Ballots are due to be mailed out Aug. 1 to most Washington voters
and are due back Aug. 19.
Washingtonians made their picks for president already, in a special
February caucus and primary, and backed the eventual winners —
Barack Obama and John McCain. Now voters will narrow the field in
state and local races.
It’s the first try-out of the state’s new “Top
2” primary, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the
November general election, regardless of which party they belong
to. Top 2 passed via ballot measure in 2004, but was delayed by
a court challenge that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Top Two primary may shift politics the most in areas like Seattle
or Eastern Washington that are strongly dominated by one political
party. In the past, candidates who won the primary in such areas
expected to coast to victory in the general election. Now voters
in some cases may decide in November between two candidates of the
same party.
Organized labor’s highest priority race won’t be decided
in the primary, because the rematch between Republican Dino Rossi
and Democratic incumbent Christine Gregoire will almost certainly
go to November. Four years ago, Gregoire won the governor’s
race only on the second recount, and by a small margin — 133
votes. A Chelan County judge rejected a legal challenge by Rossi
to the results. Rossi, a commercial real estate broker and two-term
former state senator, has been campaigning ever since.
Rossi has been portraying himself as a moderate, said David Groves,
spokesperson for the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO.
But his record in the state senate wasn’t moderate when it
came to workplace issues, Groves said. Rossi’s votes earned
him a 6 percent rating from the WSLC, putting him in the company
of the most hardline anti-union Republicans from Eastern Washington.
For example, he voted in 2003 to cut unemployment benefits up to
$200 a week. Unemployed construction workers were hit especially
hard.
Labor is pushing for a high turnout for Gregoire in the primary.
“The better she looks as an incumbent in the primary, the
better it’ll be going into final vote in November,”
said Mike Carnahan, secretary-treasurer of the Clark, Skamania,
West Klickitat Counties Central Labor Council.
After conducting interviews, reviewing candidate questionnaires
and considering candidate records, the state labor council announced
endorsements in May. Candidates have to have two-thirds support
of affiliates to get the WSLC endorsement. Through “solidarity
charter” arrangements, WSLC includes several locals of unions
of the Change to Win labor federation.
WSLC is non-partisan, and in its political work stays focused on
economic issues and workplace rights. Democrats tend to have the
best records on those issues, but WSLC backs Republicans as well,
including, in this primary, incumbent Secretary of State Sam Reed
and 17th district State Sen. Don Benton. Benton had a 40 percent
rating in 2007, but voted in accord with the WSLC on some key legislation
expanding the right of public employees to unionize.
Listed below Listed below are candidates endorsed by WSLC for
state-wide races and for local legislative and congressional races
in Southwest Washington. Washington has 49 state legislative districts,
each of which has two representatives and one senator.
The Top 2 method applies only to elections for partisan offices;
non-partisan offices like judgeships and city offices are unaffected.
Candidates for each partisan office state a preference for a political
party, but that preference does not imply that the party approves
of or associates with that candidate. Voters do not have to declare
a party affiliation or select one party’s ballot to vote in
the primary.
A similar proposal will go before Oregon voters as a ballot measure
this November.
The deadline for registering online or by mail is past, but new
voters can register in person through Aug. 4. In all but King and
Pierce counties, the election will be conducted entirely by mail.
Ballots will be mailed to voters Aug. 1 and must be postmarked or
deposited at a designated location before 8 p.m. Aug. 19. [This
is different from Oregon’s vote-by-mail system, in which postmarks
don’t count.]
WSLC is looking for volunteers to take part in “Labor Neighbor”
walks, in which union members call or visit other union households
to educate them about election issues important to working families.
The next Labor Neighbor solidarity walk in Southwest Washington
will be Sunday, Aug. 3 from 1 to 5 p.m.; volunteers will meet at
the Vancouver Fire Fighters Hall, 2807 Fruit Valley Road. To sign
up or get more information, call Lori Province of the WSLC at 206-351-2956
or visit the federation Web site at wslc.org.
CONGRESS
U.S. House, Dist. 3 - Brian Baird
STATEWIDE
Governor - Chris Gregoire
Lieutenant Governor - Brad Owen
Attorney General - John Ladenburg
Secretary of State - Sam Reed
State Treasurer - Jim McIntire
Auditor - Brian Sonntag
Insurance Commissioner - Mike Kreidler
Public Lands Commissioner - Peter Goldmark
Supreme Court Position 3 - Mary Fairhurst
Supreme Court Position 4 - Charles Johnson
Supreme Court Position 7 - Debra Stephens
State Court of Appeals 3 - Kevin M. Korsmo
LEGISLATIVE
17th Legislative District:
House Seat 1 - Tim Probst
House Seat 2 - Deb Wallace
Senate - Don Benton
18th Legislative District:
House Seat 1 -VaNessa Duplessie
House Seat 2 - Jonathan Fant
Senate - Jon Haugen
