Governor Makes It Official: He’S Running Again Locke Says ‘There’S More To Do’ For State’S Schools, Economy, Environment

If Gov. Gary Locke’s re-election campaign announcement had a familiar ring - better schools, more job training, a cleaner environment - it’s probably because those are some of the same things he ran on in 1996.

“There’s more to do,” Locke told about 100 people gathered outside the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute on Wednesday morning for coffee, doughnuts and campaign speeches. “I need four more years to get the job done.”

That Locke is running for a second term is no surprise. That he actually managed to make his formal announcement was a slight surprise. It had been delayed twice as the Legislature slogged through two special sessions.

The state’s economy is booming and has seen strong increases in jobs, Locke said, but the growth has not been spread evenly throughout the state. He said he wants to push more partnerships between businesses and the state’s community colleges and technical schools to train workers for new jobs. He also said he will continue to push tax incentives to attract high-technology jobs to Eastern Washington from the booming central Puget Sound region.

“We need to spread that prosperity all across the state,” the governor said. “The key to raising people’s income level and economic level is to give them the skills and the training they need to take advantage of these good-paying jobs.”

That boom in technology has a downside that Locke said he wants the state to address. The information technology revolution makes it much easier for government and business to invade a person’s privacy by swapping information in job applications, surveys and credit ratings.

“I find it offensive that our personal information is being bought and sold,” he said. “We should put up a no-trespassing sign to those who want to invade our privacy.”

At a news conference after his announcement, Locke said he will continue to oppose breaching federal dams on the Snake River as a way to increase wild salmon. He said he believes a recent decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service will delay any possibility of breaching for so long that other solutions to the salmon problem will be found.

“I have said consistently I am not in favor of removing the Snake River dams,” he said.

Locke has no serious Democratic opposition and has raised more than $1million. His chief Republican rival, Seattle area talk-show host and syndicated columnist John Carlson, has raised about $360,000.

Carlson has charged that the governor is out of touch with voters because he has been on the losing side of some statewide ballot measures that voters have approved.

Locke opposed Initiative 695, which eliminated the motor vehicle excise tax and requires a vote on all future tax increases; Initiative 200, which banned affirmative action programs in state schools and government policies; and Referendum 49, which revised the way the state spends money on transportation. Carlson was a driving force behind I-695 and I-200.

Locke said Wednesday that he opposed some ballot measures, such as Referendum 49, because he thought there were better ways to direct transportation funds. And he had no apologies for supporting affirmative action, even though all the polls showed I-200 would win handily.

“To be a true leader means taking a stand based on principle,” Locke said.