Voters in the 43rd District have a much more interesting race on their hands this November than the rest of us (uhhhh what’s the difference between Prop 1A and 1B again? Why are there two completely opposite gun initiatives on here?)

That’s because voters in the 43rd have a choice between re-electing 20 year veteran Speaker of the House Frank Chopp for the state house, or up-and-comer Jess Spear, a socialist climate scientist who helped organize and lead Seattle’s victorious 15 Now campaign.

The two have had indirect, informal debates thus far, one in a rowing center and one for the Coalition of Immigrants, Refugees and Communities of Color.

But the two finally went head to head in a formal debate for the Seattle Channel, which you can watch above. They duke it out over the historic $8.7 billion Boeing tax break, rent contol, taxing the wealthy, and the minimum wage. It gets juicy. Some choice quotes:

“You have to remember what is moving things forward on a progressive matter—it’s the movements, it’s not politicians seeing if their caucus will support something, putting together a coalition. The coalitions are important, but the space for the coalitions to actually get the work done is done in the streets. Its done with grassroots organizing.” – Jess Spear

(On the Boeing tax break)

“I supported that package because I supported the workers. Not just the machinists, but the federation of state employees, tens of thousands of them, who depend on the state budget, strongly urged me to support that, so I voted for it, I have the letter right here.” – Frank Chopp