Local News

The Seattle Times political team explores national, state and local politics.

Republican John Koster released a new ad today attacking his opponent in the 1st District Congressional race, Democrat Suzan DelBene. (DelBene has a new ad out today, as well, a biographical ad about being a high-school football referee).

Koster’s ad, which is called “Burying the Middle Class” (not “Buying the Middle Class,” as I previously reported), takes aim at DelBene.

“Multimillionaire Suzan DelBene attacks John Koster to hide her job-killing agenda,” the ad says.

At first glance, not all of the ad’s characterizations of DelBene’s positions check out. The ad says DelBene “opposes the Keystone Pipeline and Gateway Pacific Terminal,” and cites an Everett Herald article from March.  The terminal issue is the question of whether to expand a coal-train terminal near Bellingham, at Cherry Point. The question is mentioned briefly in the article, saying primary candidate Steve Hobbs was “the only candidate to endorse expanding” the terminal.

In other public forums, DelBene has said she supports an environmental study of the proposed expansion. Koster supports the expansion.

Koster campaign manager Larry Stickney said asking for more environmental studies is “evasive” and akin to opposing it. By not raising her hand to say she supported the terminal, he said, she expressed that she’s against it. Stickney acknowledged that the Herald article doesn’t mention the Keystone Pipeline. The campaign knows she opposes the pipeline “by her evasion, and her abject support of the Obama and Pelosi environmental policy,” he said.

DelBene’s campaign says she does not have a position on the Keystone Pipeline, and she’s never spoken about it publicly.