More filing surprises…

-Nine people have filed to fun for governor, including several perennial candidates. Among them: Tacoma’s Will Baker . Baker, who once described himself as an “international man of diplomacy,” has run for Washington secretary of state, auditor and governor and been repeatedly arrested for disrupting government meetings.
-The battle for the House seat of retiring state Rep. Bob Sump, R-Republic, has become a five-way race — with all the candidates being Republicans. Jack Miller, a local Democrat who twice ran for that seat in the past, told me this morning that he has no plans for a three-peat in the 7th district, a GOP bastion.
“You look at the numbers and it is a very quixotic thing to do,” he said.

-So far, 544 people have filed. Their order on the ballot — which can be a critical factor for lesser-known candidates — will be determined tonight at the Secretary of State’s office. Is there some random number generator that determines the rankings, I asked earlier today.

Nope, said Secretary of State’s office spokesman Dave Ammons. It’s done with Bingo-style numbered balls.