Candidates drop off paperwork

Men and women who want political jobs ranging from U.S. senator to precinct committee officer got their papers and their money to elections officials Monday and became official candidates for office.

Some forms came by mail, others were walked into county elections offices or the Secretary of State’s office in Olympia.

A few, including Secretary of State Sam Reed, even filed electronically, filling out a computerized form and sending it via the Internet.

By day’s end, there were few surprises. Incumbent U.S. Sen. Patty Murray had filed for re-election, as had her most visible Republican rival, U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt.

Murray had the Democratic race to herself, at least temporarily, but Nethercutt had already drawn two unknown GOP foes, Chuck Jackson, of Shohomish and William Chovil, of Tacoma. Efforts to reach both candidates were unsuccessful Monday.

As expected, Attorney General Christine Gregoire filed as a Democrat for governor. So did Don Hansler, a retired teacher from Spanaway, who described himself as “a completely unknown candidate” who will try take advantage of all the “free publicity” in voters pamphlets to get his message out.

Hansler, 74, said he originally planned to file as an independent, but he didn’t gather the required 1,000 signatures. So he filed as a Democrat.

The state does not require voters to register by party, and it allows any candidate to claim affiliation to any of the three “major” parties – Republican, Democrat or Libertarian – when filing for office. For the first time in nearly 70 years, however, voters in the Sept. 14 primary must select one of those parties’ ballots when choosing among candidates.

Three of the four announced candidates for Eastern Washington’s open U.S. House seat also filed their paperwork. Republicans Larry Sheahan and Cathy McMorris, and Democrat Don Barbieri, turned in their forms and filing fee of $1,581. Republican Shaun Cross is expected to file by mid-week.

The filing fee is 1 percent of the office’s annual fee for all positions except party precinct committee officer. Those positions pay nothing and have a $1 filing fee. Candidates who can’t afford the fee can submit the number of signatures from registered voters equal to the amount of the fee.

Spokane County’s two commissioner races each drew three candidates in the first day of filing. Republicans Matt Ewers and Mark Richard and Democrat Brian Sayrs filed to replace Kate McCaslin; while Democrats Bill Burke and Barbara Lampert and Republican Todd Mielke filed for the seat held by John Roskelley.

McCaslin and Roskelley each announced they were retiring this year after two terms on the board.

Filing continues through 5 p.m. Friday.