Sad news.

Karen Marchioro, a powerful and prominent Bellevue Democrat credited with reshaping the state party in the early 1980s, died this yesterday morning from cancer. She was 73.

Karen and I crossed paths a lot over the years. I got to know her best while she was State Party Chair and I was State Young Democrats Chair. Over the next couple decades she was variously a mentor, an ally and an adversary. She was always a Democrat, without apology, and she was always a friend.

R.I.P.