Goldmark back in race for 5th District

Okanogan rancher Peter Goldmark will run for Congress this fall in Eastern Washington’s 5th District.

Goldmark, a Democrat and former president of the Washington State University board of regents, said Tuesday he has changed his mind about a campaign for the seat held by first-term Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris, a race he said he would not enter some two months ago.

“Things have gotten worse,” he said in a phone interview. “I didn’t see anybody else step forward.”

He believes Eastern Washington’s economy, especially the part that revolves around agriculture, is facing desperate times, and the region needs an advocate when Congress rewrites major farm legislation in 2007.

“White wheat is worth less today than when I started farming in 1972,” Goldmark, 59, said. “The safety net, frankly, is gone.”

He also criticized the growth of federal debt and the trade deficit, contending “we cannot continue this deficit spending.”

Goldmark said he needs to study those complex issues more before proposing solutions. He said he wasn’t advocating tax increases to shrink the deficit but added the current budget merely continues the ongoing deficit problems.

Congress needs to realize it will take more than just supporting a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, he said – an apparent reference to McMorris’ co-sponsorship of a bill calling for that amendment even though she supported a budget last year with a deficit.

Goldmark and McMorris might find common ground opposing a Bush administration proposal to change the way the federal government sells surplus power from its dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Like members of both parties in the Northwest congressional delegation, McMorris said she would fight the proposal. Goldmark called it “ridiculous,” saying the energy used to fight this proposal is taking time away from finding real energy solutions.

On the war in Iraq, Goldmark said it was “too early” to announce his position: “I want to approach that one with a lot of thought. I’m not going to shoot from the hip.”

Goldmark, who has a doctorate in microbiology and served briefly as state agriculture director under Gov. Mike Lowry, describes himself as an independent Democrat. He’s run for office twice, to the local school board.

Last November he formed an exploratory committee, the step many potential candidates take before entering a race, and raised about $17,500 in contributions. By late December he had decided against a run and notified the Federal Elections Commission he was terminating the campaign and returning about $8,700 in unspent contributions.

He’ll file a form soon to reactivate the campaign. As of Tuesday, he had 232 days until the Nov. 7 election.

The 12-county district is bigger than some states, and Goldmark said he expects to spend much of his time in Spokane County, about 150 miles from his Okanogan home.

On Monday, McMorris took a shot at reports that Goldmark was getting back into the race.

“Rumors are flying that someone who got into the race in November, got out in January, is back in in March,” she told about 150 people gathered for a campaign luncheon in Walla Walla. “I’m not going to mention his name.”

Goldmark said he’s ready for such jabs from Republicans and anyone else who questions his commitment: “The issues that were bothering me are still there. I feel that vacuum has to be filled.”