Gregoire collecting cash for re-election bid

OLYMPIA – She hasn’t officially announced her re-election bid and the general election is still more than a year away, but Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire has already raised nearly $2.7 million.

Her 2004 Republican foe, Dino Rossi, still hasn’t announced his plans but is widely expected to sign up for a rematch. After three vote tallies and a court challenge, he lost by just 133 votes.

But while Republicans await Rossi’s entry in the race during the next few months, Gregoire has been raising campaign contributions at a rapid clip – $1 million since the legislative session adjourned in April. She has attended a number of fundraising events, including one headlined by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer that raised $250,000.

Her campaign has a balance of about $1.7 million. She raised about $6.4 million in her 2004 campaign, with Rossi keeping pace.

Gregoire, asked Monday about the fundraising, said, “Well, all I can say is I’m just trying to be sure to be ready if and when we run.

“I don’t have the resources that others do personally. I’m a state employee who doesn’t have other resources, so I’m totally at the mercy of making sure my contributions come from the outside. So I’m working on it, but right now my absolute focus is on being governor.”

Paul Berendt, the former Democratic state chairman and a backer of Gregoire, told the Seattle Times, “She’s pumped up and ready to campaign.”

He said the governor’s head start is a problem for the Republicans, but GOP state Chairman Luke Esser said, “No panic here. There’s never been a doubt she’s going to raise a lot of money.”

Former GOP Chairman Chris Vance, now a consultant, said Rossi is no normal challenger and can easily catch up.

Rossi, a former state Senate budget chairman, is a real estate investor and heads a nonprofit foundation, Forward Washington. Many of the issues his organization promotes were part of his 2004 bid