Just about 100 miles from the booming, buzzing city center of Seattle, you'll find the quiet, calm of Ellensburg. The city’s Main Street is marked with reminders of the past. Differences between the two spots transcend geography, culture, and politics.
“It's a very friendly community,” said local Jerry Sanford “You talk to people in the store. There's no hurry. It's a good place to retire for people. Wages are always low.”
KING 5 met Jerry Sanford and his twin sister Joanne Eggers having lunch at the historic Palace Café, along with their sister, Jenny Jones. The family has lived in both King and Kittitas counties, and like the geographic regions, the siblings have different views.
“I feel like the cultural revolution flew over the valley, here, they missed it,” said Jones.
“We have opposite opinions here, definitely liberal minded,” she continued. Jones said she will vote for Democratic candidates up and down the ticket this fall.
The twins will not.
“I've always been conservative and I vote party line all the time,” said Eggers.
But when asked about the statewide issues most important to them, there's more overlap.
“Funding the schools is a big one,” said Jones who also mentioned homelessness. “Jobs, the homeless, housing, for our people that have less means."
Professor Todd Schaefer, who chairs the Political Science Department at Central Washington University says while the state’s economy is robust, growth and recovery have been uneven.
“The standard of living in this part of the state isn't as high, and the economic base is different,” explained Schaefer.
The state’s so-called “Cascade Curtain” reveals differences in employment opportunity, industry, and urbanization. All factors that could contribute to the political divide that exists too.
Western Washington’s population centers, such as King County, remain reliably blue, whereas the Eastern and Central part of the state lean red.
“This has been something that we haven't been able to explain fully in our field,” said Schaefer of the divide.
Schaefer describes Washington state as a microcosm of the United States, where urban population centers tend to lean blue and ultimately can be the deciding factor in big elections.
“I would argue one of the reasons the Democrats have held the governorship so long here is because they're fortunate enough to run every four years with the president when we tend to have higher turnout elections,” said Professor Schaefer.
Governor Jay Inslee won only eight of 39 counties in 2012 to win the election. Analysis showed his margin was won in liberal-leaning Seattle.
It's a political reality that doesn't sit well with the twins.
“One area should not get more weight than the other. It's not evenly distributed in analyzing things and listening,” said Joanne Eggers.
“Seattle’s liberal, we’re not,” said Sanford.
Note, that Kittitas turned blue during this month’s Senate primary earlier this month. Senator Patty Murray won by 422 votes over Chris Vance.
The county remained red in the gubernatorial primary. Governor Inslee’s Republican challenger won Kittitas County by over 1,516 votes of 7,532 total voters.
By comparison, more than 400,233 voted in King County. Inslee won the county by more than 64% in the primary, or 164,569 votes.
More than half of the state’s voting population lives in the three counties of King, Snohomish, and Pierce.
