Thu., June 5, 2008
And Eastern Washington continues to do its share to field longshot candidates this year.we've got local candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state, along with a healthy crop of folks vying for one of those small brown desks on the House and Senate…
Thu., June 5, 2008
A Tacoma man named Jack Hill has filed to run against Spokane native Debra Stephens, a state Supreme Court appointee now running for her seat.
Thu., June 5, 2008
It's now the next-to-last day to register as a candidate for election this year, and according to the Secretary of State's website, five Spokane-area state lawmakers face no opposition so far:-Rep. Alex Wood, D-Spokane,-Rep. John Ahern, R-Spokane,-Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda,-Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville,-Rep. Steve Hailey,…
Thu., June 5, 2008
Heard back from Tyana Kelley, a Pullman Democrat running for the seat now held by state Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax.A 2002 Whitworth graduate, Kelley says she grew up in Spokane as part of a family with deep roots working for the once-mighty Kaiser Aluminum."I don't…
Wed., June 4, 2008
Tyana Kelley, a 28-year-old Democrat from Pullman, has filed to run for the state House seat that state Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, is hoping to keep.Schmick represents the sprawling 9th District, not to be confused with the even-more-sprawling 7th District. In geographic shorthand, the 9th…
Wed., June 4, 2008
State Rep. Jim Dunn, R-Vancouver, known for his coiffure, girth and Louisiana-drawl-inflected floor speeches, has a Republican challenger in the primary.Vancouver's Joseph James, a dog trainer, clothing company owner, and owner of "Dog Adventure Camp" is challenging Dunn. (The website just went down as I…
Tue., June 3, 2008
The Alliteration Party is apparently winning in the 35th district, where candidates Fred Finn and Daryl Daugs are running against each other.
Tue., June 3, 2008
In Stevens County, Republican Erica Breien has filed campaign-finance paperwork to challenge incumbent commissioner Malcolm Friedman, a fellow Republican running for re-election to his Position 3 seat.(Breien's campaign website is a bit mystifying. The first page is fairly straightforward stuff about running for office and…
Mon., June 2, 2008
-Spokane Libertarian John Beck and Spokane retiree Barbara Lampert filed to challenge McMorris Rodgers. Lampert is one of at least two Democrats seeking to oust the former state House minority leader.-John Moyna, a night janitor running against Senate Majority Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, was one of…
Mon., June 2, 2008
Maybe it's just that political candidates who file on opening day tend not to be spitball-shooters, but so far it looks like candidates are abiding by Secretary of State Sam Reed's plea to not grandstand with colorful ballot language.With the first day of filing wrapping…
Mon., June 2, 2008
I took a new camera over to the Secretary of State's office in the capitol this morning, putting on a wide lens so I could better capture the long line of politicians filing for office on the first day of Filing Week.But there was no…
Fri., May 30, 2008
As hundreds of candidates file their candidacy forms next week, Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed is is calling on them to behave.This is Washington's first ever "top two" primary, which allows candidates to describe their party preference in 16 (non-obscene) letters.Most, Reed hopes, will…
Fri., May 30, 2008
As predicted, things are starting to get lively at the state Republican convention in Spokane. The delegates have this morning voted whether to add an unplanned speaker (he got to speak) and whether to throw out the Skagit delegation (denied, but with a flurry of…
Fri., May 30, 2008
From this morning's crop of speeches:"We are the only group that Christine Gregoire can't unionize."-Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers"The purpose of this assembly is to bring people together" to unite behind GOP principles. "Everybody in this room, you're all Republicans. You are family. Come together."-Congressman Dave…
Thu., May 29, 2008
Next week marks the start of filing week, when candidates put cash down (1 percent of the elected position's annual salary) and throw themselves into the political ring.Many candidates, of course, declared months (or in some cases, years) ago. And political reporters tend to use…
Thu., May 29, 2008
Yakima City Councilman Norm Johnson has filed campaign paperwork to run as a Republican to replace Rep. Mary Skinner, R-Yakima, who recently announced that she's stepping down at the end of the year.And Johnson's not the only one. According to the Yakima Herald-Republic, Democrat Vickie…
Tue., May 27, 2008
Also, the group is debating what to do about a longstanding requirement that political candidates note their party on campaign ads.After all, in the state's soon-to-be-tried-for-the-first-time Top Two Primary, you're just expressing a "party preference." And party is irrelevant in the primary: the top two…
Tue., May 27, 2008
The Catholic Diocese of Spokane is one of those taking sides in the assisted suicide measure that proponents are trying to get on the ballot this year.In a recent letter to parishioners, Spokane Bishop William Skylstad urged church members not to sign the petitions to…
Tue., May 27, 2008
C. Mark Greene, chairman of a fledgling political party called the Party of Commons, has filed campaign finance paperwork to challenge Secretary of State Sam Reed."No automatic coronation for Sam," he writes on his blog. A perennial federal candidate, Greene was planning to run for…
Tue., May 27, 2008
State Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, is in critical care at an Olympia hospital after a "cardiac episode" at home Saturday night, according to a press release his office just sent out.An echocardiogram test showed that Swecker, who recently turned 61, has a congenital heart valve…
Thu., May 22, 2008
More from this morning's paper:OLYMPIA - The military cannot automatically discharge people because they’re gay, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in a case involving an Air Force nurse from Spokane.A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals revived Maj. Margaret Witt's…
Wed., May 21, 2008
HANFORD INITIATIVE: The federal appeals court said this morning that despite an overwhelming vote by Washington voters in 2004, the resulting state law requiring the feds to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservatin before dumping any more waste there is pre-empted by federal law.Former state…
Tue., May 20, 2008
With some people cut off from their homes by a major flood-water washout of SR 206 near Spokane, Gov. Chris Gregoire said this afternoon that she'll issue an emergency proclamation to draw federal dollars to help pay the $1 million-plus repair bill. Nearly a quarter-mile…
Mon., May 19, 2008
Dwight Pelz, chairman of the Washington State Democrats and one of the state's Democratic "superdelegates" in what turned out to be a fiercely contested Democratic nomination fight, today said that he's supporting Barack Obama."Barack Obama can win this election, and has clearly energized a generation…
Mon., May 19, 2008
Last week, I wrote about a Spokane Regional Transportation Council employee who stopped to take some work-related photos at an Interstate 90 weigh station, only be startled when her personal cell phone rang 10 minutes later. On the phone: a state trooper, wanting to know…
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