Former judges target building association, Rossi

OLYMPIA – In the final days of a heated election, Republican gubernatorial challenger Dino Rossi could be forced to testify under oath about allegations that he illegally coordinated campaign fundraising with a major supporter, the conservative Building Industry Association of Washington.

The legal showdown was prompted Monday by two former state Supreme Court justices, Faith Ireland and Robert Utter, who support Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire in her re-election campaign against Rossi.

The former judges sued the building industry group, claiming that it worked too closely with Rossi in developing a multimillion-dollar political spending effort focused on the governor’s race.

The suit seeks to halt the BIAW’s political spending in the crucial last weeks of the campaign.

Rossi, a former state senator, is running neck-and-neck with Gregoire in one of the nation’s most competitive governor’s races.

Gregoire defeated Rossi for governor in 2004 by just 133 votes, after three ballot counts and a failed Republican court challenge.

Knoll Lowney, a liberal legal activist handling Monday’s lawsuit, said Rossi is among the people being targeted for depositions starting Oct. 15 – the first day that absentee ballots are available in Washington’s almost entirely vote-by-mail election.

Rossi also will be sued if state officials do not pursue the allegations first, the former judges said.

“Rossi and the BIAW have said that they have nothing to hide in this matter. If this is so, then they should welcome the opportunity to tell their story under oath,” Lowney said in a statement.

Building Industry Association officials scoffed at the allegations, pointing out that a separate Lowney lawsuit targeting the group recently failed to curtail the BIAW’s political spending.

The BIAW, which is despised by Democrats and their allies for its pugnacious conservatism, has made electing Rossi its top 2008 political priority.

Rossi spokeswoman Jill Strait also denied the former judges’ claims, saying Rossi’s discussions with building industry officials came before he was officially a candidate for office.

“He did nothing wrong, end of story,” said Strait, who portrayed the lawsuit as an attempt by Democratic allies to distract voters from the rough economy and the state’s projected $3.2 billion budget deficit.