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No endorsement

The race

Two state House seats are at stake in Washington's House District 43, each for a two-year term, elected by position: voters choose separately for Position 1 and Position 2, so this article calls each position separately and endorses per seat — the seat count is two. Washington uses a top-two primary: the two highest finishers in each position advance to the general election regardless of party, which is why some positions below show two candidates of the same party and no candidate of the other. The confirmed general-election roster, per Ballotpedia — Washington House of Representatives elections, 2026 (roster strength: compilation (Ballotpedia)), is: Pos. 1: Nicole Macri (Democratic Party); Alby Clendennin (Democratic Party); Pos. 2: Shaun Scott (Democratic Party). Incumbents as marked in the Ballotpedia general-election table: Pos. 1: Nicole Macri (Democratic Party); Pos. 2: Shaun Scott (Democratic Party). Where an incumbent is marked but absent from a position's roster above, that position is open; the row notes in the research file carry the detail.

Spot-verification, October 25, 2026: this roster was corroborated against WFSE 2026 races sheet (Macri incumbent vs. Clendennin; Scott incumbent, unopposed); Ballotpedia District 43 page (Macri Pos. 1, Scott Pos. 2 incumbents); no correction resulted.

The candidates, claim by claim

### Position 1

Nicole Macri (D), incumbent. Nicole Macri is the incumbent for this seat, marked (i) on the Ballotpedia general-election table, and appears on the confirmed general-election roster (Ballotpedia general-election table, accessed October 25, 2026).

Pros: A sitting incumbent whose constituents know the record. Cons: No documented break with the Democratic Party toward this publication's values was located in the compiled record — no Manchin-test break. The organizing vote adds to a Democratic caucus whose program this publication opposes; that caucus weight is lighter in the House than in the Senate, but it does not create an exception where no break exists. The flaw, plainly: Enabler class, not extremist — a reliable party-line vote, which is the standing reason the exception for a Democrat is not earned here.

Alby Clendennin (D), nominee. Alby Clendennin appears on the confirmed general-election roster for this district (Ballotpedia general-election table, accessed October 25, 2026). No detailed voting-record, biography, or signature-claim file for this candidate was verified at this sourcing depth, and none is invented here.

Pros: A willing nominee giving the district's Democratic voters a choice on the ballot. Cons: No documented break with the Democratic Party toward this publication's values was located in the compiled record — no Manchin-test break. The organizing vote adds to a Democratic caucus whose program this publication opposes; that caucus weight is lighter in the House than in the Senate, but it does not create an exception where no break exists. The flaw, plainly: Enabler class, not extremist — a reliable party-line vote, which is the standing reason the exception for a Democrat is not earned here.

### Position 2

Shaun Scott (D), incumbent. Shaun Scott is the incumbent for this seat, marked (i) on the Ballotpedia general-election table, and appears on the confirmed general-election roster (Ballotpedia general-election table, accessed October 25, 2026). Scott is listed as a "member, endorsee" on Wikipedia's List of Democratic Socialists of America public officeholders, and has been active in Seattle's Democratic Socialists of America since 2017 (Identity Unboxed biography, October 13, 2025). Writing in Jacobin after his 2024 election, Scott described himself in his own words: "I won my election as an open Marxist who campaigned with the Seattle chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)." He is the first socialist elected to the Washington State Legislature in over a century (Identity Unboxed biography).

Pros: A sitting incumbent whose constituents know the record; a first-term legislator with committee service (Vice Chair, Labor & Workplace Standards; Finance; Education — Identity Unboxed biography). Cons: Scott meets this publication's Extremist tier on his own record: documented DSA membership (test (a)) and a self-described socialist program in his own words (test (b)) — see the sourced facts above. That is a personal-program classification, not a party label. The flaw, plainly: Extremist class — a documented socialist program, in the candidate's own words. This is the tier the Extremist Rule exists for.

OUR CALL

Position 1: We make no endorsement for this seat. No Republican is on this general ballot — Washington's top-two primary advanced two Democrats, Nicole Macri and Alby Clendennin. A Democrat earns an endorsement here only through the Manchin test (a documented in-service break with their party toward our values) or the Extremist Rule, and neither fires on this file: no Manchin-test break was located for either candidate, and no candidate here meets the Extremist tier (no documented DSA membership, self-described democratic-socialist identification, or authored socialist program was located for either). Both are priced Enabler class. Service records that exist in the file — incumbency included — are printed above as fact; under our doctrine they do not substitute for the Manchin test.

Position 2: We make no endorsement for this seat. Scott is unopposed on this general ballot, and he is the one candidate in Washington's 2026 legislative field who meets our Extremist tier on sourced evidence: documented DSA membership and a self-described socialist program in his own words (tests (a) and (b) of the personal-program standard). The Extremist Rule directs endorsing the other option — and there is no other option on this ballot. No endorsement is the only honest call; the classification is printed so District 43 voters know exactly what is on their ballot.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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