Primary midterm ballots were mailed out in Washington state this week, at a time where Democratic party approval ratings have been slipping. What is the likelihood that a so called “red-wave” impacts Washington in the primaries, and what would be the impact if it did?

The Seattle City Council is considering adding ranked-choice voting to the ballot as an alternative to approval voting. Could this muddy the water for voters to have two choices?

Representative Kim Schrier faces a tough battle in Washington's 8th district, and a loss could cost Democrats the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. How much of an impact will the new redistricting map have on this race?

Election security is the biggest topic on the Secretary of State race this year, and voters will decide between keeping Steve Hobbs, Kim Wyman’s appointed replacement, or someone else. What do we need to know about this race? Since the deadline passed for filing signatures for capital gains tax ballot measures with none of measures having sufficient signatures, the future of the capital gains tax in Washington is up to the Washington State Supreme Court. What does it mean now that it will be up to the court rather than the voters?

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s new plan for police recruitment and retention this week, which included bonuses for new hires and incentives up to $30,000 for lateral transfers. Will these incentives be enough of a draw?

Starbucks announced recently that it will close five of its Seattle coffee stores, citing crime issues. Does closing make the problem better or worse?