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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

2016 ballot continues to expand

Voters may still be trying to make up their minds on candidates running in the 2015 election, but some politicians are looking ahead to 2016.

And hey, we all want politicians who look ahead, right? 

Adding his name to the list of 2016 hopefuls is Mark Miloscia, who said Thursday he is running for state auditor next year. That comes as a surprise to almost no one, because Miloscia gave up a state House seat in 2012 to run for it, didn't make it through the primary, then got elected to the Senate in 2014, where he has been one of the loudest critics of embattled auditor Troy "what do you mean you want me to resign just because I've been indicted?" Kelley.

Miloscia, of Federal Way, served as a Democrat in the House, and as a Republican in the Senate. So what's his party preference for auditor? It's Republican, but he does say the auditor's job should be nonpartisan, so that no one will hesitate to criticize that office holder out of party loyalty. Not that that slowed many Democrats for calling for Kelley's ouster, but it is more of a technical than political post.

A bit closer to home, Joe Pakootas is running for Congress as a Democrat against incumbent Cathy McMorris Rodgers. That's not really, news -- he announced that earlier this year. But on Thursday he is holding a "kickoff" event. 

Politics is not like sports, in which kickoffs always happen at the beginning of the game. Some candidates declare a "kickoff" after they've been playing for months. McMorris Rodgers, who as a member of Congress is essentially in perpetual campaign mode, always holds a kickoff sometime after the beginning of the year in which she's running.



Jim Camden
Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.

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