Opinion: ‘Brad Klippert write-in campaign for secretary of state gaining traction’

Nancy Churchill reports that a poll published by Northwest Progressive Institute shows Klippert fairing better

Nancy Churchill
Dangerous Rhetoric

Last Friday, a poll published by the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) demonstrated that the Brad Klippert write-in campaign for secretary of state is continuing to gain traction. When Klippert, a seven-term Republican state representative, was included in the choices offered to respondents, he earned 23% of the likely vote, compared to Democrat Hobbs’ 34% and non-partisan Anderson’s dismal 18%. A substantial 25% of the likely voters were still undecided. In this three-way race, if Brad Klippert can attract just over half of the undecided voters, he could gather enough support to win his write-in campaign for the important secretary of state office, which manages elections, the state archives, the state library, and business and non-profit registrations. Full disclosure, I’m actively supporting this campaign, and Brad Klippert has my strongest endorsement.

According to NPI’s analysis of the poll results, “Once respondents have the option of picking Klippert, a proud and declared Republican, Anderson’s support collapses. Meanwhile, Hobbs holds steady, with an ever so slight increase in support of one percentage point (33% > 34%).”

NPI continues, “But if Republican voters know that a Republican candidate is running whose name they can affix to their ballot, our data demonstrates that they will gravitate to the Republican, as we saw in 2020. Large numbers of Republican voters would clearly rather vote for a Republican candidate than a candidate who is not a Republican.

Interestingly, that’s also true of a significant portion of independent voters.” This data point about Klippert’s strength among independent voters is a real game changer. Up until now, most political analysts assumed that Klippert would only attract attention from conservative Republicans. The write-in campaign for secretary of state is also gaining national attention. National conservative outlet Gateway Pundit noticed the race, and pointed out that Ranked Choice Voting is on the ballot. Klippert points out in most interviews that ranked choice voting systems are “complicated and confusing”. Unfortunately, in most jurisdictions, ranked choice voting often results in many voters being disenfranchised during the multiple vote tabulations as a majority is manufactured by the ranking process.

Voters who have concerns about the integrity of Washington elections will want to visit his website and review his 12-point plan to improve Washington’s elections. In this document, Klippert vows to work with the legislature to remove many of the “legal” ways to cheat that have been introduced into law over the many years of one-party Democratic control of the Washington state Legislature. Motor-voter registration, vote-by-mail and even secretary of state election rules that reduce transparency are some of Klippert’s primary concerns. In an interview with Glen Morgan of We the Governed, Klippert pointed out “Every single citizen in WA State deserves to have the right to know that when they cast their ballot it will not be manipulated in any way, shape, or form. And that’s exactly why I’m running for Secretary of State’s office.”

The Northwest Progressive Institute even labeled Brad Klippert “an ultra MAGA Republican” because of his strong support for transparent and fair elections. In response, Klippert said, “If pledging to do everything I can to ensure Security, Integrity and Transparency in Washington State’s election process makes me ‘an ultra MAGA Republican’ I will proudly wear that title!”

Northwest Progressive Institute concludes with this assessment: “…this is really a three-way race if Republican voters know about Brad Klippert’s candidacy. And our guess is that many will, given that Klippert has the backing of the Washington State Republican Party, a campaign apparatus, and access to right wing media outlets…His candidacy cannot be dismissed just because his name won’t appear on the ballot. He is clearly an attractive option in the eyes of the ultra MAGA faction of the electorate, and they’ve shown they’re willing to write in a name.” The progressives are clearly worried that Washington voters will write in Brad Klippert for Secretary of State.

Nancy Churchill is the state committeewoman for the Ferry County Republican Party. She may be reached at Dangero u sRhetoric@pm.me. The opinions expressed in Dangerous Rhetoric are her own.