Washington voters might face a few tough choices this election season, but there’s only one choice for state Supreme Court: Sal Mungia. Mungia’s opponent, Dave Larson, is running as an experienced moderate, but he’s a trojan horse for extremist, antidemocratic billionaires. If he wins — or even comes close — those billionaires will keep trying to buy our court, just as they’ve bought others. Vote Mungia.
Larson’s campaign is supported by a dark money network managed by wealthy, out-of-state extremists. The network centers on Project 42, an umbrella group created by California oligarch Brian Heywood to funnel corporate dark money to seemingly independent extremist organizations like the Washington Policy Center.
Project 42 has cultivated ties with extremists both in and outside of Washington, including disgraced Wisconsinite Scott Walker and Trump-supporting internet pundit Brandi Kruse. Also under Project 42’s umbrella: Let’s Go Washington, the campaign-finance-law-violating political action committee backing Urbanist-opposed initiatives that would reduce billionaires’ taxes, cut billions in school funding, and promote climate change.
Larson’s campaign is controlled by another Project 42 organization: the Citizen Action Defense Fund (CADF). CADF has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Project 42 to advocate for the wealthy, in part by fighting public investments like transit expansion, ferry construction, and bridge repair.
Project 42’s CADF is also running Larson’s campaign. Larson’s campaign manager, Paige Jaramillo, is a CADF employee. CADF’s executive director, Jackson Maynard, is one of Larson’s biggest donors. Another major Larson donor: Project 42’s chair, Steve Gordon, who retired after selling his grandpa’s business. He spends much of his time calling people ‘soyboy’ online — and underwriting Larson’s Supreme Court campaign.
Larson’s campaign is the latest step in billionaires’ multi-decade plan to rig the legal system. Buying state courts is a facet of the oligarchic legal crusade launched by Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, who advised the rich to roll back workers’ protections and civil rights laws by creating networks of foundations and legal non-profits like CADF. These networks have systematically elevated corporate advocates to state supreme courts. They control 60% of state Supreme Court justices. Now, they’re trying to put Dave Larson on Washington’s Supreme Court.
Larson hasn’t been shy about his sympathy for his wealthy supporters. He told The Stranger that he would have ruled against the capital gains tax, taking billions from schools and sending the money right back to his patron Brian Heywood.
Larson hasn’t openly acknowledged his ties to Heywood; instead, he presents himself as an experienced moderate. That framing rings hollow. Larson has emphasized his judicial experience, but his current Federal Way municipal court work bears no resemblance to the responsibilities of a state Supreme Court justice. Municipal judges referee misdemeanor trials and adjudicate traffic tickets. Supreme Court justices review completed trials and other lower court orders for legal error.
Larson’s attempts to portray himself as a moderate, which rely mainly on his professed support for ‘therapeutic’ courts, are also unconvincing. Unfortunately, any court can be called therapeutic. Many therapeutic courts fail to offer meaningful help. Federal Way Municipal Court doesn’t appear to have ever commissioned an independent evaluation of its therapeutic courts — unlike other jurisdictions. We know very little about Larson’s therapeutic court.
Larson’s opponent, Sal Mungia, is an experienced attorney and former Washington State Bar Association President backed by racial justice groups, unions, and other organizations fighting for a more just economy. Despite strong progressive backing, he’s also far more committed to judicial neutrality than Larson. He’s refused to take positions on future hypothetical cases and has avoided campaigning. His campaign was not involved with, or aware of, this op-ed.
Most critically, Sal Mungia isn’t backed by Project 42 or any other billionaire cabal. If Larson does well — or wins outright — Washingtonians can expect a wave of pro-corporate judicial candidates backed by Brian Heywood’s dark money network. Don’t let the rich buy our courts. Vote Mungia.
Austin Field (Guest Contributor)
Austin Field is a public defender in Seattle. Before attending law school at the University of Washington, he was an Army infantry officer, a law firm operations manager, and a public defense investigator. The views expressed are his own.