Smith Will Forgo Governor’s Race Gop Conservative Will Concentrate On Campaign Finance Reform

Fiery conservative Linda Smith, the closest thing to a Republican star in Washington state, said Tuesday she’ll pass up a campaign for governor and seek a second term in Congress instead.

Smith also scotched reports that she’d consider bolting the Republican Party and joining Ross Perot on a third-party ticket for the White House.

Her decision to forgo the governor’s race, a surprise in some camps, brought a sigh of relief from the seven GOP candidates already in the race and from party leaders who had feared losing her 3rd District seat in southwest Washington.

Smith is the odds-on favorite for re-election, though Democrats said they won’t give in without a fight.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Smith said the governor’s race was intriguing because she has definite ideas about the direction the state should be heading.

But she said she still has unfinished business in Congress, including her pet project, campaign finance and lobbying restrictions.

Smith, 45, said she may be passing up her only shot at the governor’s mansion.

But she said she decided over the weekend she would lose her effectiveness if she divides her attention between Washington, D.C., and the state race.

Although it is late to begin a statewide campaign, few had discounted Smith’s ability to mount a serious bid for the nomination.

A populist maverick who won her congressional nomination as a last-minute write-in candidate, she has waged three successful statewide initiative campaigns.

She is known for “Linda’s Army” of grassroots volunteers, her knack for gaining media attention and plain-spoken, folksy appeal that draws in Perot backers, independents and lunch-bucket Democrats.

“There was this perception that she was this 800-pound gorilla,” said Sally Poliak, campaign manager for King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, the closest thing to a front-runner for the GOP nomination.