The back and forth between King County Council chairman Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison, both candidates for county executive, continued Thursday.
Constantine’s campaign issued this release:
“In the final analysis, on election day , it is the voters, not the candidates, who have the final say. They get to decide what is important. All the candidates in the race understand that – except, apparently, Susan Hutchison.
“Yes, Susan Hutchison agreed to appear today at a forum focused on public safety. But today she also skipped yet another public forum on environmental issues. It is not enough to pick and choose only those public settings where you know there is little chance you will be asked uncomfortable questions about your views and beliefs. All of the other candidates in the race have been making a good-faith effort to attend as wide a variety of public events as possible, and to make themselves available to answer a wide variety of questions.
“People know where I stand on important issues like equal rights for everyone, including marriage equality for gay and lesbian citizens, protecting women’s reproductive health , expanding transit, protecting Puget Sound and protecting our air and water. I answer questions on these topics all the time – from constituents, voters and the press. All of the other candidates do so as well – except Susan Hutchison.
“I’ll say it again: Susan Hutchison needs to come clean with the voters about her views. This is particularly important given that she has never held elective office and has no paper trail based on a record of public service. I have always believed that voters need to get as clear a sense as possible of who candidates are as people, how they think and what they believe, so they can make informed choices at the ballot box . They deserve no less. That is even more critical now that polls indicate that Hutchison could win this race despite a very limited schedule of public appearances or press interviews.
“As elected officials, we answer to the public, and it is a key test of our fitness for office that we do so honestly and without reservation.
“Susan Hutchison’s stealth approach to this campaign is just not right.
“All of the major candidates in the race seem to understand that – except Susan Hutchison. The other candidates and I routinely give specific and detailed answers to questions from the press on all sorts of different topics, many of them controversial or politically charged – except for Susan Hutchison. The other candidates and I attend a wide variety of public forums where we again answer to interested members of the public on a wide variety of topics, not just those we feel like talking about – except for Susan Hutchison.
“In light of Susan Hutchison’s response yesterday, I want to reiterate that I stand by what I said. I’d like to remind Susan that we live in a democracy. All of us who seek elected office, no matter how well known we were in our previous careers, have an obligation to be open and accessible with the voters about where we stand on important issues.”
On Thursday, Constantine issued the following statement in response:
“Late yesterday afternoon, in a revealing interview with seattlepi.com, Hutchison called Constantine a liar for pointing out that she is a conservative Republican – but then refused to offer any specifics to rebut Constantine’s statement. As seattlepi.com further reported: ‘Hutchison was asked what she would say to the voters to demonstrate that she is a moderate. “I don’t have to say anything to the voters,” said Hutchison, a longtime local television personality.’ ”
