If you haven’t voted, do it now. I mean it. Go get your ballot. I’ll wait…

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OK, good. I say to vote now because mail-in voting allows procrastinators to, well, procrastinate. Then it’s the day of the election and you have that thing you forgot about but, “Oh crap, it doesn’t get out until after voting ends. Damn, I should have voted early…”

So vote now!

Who should you vote for? Well, Seattle Bike Blog does not have endorsement for every race, but here’s a list of people we absolutely do endorse:

• Mike McGinn for Mayor. Because when it comes to transportation, Mike McGinn is almost always right. Seriously, this guy knows his stuff. And his leadership has taken us from a city too timid to paint skinny bike lanes to a city that is now installing miles of cycle tracks and neighborhood greenways. What could he do with four more years? I can’t wait to see. Vote for Mike.
• Mike O’Brien for City Council. Mike O’Brien is super nice, super smart and takes his City Council responsibilities seriously. He bikes himself and has been an unwavering supporter of safe streets. His opponent openly opposes bike lanes and claims they somehow hurt working families. Really. Vote for Mike.
• Sally Bagshaw for City Council. Sally has been a vital force in helping Seattle Neighborhood Greenways find and grow its civic power. She has helped secure funding for more and more miles of greenways every year since she fell in love with them. How many miles of neighborhood greenways will we be building every year by the end of her next term? I can’t wait to see. Vote for Sally.
• Nick Licata for City Council. Nick was a big supporter of the Fremont Solstice bike ride back when the city tried cracking down on it. For some of you naked scofflaws, that’s probably enough to earn your vote. He tells Feet First he supports road diets when the data supports them, which he notes is all of them so far. Cascade calls him “a supporter and champion of bicycling for decades,” so there’s that. Vote for Nick.
• Dow Constantine for King County Executive. In Dow’s first term, King County purchased the Eastside Rail Corridor and is developing plans that could lead to a biking and walking trail so awesome it could rival the Burke-Gilman. Let’s let him lead those plans. And hey, if he can keep Metro funded while he’s at it, that would be awesome (he’s trying!). Vote for Dow.

You may notice one race missing here. I haven’t endorsed in the Richard Conlin/Kshama Sawant race. Bike issues have not been a central issue in that race. Cascade endorsed Conlin, giving him credit for securing funding for the Northgate bike/walk bridge and for pushing for a bike/walk trail on the Portage Bay Bridge as part of the 520 project.

But Kshama Sawant brings a huge amount of energy with her, including radical support for more and better transit. Conlin has supported some rather questionable roads mega projects, and some of Sawant’s ideas are a little out there or are not legal on a state level (Seattle Transit Blog debates the wisdom of rent control here, for example). And since neither candidate has made bike issues a central part of their campaigns, I’ll leave it up to you all to decide this one. Personally, I made up my mind about this race for non-bike reasons (shocking, I know).

I have not done adequate reporting to endorse in races outside of Seattle (so little time!). If you have candidates you feel strongly about, please say so in the comments below. You can also read Cascade Bicycle Club’s endorsements, which include people from all over the region (for example, they strongly support electing Nathan Schlicher for State Senate District 26).

This is an open thread, but you’re not allowed to comment until you’ve mailed your ballot. Seriously, do it now.