Vance seeking 2nd term

OLYMPIA – Chris Vance, a scrappy political junkie and former legislator who gave the state Republican Party an aggressive persona in this Democratic-leaning state, said Monday he’ll seek another term as GOP chairman.

Vance, 42, said the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Dino Rossi, has asked him to stay on as chairman. Although his election is in doubt, Rossi is informally the titular head of the party and has the right to request his choice for chairman, Vance said.

“Dino has asked me to run again as state party chairman and I intend to do that,” Vance told The Associated Press.

Vance has been one of Rossi’s foremost advocates and has been a public spokesman during the eight-week recount battle since election day. He was doing those duties again Monday, with a news conference and a round of interviews and talk show appearances to lay the groundwork for a possible legal challenge of Democrat Christine Gregoire’s victory last week in a manual recount.

Vance, a former state House leader, King County Council member, and unsuccessful candidate for Congress and the state school superintendency, also has been mentioned for the 2006 U.S. Senate race against Democrat Maria Cantwell.

Vance said that’s a decision for another day.

“The political world is in enough flux to even think about that,” he said.

Rossi himself has been mentioned as a Senate nominee should his bid for governor fail.

Rossi endorsed Vance at the party’s executive board earlier this month.

The election is Jan. 29 in Tukwila. The term is for two years.

Vance acknowledged that he has some critics in the party, including activists calling themselves Reagan Wing Republicans. The group says Vance and a “liberal elite” have run the party and have strayed from core party principles.

Potential challengers are Sharon Bumala of Battle Ground, Rose Strong of the Seattle area and Mark Hulst of Mount Vernon.