Supporters of I-696 had campaigned for it on the basis that it would protect the salmon, some species of which are endangered. A group of small fisherman formed "Fish for All" to campaign against I-696. Their literature noted that "I-696 targets fishing families and communities and will result in thousands of lost jobs." They also pointed out that small commercial fishermen are not the reason for declining fish runs and concludes, "Let's work together to restore our streams and rivers."

A "No on I-696" group, supported largely by commercial-fishing industry, also campaigned against the initiative.

Chris Rayson, the Socialist Workers candidate for the Port of Seattle Commission, called for a "no" vote on I-696. The proposal, Rayson said, "tries to make independent fishermen the scapegoats for the decline in some salmon runs."

The socialist candidate also explained that it was a mistake to accuse Native Americans as benefiting from passage of the initiative, as some of the literature against I-696 indicated. Native Americans, whose fishing rights are protected by treaty, would have been exempted from the restrictions. "Native Americans are as concerned with salmon conservation as any other group," Rayson explained, and "playing up Native Americans as the beneficiaries of I-696 passage could only be seen as trying to win votes on a racist appeal."

Another ballot measure, Initiative I-695, was approved. I-695 abolished the state's 2.2 percent annual car tax and replaced it with a flat $30 fee — substantially lower in most cases — for all vehicles beginning January 1. I-695 also required future vehicle tax or fee increases to have voter approval.

Rayson's campaign took no stand on I-695, since there was no way to help clarify and defend the road forward for working people within the framework of the vote. He instead stressed the Socialist Workers opposition to all taxes except a steeply graduated income tax, and called for no taxes on working people.

Rayson, a switchman on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad and member of the United Transportation Union, was the only candidate running against the incumbent, Clare Nordquist, a self-described "venture capitalist." Rayson received 99,627 votes, or nearly 37 percent of the vote for this King County post.

The Post Commission oversees the running of the Port of Seattle and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. As such, it influences billions of dollars in transportation, trade, and fishing businesses, and impacts heavily on labor issues, as well.

During the campaign, hundreds of port truck drivers went on strike demanding an hourly wage and a union contract. Rayson's campaign actively supported their fight, joining their picket lines and rallies, and widely distributing a statement supporting their struggle. Rayson spoke out in their defense at candidate meetings and in interviews with the press. His campaign won some support among these truckers. Kevin Merriott, one of the owner-operators who joined in these actions, said he voted for Rayson because he "was for us on our truck campaign. He had strong views on changing the port so I thought he was the best candidate."

In the weeks leading up to the election, the socialist's political positions got a wide hearing, as they were included in the official Washington State voters guide, the Seattle Times voter's guide, and in the daily Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The Post-Intelligencer prominently ran a statement from Rayson in its Op-Ed page the week before the election, which it titled, "Port should back working-class struggles against U.S. bosses." In it Rayson explained the imperialist nature of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which "is a vehicle used by Washington, as the dominant imperialist nation, to organize trading policy in a world of capitalist disorder, with intensified competition and rising tensions." He also explained why the Socialist Workers campaign would not participate in the protests being organized by labor officials and middle-class reformers against the WTO meeting here at the end of November. The "fair trade" advocated by these forces is really "economic nationalism," Rayson wrote. "Whether it is the Teamsters officials trying to lock out Mexican truckers or USWA or IAM officials joining the anti-China slander campaign against imports, the effect is to put cooperation with U.S. bosses above unity with working people abroad. Instead, labor needs to mobilize the broadest solidarity around today's strikes and protests against U.S. bosses."

Rayson warned that the main beneficiaries of these anti-WTO protests would be the presidential campaign of Patrick Buchanan, "the chief organizing center today of incipient American fascism." The anti-WTO protests, which Buchanan says he will participate in, "provides him an opportunity to get a broader hearing within the working class," the candidate wrote.

While Rayson's large vote reflected an anti-establishment protest and not a pro-socialist consciousness, many of his co-workers said that they voted for him, knowing his socialist views. This reflects the growing interest by workers in seriously considering a working-class alternative in the elections. "Josh Sjoholm, a BNSF switchman, said he voted for Rayson because "he took the time to write something. Plus I wanted to mix it up. I don't want to have one mind frame around the port."

In the week prior to the election the Socialist Workers 1999 campaign also won an exemption from publicly disclosing the names, addresses, and occupations of its contributors and its vendors. On October 28 the Washington Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) voted unanimously to approve a renewal of the campaign's exemption it had granted last year. Several campaign supporters, including workers from Boeing and Alaska Airlines, and two students from a nearby college attended the hearing in Olympia.

The campaign fought unsuccessfully to remove an audit provision added to its exemption last year, and again objected to its inclusion. The exemption only lasts through the end of 1999 and Socialist Workers candidates must reapply for an exemption every year.

Scott Breen is a member of the International Association of Machinists and was the campaign director for the Socialist Workers 1999 Campaign in Washington State.  
 
 
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