As Republicans on the stage in Denver are giving speeches saying they plan to cross party lines and vote for Obama, in Washington state, Republican gubernatorial candidate is apparently hoping to get some Democrats going the other way.Rossi will be airing this video on network…
Forty five minutes before Barack Obama takes the stage in Denver, his campaign has sent out excerpts from his prepared remarks.He talks about his background, about the nation's promise that hard work and sacrifice, each can pursue his or her dreams. But this is "one…
Catching up...My colleague Jim Camden has worked his political-mapping skills and come up with a couple of graphics in the governor's race.The upshot: the late-arriving ballots have been tilting slightly to Republicans."Dino Rossi has been gaining a bit of ground in the gubernatorial vote tally…
(and yes, the state Supreme Court's office building is really called the Temple of Justice.) Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown is doing something that would make many a politician squirm: going to court to make it easier to raise taxes. A 15-year-old law declaring that…
After an afternoon of phone calls and emails with political consultants, campaign managers, etc., it's nothing but day-after sunshine and candies. Everyone I talked to claimed to be happy -- usually very happy -- with the results. Incumbents said challengers fell short of expectations, and…
Another very close race to the north, where it looks like Shelly Short and Sue Lani Madsen will face off in November.The race in the rural northeastern Washington district is a rare five-way legislative battle with only Republicans in the ring. Three of them --…
A surprisingly sharp open-seat battle between Republicans Mel Lindauer and Kevin Parker seems to have ended with Parker facing off in November against Democratic incumbent Rep. Don Barlow.Parker got 28 percent to Lindauer's 21 percent in tonight's returns, a roughly 1,500-vote gap that will be…
As expected, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, steamrolled independent challenger John Moyna, a night janitor at a hamburger eatery in Spokane. The two will face off again in November, but the early returns show Brown with 78 percent to Moyna's 22 percent. In the…
Rossi 46 percent, Gregoire 48 percent.In a press release a earlier this hour, Rossi called that a "strong showing" and pointed out that he got just 34 percent of the vote in 2004. (Note: Although in 2004, Democratic turnout in the primary was spurred by…
Democrat Peter Goldmark, who's led incumbent Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland in campaign fundraising for months, is neck and neck with Sutherland: 49 percent to Sutherland's 50 percent. (It's closer than it sounds, due to my rounding of these percentages.)As expected, urbanites seem to…
Longtime Justice Charles Johnson is also holding strong over two challengers. Johnson's getting 58 percent to C.F. (Frank) Vulliet's 11 percent and James Beecher's 31 percent.
Now Rossi's up by a fraction of a percent: 47.49 percent to Gregoire's 46.5 percent.He's been helped by heavy leads in rural, sparsely populated counties, primarily east of the Cascades. But Gregoire's up by nearly five percentage points in Snohomish County -- a populous battleground…
Incumbent state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson, seeking a fourth term, is drawing about 44 percent in the first batch of ballots. Her main opponent in a six-way race is Randy Dorn, a former lawmaker and head of a union representing rank-and-file school workers.…
Gregoire's beating Rossi 48 percent to 45 percent in the earliest returns. Also, local guy John Aiken Jr. can take heart: among the 8 much-lesser-known contenders for governor, he's currently in the lead, with a statewide 2 percent.
More top-two predictions from The Moderate Washingtonian blog, including NE WA races:(Central Spokane)3rd House District #1:Alex Wood [D] 55%John Waite [I] 19%(Spokane Valley area)4th House District #2:Diana Wilhite [R] 32%Tim Hattenburg [D] 29%(A crescent around western Spokane)6th House District #1:Don Barlow [D] 47%Kevin Parker [R]…
Barring effective write-in challenges, lots of state lawmakers are getting a free ride to re-election this year.Two dozen state lawmakers, including local Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville and Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, are running without even a token opponent on the ballot.Among them:-Rep. Al O'Brien, D-Seattle,-Rep.…
Also with the rainy-Monday-morning-coffee: a rant from Stevenl at Olympia's Olyblog community blog.In comments that I suspect a lot of people can empathize with -- and more so as Nov. 4 nears -- Stevenl bemoans the flood of glossy political postcards, radio and TV ads,…
The Coalition Against Assisted Suicide sent out a note this morning thanking "members of the media for permanently refraining from accessing KVI's John Carlson for Coalition information."Huh?It turns out that some folks are confusing retired health care executive John Carlson -- the guy heading up…
Following Utah's decision to save an estimated $3 million by switching to a four-day work week for state workers, Gov. Chris Gregoire said in an e-mail to employees this afternoon that she's considering the same thing.Gregoire recently asked state workers to send their money-saving ideas…
Survey USA's latest Washington poll shows the governor's race "too close to call," with Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire leading Republican challenger Dino Rossi 50 percent to 48 percent, with a remarkable 1 percent undecided.The poll suggests that Gregoire is particularly strong with women (54 percent),…
By random selection, it says, the state Liquor Control Board has picked the 15 independently-owned grocery stores that will be allowed to offer free wine and beer samples to customers, starting this fall.Another 15 chain stores will be picked soon.State lawmakers were extremely wary of…
Trying to trump Gov. Gregoire's recent announcement of a hiring freeze and other budget-trimming measures, Republican challenger Dino Rossi says he'd:-launch a year-long hiring freeze,-and shrink consulting contracts 20 percent, travel 10 percent and supply purchases 10 percentRossi says the state should not only hire…
Citing the high cost of gas, food and housing, hundreds of state workers converged on the Washington Capitol on Tuesday to call for larger pay raises."We ain't nobody's working slave, we deserve a real pay raise," the crowd of about 500 Washington Federation of State…
...as I try to work the kinks out of a new computer system.
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
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