How an alt-weekly endorsement became a progressive prerequisite in Seattle

They arrived bearing gluten-free cupcakes and homemade zucchini muffins, a Raggedy Ann doll and a cake creation that looked just like a basket of apples.

Forty-seven candidates for local offices cycled through a Seattle conference room this summer to participate in what has become a local political ritual: courting the endorsement of The Stranger, an alternative-weekly newspaper that has become one of the most influential forces in one of the most progressive cities in America.

What started years ago as a joke that the newspaper accepted tasty bribes has turned into regular offerings to the Stranger Election Control Board, a collection of writers and editors who salt their serious takes on local politics with wry and edgy humor. Their endorsements carried considerable weight in last week