Rossi announces a second run against Gregoire

To the surprise of no one but to the delight of the state’s Republican faithful, Dino Rossi announced Thursday that he is, in fact, running for governor in 2008.

In Issaquah in the morning and again in Spokane in the afternoon, the former state senator who was edged out of the governor’s office by a hand-recount in 2004 said he was trying again, to give Washington a chance “to try something new.”

“Nothing will change in Olympia if we keep the same old crowd in charge,” he told about 125 supporters who gathered in a ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Spokane and cheered during his 40-minute speech.

He described Chris Gregoire as “the governor for the government, not the governor for the people.” The state’s budget and payroll have grown, but its prisons still let out violent prisoners before they serve their sentences, its schools still have trouble teaching math and science to students, and its roads are still congested with traffic, Rossi said.

“As of today, I’m in the race, and the campaign for governor starts now,” he said.

Democrats have argued that Rossi has been in the race since 2005, after a judge rejected challenges to the final tally from the hand-recount of the 2004 election that showed Gregoire ahead by 129 votes. Rossi finished on top by thin margins in the first two tallies, the election count and a machine recount. Until earlier this year, he was the head of Forward Washington, an organization set up to find ways to improve the state. He traveled the state making speeches and listening to people’s suggestions.

Parts of his speech Thursday were reminiscent of parts of his Forward Washington speech.

After his announcement in Issaquah, Gregoire spoke to reporters in Olympia and said she’s proud of her three years in office. A $2.2 billion state-government shortfall has moved to a $1.5 billion surplus on her watch, and the state’s made key investments in education and health care, she said.

“All we have to do is ask ourselves: Are we better off as a state today than we were three years ago?” she said. “You bet we are.”

Rossi countered that the state’s economy might be good for big business in Washington, but the state is still seeing a high number of small business failures. Boeing and Microsoft are doing well, he said, because in the strong national economy people are buying airplanes and software.

“The national recovery has spilled over onto the state,” he said. “She’s taking credit for things she has nothing to do with.”

Gregoire also pointed to a stalemate-breaking deal on water rights and kudos from business publications for Washington’s business climate.

“The fact of the matter is the economy is slumping everywhere in America but in Washington state, because we’re headed in the right direction,” she said.

She’s running for re-election but says she doesn’t plan a formal announcement or campaigning until the legislative session concludes next spring.

“I’ll talk campaign politics once my legislative session is over,” she said.