Swingtown, WA

While everybody wants to know who is going to be Washington's choice for president, U.S. senator, and governor in November's election, Issaquah already knows. While most of us live in places filled with like-minded people, Issaquah is filled with Democrats, Republicans, and independents. This little city of 15,110, 17 miles east of Seattle on Interstate 90, is the swingingest place imaginable when it comes to state politics.

The normal political calculus in Washington is fairly simple: Democrats win the cities and Republicans win the rural areas. To see just how polarized our state's politics have become, consider a recent poll by Moore Information: In Seattle, Democrat John Kerry enjoyed 77 percent support while President Bush could only boast 9 percent. The odds are equally dismal for Kerry in Washington's rural areas.

The real fight this fall will be over Seattle's suburbs. What makes Issaquah stand out amidst the Cascade foothills sprawl? It picks winners. In major elections going back to 1992, Issaquah has voted for winning candidates for president, for U.S. Senate, for governor, and for the 8th District congressional seat. Sometimes Issaquah has voted for Democrats, sometimes Republicans.

What do Al Gore, Slade Gorton, Patty Murray, and Jennifer Dunn have in common? Not much, but Issaquah voted for all of them. And when Issaquah voted for them, they won among Washington state voters.

Issaquah is fickle. For years, the city voted for Republican Rod Chandler in his races for the U.S. House of Representatives, and he won the overall voting in the 8th District, which stretches from Bellevue down through the Kent Valley, all the way into rural Pierce County. When Chandler tried to move up to the U.S. Senate in 1992, however, Issaquah chose Patty Murray, the mom in tennis shoes. Of course, she won the state.

Issaquah really liked Democrats in 1992, supporting Bill Clinton for president, Murray for the Senate, and Mike Lowry for governor. Two years later, Issaquah decided to stand by conservative Republican U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, even though he was opposed by King County's own Ron Sims. Six years later, however, Issaquah had had enough of Slade and chose high-tech exec and New Democrat Maria Cantwell for the Senate. While Issaquah has, since 1992, chosen Democrats like Clinton and Gore for president and Lowry and Gary Locke for governor, it has consistently favored Republican Jennifer Dunn for Congress in that same period.

What is it with this place? The city votes for big government liberals like Lowry and Murray and corporate conservatives like Gorton and Dunn. Can't Issaquah make up its mind? Is it something in the water?

And how is Issaquah going to vote this fall in an election that is one of the most fiercely contested in American history—an election that has pollsters across the country noting the stark polarization of American voters into practically equal, warring, hostile camps?

Suburban Melting Pot

A congested Front Street in Issaquah. (Kevin P. Casey)

Issaquah started out as the city of Gilman in 1892. Seven years later, the name was changed, although local historians aren't clear as to why. City scholars agree that the name Issaquah is the settlers' adaptation of a Native American word, but no one knows what it means. In the early years, Issaquah was home to sawmills, dairy farms, and productive coal mines, which attracted a railroad depot. In 1968, I-90 arrived, splitting the town in two and destroying the historic Pickering Farm—home of Washington's fifth territorial governor, William Pickering. But I-90 also made possible Issaquah's development as a suburban commercial and retail powerhouse.

Today, Issaquah is a place that combines old and new in a way that seems effortless to its inhabitants and weird to outsiders. Unlike other suburbs east of Lake Washington, Issaquah has a strong sense of place. Preservationists have done a wonderful job with the old train depot that anchors downtown's lovely central piazza, which also includes a pocket park and playground and an attractive new $12.8 million brick city hall. Just up the street, there's an airy, busy, new King County library and the state's most visited salmon hatchery. On the other side of I-90, the city has preserved the central dairy barn of the old Pickering Farm. The red building, with its old, gorgeous beams, surrounded by cottonwoods and willows, reminds visitors of just how beautiful this place must have been at one time. Throughout Issaquah, the history of the region is palpable.

Costco President and lifelong Democrat Jim Sinegal. (Kevin P. Casey)

Issaquah is not, however, frozen in time. On either side of I-90, acres of horribly ugly strip malls and sprawling office complexes have sprung up. Big-box retail abounds. The largest employer in Issaquah is Costco. The company's world headquarters, with 2,500 employees, is on what used to be the Pickering Farm property. Right next door is Costco's flagship warehouse, at 150,000 square feet a mammoth structure bigger than the normal 130,000-square-foot store. While Costco's average warehouse does $100 million a year in sales, the Issaquah store does $200 million. Costco President Jim Sinegal is a lifelong Democrat and one of the top political givers in the state. He and his wife have given at least $203,000 to Democratic federal candidates and causes in this election cycle. Sinegal says his company wasn't sure Issaquah was going to be big enough to support the flagship warehouse when it opened in 1994. The company has been quite pleased with the results.