OLYMPIA -- State Rep. Joel Kretz of Wauconda will not seek the 7th District Senate seat being vacated by Bob Morton, but seatmate Shelly Short said she is considering it. Morton announced this week that he will retire at the end of this year, leaving…
Sen. Lisa Brown pauses while packing her office to take a phone call. OLYMPIA – As she packed up the memorabilia from 20 years in the Legislature, Lisa Brown was preparing Thursday to take charge of a dream for Spokane that was even older. In…
Sen. Lisa Brown will move from the leading Senate Democrats to leading the WSU-Spokane campus. Brown was named chancellor of WSU-Spokane this afternoon by President Elson Floyd. The Spokane Democrat did not seek re-election this year and retires in December after 20 years in the…
Mary Alice Heuschel, the Renton Schools superintendent, will be Governor-elect Jay Inslee's chief of staff. Inslee made the announcement this morning that Heuschel, who was among a trio picked to head his transition team, will go with him to Olympia next year. Education will be…
Turnout is an important statistic in any election, but it's not always the key statistic because precincts with small registration can have a high turnout but not produce many votes. Elections turn on ballots, and the precincts with the most ballots are the most important.…
Spokane County had a turnout of 80.5 percent in the general election, but as the map shows, turnout varied from precinct to precinct.
OLYMPIA -- Mark Schoesler, a Ritzville area wheat farmer, was named leader of the state Senate's Republican Caucus Wednesday. Schoesler, 55, has served 20 years in the Legislature, was elected by other Republicans to take the place of Mike Hewitt of Walla Walla, who stepped…
Editor's note: when this story appeared in Wednesday's paper, one of the first comments was, where are the maps? Here's the first.) A voting district southeast of the Spokane Valley city limits can bask in the bright red glow of being the county’s most conservative…
OLYMPIA -- Bob Morton, a conservative Republican who has served northeastern Washington's 7th District for 22 years, will retire from the Legislature at the start of next year. Morton announced today he will step down half way through his current term, setting the stage for…
Senate Democrats may decry the filibuster now, but in 2005, when they were in the minority, they were all for it. Note the young guy speaking in favor of it at the start. Sen. Patty Murray shows up about 1:40 in.
OLYMPIA -- Facing one of the narrowest majorities in years, Senate Democrats proposed a new committee one one of the state's thorniest problems with shared leadership responsibilities and a veteran with a record of interparty skills for the budget-writing panel. They also suggested the "president…
The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive Stephen Colbert vs. Pope Benedict XVI on Christmas traditions.
OLYMPIA -- The state Capitol Grounds will feature a Nativity Scene this year, and a park a few blocks north will have a nine-foot lighted Menorah, state officials said. The Nativity Scene will be go up Dec. 11 and come down Dec. 28. The Menorah…
After spending the Apple Cup as a Cougar in the midst of Huskies, it strikes me that would-be secessionists could learn a lot from the annual intrastate rivalry. That’s saying quite a bit about the position on the outer ring of craziness of those petitioning…
Spin Control will be giving thanks this week. Thanks for family and friends. Thanks for our system of government that keeps Spin Control gainfully employed. Thanks for an election that's over. There may be a few items that make their way into the blog this…
A post-election refrain, as predictable as swallows returning to Capistrano or Cougar fans pinning their Apple Cup hopes on bad weather in Pullman, sounded last week. The amount of time Washington takes to count its ballots and settle elections predictably irked several politicians. State Sen.…
Walla Walla Republican Mike Hewitt will not seek another term as Senate minority leader. Hewitt, who is finishing his 12th year in the Senate and seventh year as the Republican leader, said today he would step down from the leadership post and "focus my energies…
Patty Murray will be the Senate's chief budget writer next year when Congress convenes for its new session. The Washington Democrat announced today she will seek the chairmanship of the Senate Budget Committee, a position that will become open at the end of the year…
OLYMPIA – Washington faces a $900 million budget hole through 2015, a slightly smaller one for the Legislature to fill than previously thought, thanks to a slowly recovering economy. Governor-elect Jay Inslee, a Democrat, reiterated Wednesday he plans to do that without a tax increase,…
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers won the fourth highest position in the House of Representatives today in a closed meeting of House Republicans, The Hill, Politico and other media are reporting. McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, was elected chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. It ranks just…
The Daily ShowGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook Jon Stewart skewers folks talking secession and other dire consequences in the wake of Obama's re-election.
Governor-elect Jay Inslee named a three-person transition team today comprised of a school superintendent, a software executive and a university president as he put out a call for talent "every single place we can find it." Inslee appointed Washington State University President Elson Floyd, Microsoft…
OLYMPIA -- Seattle Sen. Ed Murray, who spearheaded the fight for same-sex marriage and ran the Senate's budget writing committee this year, will move up to leading the Democrats in that chamber next year. Murray was elected Senate majority leader Tuesday by the members of…
OLYMPIA – Washington will be “following the will of the voters and moving ahead” with setting up ways that adults can legally obtain marijuana for recreational use, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Tuesday after meeting with federal law enforcement officials. To read the rest of this…
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has missed a key endorsement in her quest to win the fourth-most powerful position in the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, the recent Republican vice presidential nominee, has backed Tom Price, R-Ga., in the race between Price…
The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.
| Nov. 2012 | ||||
| 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| 24 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 15 |
| 14 | 13 | 09 | 08 | 07 |
| 06 | 05 | 03 | 02 | 01 |
