‘Party preference’ line offers candidates a creative outlet

OLYMPIA – Washington state’s top two primary can bring out the creativity in some candidates, but not necessarily in the best way.

It pops up when some fill out a box in the form that will list their “party preference” on the ballot. The vast majority of the candidates pick the big two – Republican or Democratic party – and a few list some of the established minor parties, like Green or Reform.

But others this year tried to signal something else to the voters in the 16 characters allotted, like a stand on the issues, or maybe just the state of being.

Thus voters in Spokane County have a candidate for prosecuting attorney who prefers the Law & Order Party, although it’s not clear if that’s his stance on crime or a preference for a long-running television series. Voters in a coastal legislative district have a candidate who prefers the Lower Taxes Party, while those in the northern Puget Sound counties have someone preferring the Happiness Party.

Not sure if those two are mutually exclusive or essentially the same. For some people, it seems, lower taxes would lead to happiness; for others, higher taxes would be needed to buy the stuff of happiness.

Only one legislative candidate listed a preference for the Tea Party, which seems odd considering that’s probably the most discussed political movement of the year. Maybe that’s because most adherents realize the Tea Party isn’t a party in the traditional sense; maybe it’s because people within the movement don’t agree on whether the first word in the label is an acronym, for Taxed Enough Already, or a historical reference to the colonial protest in Boston Harbor.

Even within the big two, there were a few attempts to signal something to voters who may be unhappy with the major parties’ status quo, with candidates listing themselves as “Independent Dem” or “Reluctantly GOP.”

GOP is the traditional abbreviation for the Grand Old Party, which means the candidates who show up on the ballot as preferring the GOP Party are guilty of a redundancy. Perhaps it was a concern for good semantics that led U.S. Senate candidate Dino Rossi, who listed himself as GOP Party in the 2008 governor’s race, to Republican this year.

In any case, the top two system was adopted last week by California voters. With all the wacky creativity in the Golden State, one wonders if they know what they’re getting themselves into.

Baird won’t replace Baird

One of the most interesting developments on the final day of candidate filing took place in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, which is a crowded race for an open seat with the retirement of Brian Baird.

Filing Friday afternoon was one Bryan Baird, who would seem to have a bit of an edge, despite the replacement of an “i” with a “y.” But elections officials eventually ruled the “y” Baird was too young to run.

Bryan won’t be 25 until March. The U.S. Constitution requires a member of the U.S. House to be at least 25 when taking office. At least the younger Baird – who is no relation to the incumbent Baird – got his $1,740 filing fee back.