-Nine people have filed to fun for governor, including several perennial candidates. Among them: Tacoma's Will Baker. Baker, who once described himself as an "international man of diplomacy," has run for Washington secretary of state, auditor and governor and been repeatedly arrested for disrupting government meetings.
-The battle for the House seat of retiring state Rep. Bob Sump, R-Republic, has become a five-way race -- with all the candidates being Republicans. Jack Miller, a local Democrat who twice ran for that seat in the past, told me this morning that he has no plans for a three-peat in the 7th district, a GOP bastion.
"You look at the numbers and it is a very quixotic thing to do," he said.

-So far, 544 people have filed. Their order on the ballot -- which can be a critical factor for lesser-known candidates -- will be determined tonight at the Secretary of State's office. Is there some random number generator that determines the rankings, I asked earlier today.

Nope, said Secretary of State's office spokesman Dave Ammons. It's done with Bingo-style numbered balls.

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