Republican AG Candidate Posts Racist Video

But the Seattle Police Endorsed Him!

Overt Racism

Pete Serrano, the Republican running for Attorney General, put an overtly racist video on Twitter over the weekend. 

Perhaps this shouldn’t surprise me from a guy who tried to shut down a library over objections to the placement of books about race and gender, and is suing Spokane on behalf of an anti-LGBTQ, right-wing extremist. (Serrano is the lead lawyer at the Christian Nationalist nonprofit that took on the cases). Or who recently implied that he cannot stand for women to work outside of the home. 

Rated: Racist

But the video was still shocking to see.

In the clip, Serrano takes a walk with a local right-wing advocate on Capitol Hill, who says she is afraid to ride light rail, though she doesn’t say why. The only “evidence” presented for her fear is when Serrano, this lady and the camera operator approach the light rail station. Serrano says, “Alright, do you not want to go down?” 

And the camera rapidly zooms in and pauses on a black man sitting quietly on a bench. 

That’s it.

Serrano seems to believe that a black man sitting on a bench should scare Washington voters into voting for him. This racism is not the subtle sort. If anything, this video should permanently disqualify this man from holding office.

Note that Serrano’s opponent Nick Brown (who I have endorsed—donate to Nick’s campaign here) is also a black man, which adds another dimension to the Serrano’s loathsome campaigning.

https://x.com/ronpdavis/status/1840568016888901674

I chose a blurry moment from the video to protect this man’s privacy.

Safety

Now look, I think most people understand that light rail should be safer than it is. As the post-Covid crime spike crested across the nation, Seattle was hit hard. And our light rail stations are where a lot of people go. And, just like the national upsurge, Seattle’s crime rate is also coming down, though we clearly have more work to do.

But I also think most people know that our light rail stations are actually quite safe places to be overall. My tween travels on Seattle Public Transit (including light rail) and I’m quite comfortable with that. I’m much more worried about him crossing streets without paying attention!

Interestingly, the main thing that makes US Cities more dangerous in terms of crime than our foreign counterparts is guns, and Serrano has led the fight to bring more guns into our communities by suing to stop even moderate, sensible gun regulation. That would put us all in more danger.

He also seems to want to bring Washington the same “I’m mean to petty criminals so I must big big strong man” virtue signaling game that Republicans embrace everywhere (as does the conservative majority on the Seattle City Council).  

But their theatrics and ideas don’t work very well. In addition to all the trauma, criminal hardening, and families destroyed by their love of locking people up, 13 of the 15 most dangerous cities in the US are all in States led by the GOP or are run by purple governments. 

Washington voters should reject Serrano decisively at the ballot box in November. And then I hope the people in Pasco (where he is Mayor) also send him packing. He should be nowhere near elected office.

PS. The Seattle Police Officers Guild endorsed Serrano, a regular reminder how far their politics are from the mainstream.