Click on the image to get to the PDC’s interactive map on  legislative campaign spending.

OLYMPIA — Makers of the drug Topamax agreed to pay the state about $1.2 million for pushing the drug for stuff it’s not licensed to treat, Attorney General Rob McKenna’s office said Wednesay.

Topamax, made by Ortho-McNeil-Janssen, is approved to treat epilepsy and migraines. But it was also being marketed to physicians in Washington state for bipolar disorder, and drug and alcohol dependency, which it is not approved to treat.

But doctors did proscribe it for those conditions, and for patients who were on Medicaid and other government health care programs were covered for those prescriptions. The state’s Medicaid program will get nearly $200,000, the state general fund will get about $400,000 and the rest will be sent to the federal government to cover its share of the Medicaid money that shouldn’t have been paid out for Topamax prescriptions.

Washington was among a group of states that sued the drug company and got a recent settlement.

It may be the upset of the year.

In the race for Spokane County Treasurer, Bozo garnered more support than Jesus.

Bozo – presumably Bozo the Clown – had three write-in votes, to Jesus’ two.

Bozo and Jesus were just two of nearly 1,500 different people or other creatures, real and fictional, who received votes in the treasurer’s race in the August primary. Most of write-in candidates got just one vote each.

Election observers discourage people from writing in candidates unless they seriously want that person to serve in that office. That’s because in some races, write-ins can cause significant extra work and headaches when tallying the vote.

The elections office keeps an eye on all races to make sure it catches any write-ins that receive 1 percent of the vote. Officials kept a tally this year for each write-in vote for treasurer because Republican Rob Chase filed officially to run as a write-in candidate. He won 1,500 votes – more than the 1 percent required for him to advance to the general election ballot. He is challenging incumbent Democrat Skip Chilberg.

After Chilberg and Chase, the next popular write-in choice was “None” with 70 votes.

(Next time, remember: If you want to vote for none of the candidates in a particular race all you have to do is leave the ovals blank for that office. There is no need to write-in “None” or other write-in choices made this year for treasurer, including “None of the Above,” “No One,” or ”Mr. Nobody.”)

The next popular selections were: “Anyone else” with 54 votes, “Mickey Mouse” with 50 votes, “Other” with 32 votes, “Any Republican” with 37, “Republican” with 26 votes, “Ralph Baker” (apparently the current county ASSESSOR) with 25 votes and “John Doe” with 23.

To see the full list of write-ins for county treasurer click here.

Washington may spread its outdoor responsibilities among many departments, but it has gathered them into one place on the web for people who want to use them.

So if you’re planning on going camping for a week, need a fishing license and a hunting license, and wonder what sort of events are happening near the campsite, you could reserve a site, buy your licenses and check out a calendar, all starting from the same page.

You can also find out about air quality, water pollution, salmon recovery, shellfish seasons, burning permits and dozens of other things connected to the environment, natural resources, public lands, fish, wildlife and parks.

Gov. Chris Gregoire and Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark announced the site today. A test drive reveals it to be practical, not particularly glitzy but practical and easy to use. The “How do I?…” feature is particularly good.

Spokane County and other counties around the state are set to certify their primary election results today. There’s no big surprises or reversals in the results that were essentially finalized Tuesday night.

But of course, there is trivia that can be gleaned from the Spokane numbers. For example:

Race with the biggest “I don’t care” factor: Uncontested Supreme Court Position 5, in which 42,250 people didn’t mark a ballot for Barbara Madsen or write in another name. But that wasn’t solely because she was running unopposed. The three way race for Position 6 also had 32,125 voters refusing to choose among Bryan Chushcoff, Charlie Wiggins and Richard Sanders.

Having plenty of options also didn’t seem to help voters in some county races. Despite five candidates in the prosecutor’s race, 184 voters wrote in someone else and 8,810 voters just left it blank. And having six assessor candidates — two Republicans, two Democrats and two independents — was either not enough for 158 voters, who wrote someone else in. And possibly too many to choose from for the 7,140 voters who just left it blank.

Race that will be most different in the general election: County treasurer’s race, because incumbent Skip Chilberg will have an opponent. Rob Chase ran as a write-in and got enough to move on to the Nov. ballot. (Sure, you could argue that the Senate race will be more different because it will shrink from 15 candidates to two. But the names that remain are the ones that we’ve known about for months.)

Closest race: Second place in the county commissioner’s race went to Al French with 5,215 votes compared to Jeff Holy with 5,102, a difference of .37 percent of all votes cast. Numerically, there was a closer race for Republican precinct committee officer in Precinct 3134 in which Kirk Smith got 87 votes and Bill Mann got 85, but technically Smith one by more than a full perecentage point.

Most surprising showing: Norma D. Gruber got 898 votes in Spokane County, and about 9,150 statewide, in the U.S. Senate race, which was more than Mohammad Said, Goodspaceguy, Mike The Mover, Mike Latimer, Schalk Leonard, William Chovill or Will Baker. Although most of the aforementioned were less-than-serious contenders, what’s remarkable about Gruber is that unlike the others she did not campaign AT ALL. Gruber’s husband was diagnosed with a serious illness just after filing week, and she suspended her campaign, went to no forums or fairs, put up no signs, spent no money. But she did better than half the field.

Click on the image to get to the PDC’s interactive map on  legislative campaign spending.

A Spokane legislative district is tops in the state for money raised by candidates, and near the top for spending that money before the August primary.

The 6th Legislative District – which curves around central Spokane’s core from the Whitworth and 5 Mile arreas to the South Hill – is often a pricey political battleground. Its last three state Senate races have been the three most expensive Senate races in state history, with the 2008 contest between Democrat Chris Marr and Republican Sen. Brad Benson at the very top of the list with nearly $818,000 spent for a seat that pays just over $42,000 per year.

This year is likely to follow that trend …click to go inside the blog and read the rest of this story or leave a comment.

Continue reading 6th Lege Dist: Swing district or spendy district? »

Have you heard about how lunkheads in Washington state are trying to take the most precious right of all away from our brave men and women dodging bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan? And how those commie pinkos in the federal government are going to let them because it will help Democrats win some tight races in November?
Or something like that. It gets better – or, worse – with each retelling of the reports that Washington state received a waiver from the federal law requiring military and overseas voters to be sent their ballots a month and a half before an election.
If it’s making your blood boil, congratulate yourself on your concern for military personnel. And take a chill pill, as the kids would say.
We’ll explain why, inside the blog….

Continue reading State getting bad rap on military voting waiver »

OLYMPIA–Candidates with at least half a brain rarely pick a fight they cannot win. So it seemed odd last week when a Seattle television station had Dino Rossi challenging Sen. Patty Murray on veterans’ issues and alleging the federal government was “spending recklessly” on veterans programs.
Not only does Murray have a campaign commercial with a slew of veterans from around the state singing her praises, but she has a reputation for actually working on an issue to which most members of Congress merely pay lip service. It’s a recognized strength, sort of like recruiting point guards at Gonzaga.
And saying Uncle Sam is spending recklessly on veterans is a bit like saying mothers are spending recklessly on milk and medicine for their children.
Yet a story on Seattle’s KOMO-TV on Tuesday seemed to have Rossi dissing Murray and veterans programs. But did he?…

Continue reading Murray v. Rossi on veterans »

OLYMPIA –Washington state touts its lack of an income tax in a current magazine supplement designed to attract business to the state. Not mentioned in the special section in Fortune Magazine is the fact that could change in a few months.
In three different places in an “advertorial” in the current issue of Fortune, prospective businesses or new residents are told that along with a well-educated work force and access to the great outdoors, one reason to come to Washington is the state has no individual or corporate income tax.
It’s even a factoid graphic when the 8-page supplement lists advantages in Washington By the Numbers:

Continue reading Come to WA. There’s no income tax…yet »

Dino Rossi has a new title to add to  his resume along with state senator, Ways and Means Committee chairman, gubernatorial candidate, U.S. senate candidate, businessman…

Champion of Freedom.

Rossi is so listed on the program for Friday night’s FreedomWorks Take Back America convention in Washington, D.C. No information from the group — led by former U.S. Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas — on what series of contests one must win to earn the title. But other champs of freedom on the agenda include Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul and Florida Senate candidate Mark Rubio. It’s possible C of F is a title given to speakers who don’t currently hold federal office, as U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachman of Minnesota is listed as “congresswoman” rather than C of F.

The convention should not be confused with the Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally, which happens Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial. Two separate things entirely.

And it may be just because it’s Friday of a long week, but does anyone else think the convention logo has an odd, 1930s Soviet Realism feel to it?

OLYMPIA — The federal government has signed off on Washington state’s request for a waiver to the time limit for mailing ballouts to troops and other state voters who are overseas.

The state actually gives those voters more than the 45 days required by federal law to get ballots back because of the way Washington handles mail-in ballots.

The question arises because federal voting laws require states to get ballots to voters at least 45 days before election day, which this year is Sept. 18. Ballots can’t be prepared  until the results of the August primary are certified on Sept. 7, and nine business days isn’t enough to print ballots and prepare packets for some 65,000 military and overseas voters, the state said. Some jurisdications won’t have that done before the beginning of October, which is what state law requires.

But the state allows overseas voters to vote by e-mail, so that option is available to overseas and military voters. And unlike most states that rely on mail-in ballots, Washington doesn’t require ballots be at the elections office on election day; it only requires they be voted — that is, marked and mailed, by Nov. 2. Any ballot received up to 21 days afte election day will still be processed and counted.

So Washington really has a 51-day window — 30 days before the election plus 21 days after it, the state said in requesting it’s waiver.

Okey-dokey, the feds said. Several other states which have primaries in August and September weren’t so lucky, and have more ‘splaining to do before they get waivers. 

Sen. Patty Murray’s re-election campaign said it is accepting two debate invitations, one in Spokane and one in Seattle, both to be televised around much of the state.

Both would likely occur in October, after the Senate recesses. The Spokane debate would be sponsored by KSPS-TV and KXLY-TV, and air on stations in Yakima and the Tri-Cities. The Seattle debate sponsored by KOMO-TV would air simultaneously in Spokane and several other cities.

The Rossi campaign replied that the Republican challenger still wanted six debates, and suggested Murray was sticking to a safe strategy, hiding behind consultants and negative ads. But they stopped short of saying they wouldn’t agree to the two debates Murray has accepted.

Jennifer Morris, a spokeswoman for Republican Dino Rossi’s campaign said he “looks forward to debating Sen. Murray more than twice” and is still reviewing the letter from the Murray campaign.

Last week Rossi challenged Murray to a total of six debates — five in the state and one “national debate” — to occur once a week starting in early September.The campaign has multiple requests for debates and has not committed to any of them yet, including the ones mentioned in the Murray campaign letter, Morris said.

“We’re not dodging,” Morris said. “We’ve just received the letter.”

While the Rossi campaign may continue to push for more debates, the Murray campaign indicated that was unlikely.

“We have accepted these two debates. We do not plan on accepting any further debates,” Murray campaign spokeswoman Julie Edwards said.

Murray debated only twice in 2004, when she ran against then U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt and once in 1998, when running against then U.S. Rep. Linda Smith. Both times, the Republican opponents called for more debates, but she declined.

To see the back and forth between the campaigns, go inside the blog.

Continue reading WA Sen race: Murray accepts 2 debates »

Shelly O’Quinn, a Republican who lost her bid in the highly contested battle for state House representing the 6th Legislative District, said Wednesday that she is not allowed to endorse any candidates in the general election because of her job.
Incumbent Democratic state Rep. John Driscoll and former state Rep. John Ahern, a Republican, won the primary and will face off in November.
O’Quinn is the workforce development manager for Greater Spokane Inc., the region’s Chamber of Commerce. She said after the election she restarted her full-time work schedule.
“Due to the nonpartisan nature of our organization, I’m prohibited from making any political endorsements,” O’Quinn said. “I definitely hope that the Republican Party can unify. It’s important for the Republican Party and it’s important for the community.”
O’Quinn said because of her job, she did not endorse any candidates during the primary – though she was listed, as of Wednesday morning, on the endorsement list of state Senate candidate Republican Michael Baumgartner.
Baumgartner said Wednesday O’Quinn was listed as an endorser because she was one of more than 20 Republicans who were filmed saying, “We like Mike” or “I like Mike” for this youtube campaign ad.
Baumgartner said he understands O’Quinn’s job obligations and that her name will be pulled from his list of endorsements.

OLYMPIA — Washington voters turned out in impressive numbers — impressive for a primary, anyway — in last week’s election.

With a few thousand ballots still to count, turnout stands at 40.46 percent, which state elections officials say is better than expected for an even but non presidential year primary. They’d been predicting 38 percent, but aren’t unhappy about being wrong on the low side.

Two years ago, with a bunch of statewide offices on the primary ballot and the excitement of a presidential race in the air (albeit not on the primary ballot), primary turnout hit 42.6 percent. That was the state’s first foray into the Top Two primary system; the primary in 2006, which like this year featured a U.S. Senate race, was 38.8. The 2002 primary, which had no Senate race, was 34.4 percent.

Something else happened in that interim: All the counties except Pierce County gradually went to all mail balloting.

So it would seem that  having a big statewide contest like a U.S. Senate race is good for an extra 2% or so in generating turnout, and mail balloting may be good for another 2%.

But the overall turnout suggests that the national pundits talk about disaffected voters may be as valid as their talk about anti-establishment trends, at least in Washington. If anything, ballots came in a little stronger than normal, and in the Senate race, more pro-establishment than anti-establishment, considering Republican Dino Rossi handily defeated insurgent Clint Didier, and Democrat Patty Murray pulled down 46 percent of the vote.

Looking forward to the general election, there may be one worrisome statistic for Rossi: He won three of the four counties with the highest turnout rates, but they’re fairly small counties as far as population and votes don’t have much room to grow in the general. Three of the four counties with the lowest turnout are where Murray did better, and they have the state’s highest population. One of them is King County, where she got twice as many votes, and only 37 percent of the voters cast ballots in the primary. 

Former Republican state Rep. John Ahern said today that his former Republican opponent, Shelly O’Quinn, called him on Monday to congratulate him on his second-place finish.

Ahern said he’s grateful O’Quinn, who finished third, ran for the seat and that she made him a better candidate.

O’Quinn told Ahern that she will not be able to make a formal endorsement in the race for the November election because of her job with Greater Spokane Inc., the region’s Chamber of Commerce, Ahern said.

Ahern said he plans to take O’Quinn to lunch next week at the Chalet Restaurant, near 29th and Grand Boulevard.

“I’m going to encourage her to run for another office,” Ahern said.

Ahern faces the top finisher in last week’s primary, incumbent Democrat John Driscoll, in the general election race for state House representing the 6th Legislative District.

Here’s more on attempts to unify the parties after last week’s primary.

Republican Paul Akers, who finished a very distant fourth in last week’s U.S. Senate primary, is endorsing Dino Rossi in the race against Patty Murray.

“We have an unusual opportunity. The wind is at our back. We must unite and not allow our opponent to have even one more day to relish in any division that is amongst us,” he said in a press release issued Tuesday morning.

Akers is doing it without pre-conditions, unlike third-place finisher Clint Didier, who last week said he’d like to endorse Rossi, but first Dino would have to make an unequivocal statement against abortion, sign a pledge not to raise taxes and promise not to increase federal spending. Rossi’s campaign said he’s not going to “submit to a list of demands” from anyone, even someone he generally agrees with.

Of course with just 2.56 percent of the vote, one might argue that Akers is hardly in any position to issue demands.

And for those curious about the latest count in the Senate primary:

Murray   46.32%
Rossi     33.34%
Didier    12.68%
Akers      2.56%

11 other people split the rest

In an e-mail to supporters on Friday, Spokane County commissioner candidate Steve Salvatori said a recount is likely in the primary battle for commissioner.

But he added that he doesn’t expect to be in the running.

“We made a valiant comeback effort on the Thursday ballot count, reducing our gap from 4 percent to 2 percent. But our hat is off to Jeff Holy, who did even better, and is now within 150 votes of Al French (we are 500 votes back). If the final ballots which will be counted Monday, hold true to their ratios from Thursday, Jeff will catch Al, and we will end up 300 – 400 votes behind. It looks like Jeff and Al may end up so close, that it may trigger a recount,” said Salvatori’s message to supporters.

The county election’s office will count almost all of the remaining estimated 10,000 ballots today. About 3,600 of those are in the county’s 3rd County Commissioner District where French, Holy and Salvatori were on the ballot along with Democratic incumbent Bonnie Mager, who easily won the primary and a spot on the November ballot.

French’s lead for second place over Holy fell from 434 to 158 from the first count on Tuesday to the most recent tally on Thursday.

To trigger a recount, French’s and Holy’s tallies must be within .5 percent of each other without considering the tallies of other candidates, said Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton. As of Friday, 9,172 people had voted for either French of Holy. French had 4,665 of those votes, giving him 50.9 percent of the ballot that voted for him or Holy. Since Holy has only 49.1 percent of those votes, the gap currently is well above the .5 percent required for a recount.

If the gap falls below .25 percent, the ballots must be counted by hand.

Here’s a map showing the areas won by the GOP candidates in the primary.

To read Salvatori’s full message keep reading this entry.

Continue reading Salvatori concedes, says Holy could top French »

As predicted yesterday, Clint Didier did not endorse Dino Rossi this morning at a Seattle press conference. He did, however, lay down conditions under which he would endorse Rossi.

Rossi, who declined to submit to what his campaign called “a list of demands”, meanwhile, issued a challenge to Sen. Patty Murray to debate him six times before the primary, five in Washington state — with two in Seattle and the others scattered around to other cities — and one nationally televised debate. This might seem surprising to people who recall that Rossi declined to debate Didier and fellow Republican Paul Akers before the primary.

“Of course there will be debates,” replied Alex Glass, deputy campaign manager for Murray. The number and timing will depend on the schedule of the Senate, which returns to session in September. But Murray isn’t inclined to debate anywhere outside the state, Glass added. “This election is about the voters of Washington state.”

Didier said he would endorse Rossi if the Republican nominee would make an unequivocal anti-abortion stand, make a no-new-taxes pledge and promise not to increase federal spending. They weren’t a stretch for Rossi, Didier insisted, and they’re part of the party platform.

The Rossi campaign responded that he would work to reduce spending, improve the economy and put Washington residents back to work. But, the campaign added: “Dino will continue to campaign on the things he believes, and will not submit to a list of demands made by anyone, even people with whom he agrees, in Washington State or Washington, D.C.”

Before Didier’s morning press conference, there was some speculation he would announce a write-in campaign for the seat. But state law prohibits a person who is eliminated in the primary from mounting a write-in campaign in the general. Didier said he’d received messages from people encouraging him not to quit, and he and supporters plan to start a new organization called Taking Back Washington, which he’d explain at some future date.

Lousie Chadez, who won about 20 percent of the vote in the four-way primary for the state House seat representing central Spokane, said this week she will endorse follow Democrat Andy Billig for the general election.

Billig finished second and will face the likely winner of the primary, Republican Dave White, in the November election. Here is a map showing where the Democrats in the race won their support.

Chadez’s decision isn’t a huge surprise. She and Billig shared many of the same positions during the campaign.

Meanwhile, third-place finisher, City Councilman Bob Apple, said Thursday that he has no plans to endorse either candidate.

Continue reading Chadez endorses Billig »

Laurel Siddoway of Spokane will win the Appeals Court seat to which she was appointed this spring, ballots tallied Thursday show.

Siddoway, 56, consistently led Spokane attorney Harvey Dunham since Tuesday’s ballot counts, and with most ballots counted in the six-county district Thursday evening her election seems certain. She leads Dunham by more than 2,800 votes for the Division 3 position.

Dunham leads in four counties, but they have only about 1,800 ballots left to count. Spokane elections officials estimate they have about 10,000 more ballots to count, and Siddoway is collecting about 53 percent of the ballots in the district’s most-populous county.

The outcome is similar to a 2008 Appeals Court race between Dunham and Kevin Korsmo. Dunham won in most surrounding counties, but Korsmo won handily in Spokane County and retained the seat he received by appointment from Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Siddoway was appointed this spring by Gregoire to a seat that became open with Judge John Schultheis’ retirement.

Hold on tight.

Results this from the third day of counting in Tuesday’s primary show Republican Jeff Holy only 158 votes from Republican Al French’s current standing in second place.

The second place finisher will face Democrat Bonnie Mager in the November election.

There are about 10,000 ballots left to count, according to the election’s office. Those won’t be counted until Monday.

After Wednesday’s count, Holy was 434 votes behind French.

Unsuccessful Republican Senate candidate Clint Didier will hold a press conference Friday morning in Seattle. To announce what isn’t exactly clear.

Candidates who finish out of the winners’ circle in the primary often announce within the week that they are endorsing the party’s winner. It usually involves grasping the winner’s hand, patting him or her on the back,  and announcing that “whatever our differences may have been during primary, they are minor — miniscule, infinitessimal in fact — compared to our differences with the incumbent.” This is followed by a promise to do everything possible to see the former opponent who is now a trusted ally and valued friend, applause, kind words from the former opponent, smiles, more handshakes, raising grasped hands overhead and the blessing of party elders who   have prevailed upon the two former enemies to make nice and bury the hatchet for the good of the party.

So is that what’s going to happen on Friday? …

Continue reading Didier to announce…something…Friday »

Shelly O’Quinn’s legislative race, like nearly every political race worth a darn, may be leaving some supporters with hard feelings, nagging questions and what ifs.

Wednesday’s ballot count showed O’Quinn has no real hope of moving out of third place, which is no doubt vexing to supporters who believed she was a candidate with great potential to be a rising GOP star. While they try to figure out why she lost, some apparently  have come up with a theory that it was Democratic perfidity that helped do her in.

The theory, recounted by one supporter, is that Democrats were afraid that freshman incumbent John Driscoll would  have a much harder time in the general against O’Quinn than John Ahern. There’s some logic to that speculation:

Driscoll beat Ahern, a well-entrenched encumbent, two years ago, so history is on their side.

Ahern outpolled O’Quinn, but she outspent him.

The Gallatin Group, a regional public affairs organization that has people who follow politics the way others follow Gonzaga basketball, opined as such in an election eve epistle titled “Pondering Politics in the Inland Northwest”: Here’s our prediction. In an Ahern vs. Driscoll match-up, Driscoll wins. However, the Gallatin office is split in our prediction that if O’Quinn manages a win tomorrow the seat will return back to its Republican roots with an O’Quinn victory in November against Driscoll.

So wily Democrats could try to sway the outcome of the primary by voting for Ahern now, then switching to Driscoll in November. Or so the speculation goes.

Speculation is one thing. Facts are something else.

One, it assumes Democrats are organized enough to hatch the plan, and execute it by having willing Driscoll voters cast ballots for Ahern. Democrats have shown themselves to be anything but organized this year. Were they that organized, they’d have fielded candidates in the 4th, and recruited a congressional hopeful who could win at least one county in the 5th District.

B, it ignores the fact that Washington voters love to split tickets on their own.

Lastly, if there was some kind of plot that could overcome the ticket-splitting tendencies of the electorate, it would show up in the vote totals when comparing the votes for the House race with those in the 6th District Senate race. Democrat Sen. Chris Marr pulled down about 2,000 more votes than fellow Democrat Driscoll, while Ahern and Quinn combined for about 4,000 more votes than Republican Senate hopeful Mike Baumgartner. Considering that Marr and Driscoll  have similar voting histories that would attract the same partisan support, if something fishy is going on, a pattern would likely emerge. Ahern would consistently do much better in precincts that Marr won handily as Democrats crossed over to vote for him to help Driscoll down the road; O’Quinn would consistenty run stronger in precincts where Baumgartner ran far ahead of Marr.

As the maps below show, that ain’t what happened. At least not consistently.

Setting aside the fact that there were much bigger swings in the Marr-Baumgartner race, which is common in a two-person contest, what happened was this: Ahern did very well in some of the precincts where Baumgartner did very well, but O’Quinn also ran strong in some strong Baumgartner precincts. And both had successes and failures in precincts that Marr won handily.

What the maps show more conclusively is that Ahern won because he won more of those same Republican-leaning precincts that Baumgartner won, and by bigger margins. It’s a pretty simple equation. Win more votes in more places, and you win the election.

Sen. Patty Murray on Thursday stressed her support for programs in Eastern Washington and new financial regulations approved by Congress as she opened her general election campaign on Thursday with a stump speech in Spokane.

“I’m here to tell you Wall Street’s and big bank’s money cannot buy my vote now or any day ever. I will always fight for you,” she said in her 20-minute speech.

Murray criticized her Republican opponent Dino Rossi for his stance on the financial overhaul law. Last month, Rossi told The Washington Post and ABC News that the rules should be repealed, in part, because he said they will hurt small business.

Murray’s campaign has heavily criticized Rossi’s position since his announcement and has featured the issue in a campaign ad on TV.

 ”He is promising to repeal Wall Street reform,” Murray said in her Spokane speech. “Maybe he thinks we should reward those who recklessly put our country in peril … but I say not on my watch.”

About 200 supporters attended the rally in West Central Community Center’s courtyard.

Murray also criticized Rossi’s stance on the extension of tax cuts that are set to expire this year. Murray has taken a stance similar to President Obama, arguing that the tax cuts should expire only on the wealthy.

“it really concerns me that Mr. Rossi says he wants us to take us back to the days of President Bush’s unpaid-for tax cuts. Unpaid for for the rich. We’ve seen where that got us before — into a huge whole,” Murray told the crowd.

Thousands of votes are still to be counted from Tuesday’s primary, but along with most races, some lessons are clear.
Lesson 1: It may be uncomfortable to be an incumbent this year, but it’s not fatal. Few incumbents were eliminated in the state’s unusual Top Two primary, but some clearly have their work ahead of them.
Count among them state Sen. Chris Marr, a Spokane businessman who received party acclaim four years ago as the first Democrat to win the seat in Spokane’s 6th District in six decades, but trails GOP challenger Mike Baumgartner in this primary.
Or ask Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker, a three-term Republican incumbent who faced two party challengers and finished second to Democrat Frank Malone.
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and most sitting House members had an easy primary night, five-term Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen is trading the lead with Republican challenger John Koster in northwestern Washington’s 2nd District.
For all the knock against establishment candidates…

Continue reading Primary over. Lessons learned? »

The primary is over, the general is approaching…and so are the candidates.

Here are some upcoming candidate appearances in Spokane and around Eastern Washington.

Thursday, Aug. 19
7:30 a.m. Patty Murray at the West Central Community Center, 1603 North Belt, Spokane

Friday, Aug. 20
9 a.m. Cathy McMorris Rodgers tours the Whitman County Library, Main Street, Colfax

Saturday, Aug. 21
11 a.m. McMorris Rodgers in the Lentil Parade, Walla Walla

The three Democrats running for the open House seat in Central Spokane’s 3rd Legislative District had very different bases of support.

The map shows the vote totals without Republican Dave White, who also seems set to advance to the general election from the Top Two primary. City Councilman Bob Apple ran strongest in his council district, which stretches east from Division, from the river to the northern city boundaries. Andy Billig ran stronger to the west of Division and up onto the South Hill. Louise Chadez ran strongest in West Central, and near Gonzaga University.

Second place in the Spokane County commissioner District 3 race seems up for grabs as the three main Republican candidates drew their strength from different parts of the district.

Incumbent Democrat Bonnie Mager won most  precincts, and Republican David Elton trailed the pack in most. After subtracting their votes out, we get a picture of an interesting split among Al French, Jeff Holy and Steve Salvatori.

Not surprisingly, French, a former Spokane city councilman from the Northeast Council District, ran strong in the City of Spokane’s northern precincts. Salvatori outpolled him in some of the heavier voting southern city precincts and Holy ran strongest in the southwest precincts of the county.

The general election is a new ballgame, however, because the entire county votes.

This map of the Senate race between incumbent Democrat Chris Marr and Republican Michael Baumgartner indicates that voting went as usual in the 6th Legislative District. The Democrat won precincts closest to central Spokane; the Republican won Indian Trails, the far South Hill and areas outside city limits.

(Map by Jim Camden)

Looks like Spokane County Treasurer Skip Chilberg may end up with a challenger in the general election after all.

Real estate agent Rob Chase, who ran for Congress as a Libertarian in 2002, had 1.21 percent of the vote as a write-in candidate for treasurer after Tuesday’s ballot count. If he holds on to at least 1 percent, his name will appear on the November ballot.

Chase is running as a Republican.