The Outting of Kevin Hulten - A Cautionary Tale for Mr. Reardon

One of the worst kept secrets in Snohomish County got a bit more exposure last week; broadening the audience as well as the cast of characters. In a series of related articles, both the Seattle Times and the Everett Herald apparently decided it was time to awaken the general public to the questionable activities and tactics of Lake Stevens’ own Kevin Hulten.  At the very least, it seems Mr. Hulten may have finally chosen the wrong victim for his own brand of hitman politics.

The story coming from the media last week involves certain ethics complaints filed with the Public Disclosure Committee (PDC) against current Republican candidate for Snohomish County Executive, Mike Hope. At the center of the story is the question of where the complaints (most of which have been tossed out by the PDC) actually originated. You can follow the entire story best from the summary article run in the Herald by following the link here. Essentially what unfolded upon investigation by Mr. Hope’s camp and the Herald’s Noah Haglund was a trail that led back to the “sometimes” doorstep of Kevin Hulten. Have I mentioned that Hulten is currently employed in an “administrative position” by current County Executive, (Democrat) Aaron Reardon; candidate for re-election to that position?

Hulten (a former editor of the Lake Steven Journal) first came to my attention when he wrote a letter to the Everett Herald attacking a member of the Snohomish County Council (Democrat, Dave Somers) for what he claimed was an effort on the part of Somers to thwart the placement of a UW campus on a piece of land between the cities of Lake Stevens and Snohomish. At, that time Hulten was working as a legislative aide for then State Representative Steve Hobbs (D-Lake Stevens). Somers disputed the accusations and quickly pointed out that Hulten’s boss was a fellow Democrat who had previously lost a bitter primary contest for the seat Somers still holds today. Hobbs’ response at the time was that he could not hold Hulten accountable for actions that he took on his own time.  Then, last year during Hobbs’ run for state senate, Hulten’s name surfaced again when Hobbs’ Democratic challenger, Lillian Kaufer became the target of a cyber smear campaign. Although Hulten was never directly linked to the attacks (coming from a blog and Twitter account registered to a “ghostfacedstarx” in New York City), Kaufer as well as others in the 44^th LD insisted that Hulten was the most likely suspect given his access to personal and financial information on Kaufer and her husband via Lexis/Nexis, his obvious motivation to protect his boss, and the attack-dog style exhibited by the cyber bully as well as Hulten himself when confronted by members of the LD.

Until now Hulten has been able to maintain that degree of “plausible deniability” that allows those that he works for to remain above the fray. This adventure may have just blown all of that out of the water. For his part, Aaron Reardon has thus far stood firm by his denial of any knowledge of Hulten’s activities and is passing it off as mere coincidence. He has been quick to point out that Hulten does not have a place on his campaign staff and, if he were taking part in any political activity it would have been “on his own time.” Here’s the problem; Reardon, as the highest ranked Democrat in the county, is walking on thin ice if he says he has no knowledge of Hulten’s previous activities while on the staff of Sen. Hobbs. Reardon, after all, was Hobbs’ chief supporter in his failed bid against Dave Somers for county council and is currently endorsing Hobbs in his current run for US Congress. Interestingly, a few months ago, when I suggested to a potential Democratic challenger to Reardon, that Mike Hope might be looking to run a more robust and potentially negative campaign this year than had Reardon’s two previous challengers, he suggested to me that “I’m sure Aaron’s preparing for that. He has hired Hulten to come work for him.”

For many of us who follow the political comings and goings in Snohomish County, the activity being alleged in the media and by others in the “political know” is nothing new coming from Kevin Hulten. Perhaps the biggest surprise in this case is the fact that he has been caught doing what he does best and the fact that he may just drag down one of the more savvy and powerful politicians in the county in the process. I have a feeling that, unless these two gentlemen part company soon, their fate may be irreversibly joined.

Peace,

Chad (The Left) Shue