Public Periscope
Settling the debate over debates: Let’s debate
After trading jabs about who’s afraid to debate whom, Republican U.S. Senate candidates Linda Smith and Chris Bayley are pleased to announce - drumroll please - two debates. And one of them will be in Spokane. … The whole thing started more than a week ago when the Bayley camp accused Smith of ducking a debate on Aug. 11 at the Eastside Republican Club in Bellevue. That seemed odd because the two already have debated a few times. … In Spokane last week, Smith retorted that she’d relish another debate and also contended she’d won the previous ones. … By Friday, the two campaigns had settled this the only way campaigns can: more debates. There’ll be one Friday on Seattle’s KVI radio and another on Sept. 8 at a location to be named soon in Spokane.
You be the judge
Picking a judge can be one of the toughest jobs for voters in any election because the candidates can’t really say much. The Code of Judicial Conduct keeps them from discussing specific cases and most issues and generally confines them to talking about their education, their experience, the many illustrious lawyers who support them and their deep love and respect for the judicial system (which, of course, they all have). … But now, there’s a little help. A special voters pamphlet on contested judicial races - from the state Supreme Court all the way down to municipal courts - will appear in Tuesday’s paper. It was prepared by the Office of the Administrator of Courts and is being distributed by Allied Daily News, an organization of the state’s newspapers. Funding came from the Legislature - which is to say, from us. … Look for it Tuesday in this newspaper or on the Internet at www.wa.gov/courts.
Speaking of Web sites
You soon will be able to get a peek at campaign finance reports for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on a new site designed by the Campaign Reform Project. That Washington, D.C., group is trying to convince candidates to file their contribution reports electronically rather than by mail. … The latter can result in delays of weeks or even months from the time candidates get the cash to the time the public knows who gave the money to them. Washington is one of six states where the reform group is pushing candidates to make the leap to the Internet. But most Washington members of Congress, including Republican Reps. George Nethercutt, Richard “Doc” Hastings and Linda Smith, have declined to participate. … Reports for Murray and Rep. Adam Smith, a Tacoma Democrat, will be available soon at www.WACampaignDisclosure.org.
Note to election night junkies
If you love the thrill of being the first to know which candidates are leading on election night, you probably hang out where the vote counts first are released. The glare of the television lights. The scramble for the printouts. The joy of victory and the agony of defeat. Oh, the humanity. … For years, the place for election junkies to be has been the Spokane County Courthouse annex - the same place where motorists pick up their license tabs. But that’s changing. … This year, the ballot count will take place in the County Health Building at 1101 W. College. That’s the big building a block south of the courthouse, the one that looks like it has a grain silo on each corner. … Adjust your plans accordingly.
Last call
This is it, the absolute last chance to register to vote in the Sept. 15 primary election. To do so, you’ll have to follow special rules. … You must go to the county elections office - in Spokane County, that’s in the courthouse on the second floor in the southwest corner - and sign up in person. You’ll be signing up to vote by absentee ballot in the primary, but you will be eligible to vote at the polls on Nov. 3.
This sidebar appeared with the story: Catch the candidates Republican candidates Randy Brandt (county assessor) and Cheryl Steele, Charlotte Karling and Jim Williams (state House of Representatives) at the Ponderosa Republican Women’s Club luncheon. Thursday, 11:30 a.m., $8.75. Call 328-6220 by noon today for reservations.