Five Gop Hopefuls For Governor In Sync Candidates Distinguished From Each Other More By Style Than Substance

Republicans seeking a gubernatorial candidate who promises to cut taxes and regulations, protect private property rights and bring schools “back to basics,” didn’t have to look far Tuesday night.

Ditto for candidates who want to restore family values, get tough on crime and execute murderers, even if they’re teenagers.

Five of them were on stage in the Chase Middle School cafeteria, offering more differences in style than substance on these basic tenets of Republicanism.

Want to fix schools?

Cut regulations by state government and emphasize the basics, said former state Sen. Ellen Craswell of Poulsbo, Tacoma attorney Jim Waldo and state Rep. Dale Foreman of Wenatchee.

Keep the current grading system and offer more leadership from the governor’s office, added state Sen. Pam Roach of Auburn. Give parents vouchers they can take to the school of their choice and establish so-called charter schools outside the current system, said Foreman and former King County GOP official Nona Brazier of Maple Valley.

“Everybody should come through high school with a marketable skill,” Brazier told a crowd of about 200 who gathered for the debate, sponsored by the South Side Republican Club.

“Return control to the parents and local school boards,” said Craswell.

What about crime - particularly heinous murders?

All five said they favored the death penalty and would use it for teenagers convicted of aggravated first-degree murder. The only real differences among the candidates was a determination of how young the murderer would have to be before the death penalty would be inappropriate.

Foreman suggested the limit should be 15 years old in “horrible cases,” or when a juvenile shows no hope of reform. “Teenagers on up,” said Craswell. Let the jury decide in heinous crimes, Roach said, while Waldo said he wouldn’t suggest a specific age but would apply it on a case-by-case basis.

Make sure juveniles who are spared the death penalty are sentenced for 20 or 30 years, not released when they become adults, said Brazier.

How about protecting private property rights, particularly the loss of land value from government regulations and restrictions?

All five said they supported Referendum 48, a ballot measure that would have required the government to compensate any property owner if a regulation diminishes land value. That referendum failed in a statewide vote, but that was the result of “lies by the liberal media and environmental extremists,” said Foreman.

All five offered a paean to small business as the source of the state’s economic growth and well-being and suggested some form of tax and regulatory relief.

Eliminate the business and occupation tax and give all small businesses a single government contact that can guarantee which rules they must follow, said Brazier.

Eliminate the B&O tax in two years, repeal some child labor laws and the minimum wage, said Craswell.

Phase out the B&O tax, eliminate child labor laws, cut regulations and require economic impact statements for any new business regulations, said Roach.

Abolish the B&O tax for small businesses in their first three years, reduce the rate for other businesses and make government agencies more interested in solving problems than writing citations, said Waldo.

Roll back the B&O tax to 1992 levels, cut the state property tax levy by 20 percent and eliminate the sales tax on materials and labor for new construction, said Foreman.

The biggest divergence came on the thorniest of issues for Republicans - abortion. Four candidates said they would sign a bill, if the Legislature would pass it, that would outlaw abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the mother was in danger. Most said they also favored laws requiring parents be notified before minors could have abortions.

Only Waldo said he would not sign such a provision, even though he is personally opposed to abortion.

“This is not a decision government should make. It’s not a question of law, it’s a question of values.”

The only major Republican candidate missing Tuesday was King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, who had a previous commitment.

, DataTimes