Joel Connelly, widely known and revered as the dean of political journalists in the Northwest, died at age 78 on April 15th, 2026. The cause of death was complications from diabetes. A longtime resident of the Madrona neighborhood, Connelly recently moved to Horizon House, where he cultivated friendships with his health aides and neighbors. He died amidst his beloved family.
Typical of his dedication to reporting, the week of his death also saw the publication of his last article, on Alaska’s 2026 United States Senate race, which ran in The Cascadia Advocate, the Northwest Progressive Institute’s primary publication, and the writers’ collective Post Alley. Funeral services will be noon, May 14th, at Connelly’s church, St. James Cathedral, followed by a reception.
Connelly described himself as “a cradle conservationist,” fond of the wilderness and often defending it in his stories. Before his body weakened, Connelly often visited Denali in Alaska, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (with pal Tim Egan), and knew by name most of the peaks and trails in the Cascades and the Canadian ranges. He was fond of national political conventions and primaries, particularly in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Respected by Hearst corporation executives, whose Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper he served for forty-seven years, his articles would often be spread across the company’s newspaper chain nationwide. He was a diligent worker at his craft, able “to get anybody on the phone,” in the words of his editor David McCumber. Governor Bob Ferguson called Connelly “our state’s premier political analyst.”
Connelly grew up in Bellingham, where his journalist and activist mother, Dolly, would often take him into the wilderness of Mount Baker. His father was Joe Connelly, who worked on the Bellingham waterfront. The senior Connellys intended to move to Victoria, British Columbia, but only got as far as Bellingham, where Joel went to the local high school on his way to Notre Dame. His mother was a freelance reporter and photographer and advocate for the wilderness like her son. Connelly’s partner for many years until her death in 2002 was lawyer/activist Mickie Pailthorp, whose children, Melissa, Bellamy (an environmental reporter for KNKX), and Aaron were close to their stepfather and often shared his second home on Whidbey Island. Bellamy said of her stepfather that he often defended “a part of the world that is not yet wrecked.”
Connelly was celebrated for his amazingly detailed recall of political stories. One editor, Mike Seely, said Connelly was “Seattle’s version of the Smithsonian.” He enjoyed regaling audiences with his well-told stories of private dealings of politicians and pooh-bahs in the region. One of his specialties was Canadian politics, stemming from his graduate study at the University of Washington. He enjoyed fixing epithets to his sources, such as “Congressman-for-life Jim McDermott,” “the Arm Flapper” (Governor Mike Lowry) and “Tweety-Bird” (Senator Patty Murray).
Connelly was a “reporter-for-life,” who lived, right up to his body failed him, to report and write and be surrounded by friends. He was the rare political journalist who was well-loved by his sources and young reporters for his fairness, accuracy, and bonhomie. As he once said, “I cherish the job that I do, but I also cherish the people I’m doing it with.”