Gregoire a focus for Dems at conference

PHILADELPHIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire was not present at the National Governors Association conference this weekend, but her tough re-election battle is on the minds of her Democratic colleagues gathered here.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who earlier today was named chair of the National Governors Association, is scheduled to host a Monday evening fundraiser for Gregoire at the Philadelphia law firm of Ballard, Spahr, Andrews, and Ingersoll. Rendell aides did not provide further details on the event.

Gregoire spokeswoman Deborah Carnes said the governor would not be able to attend the event because she was monitoring the fires in the eastern portion of the state.

Gregoire is facing a stiff challenge from Republican Dino Rossi, whom Greogire defeated in 2004 by a 133-vote margin. A July poll showed the Democrat leading in the rematch, though narrowly. Gregoire is widely seen as the Democratic incumbent in the most competitive race this fall. The non-partisan Cook Political Report currently places Gregoire’s seat in the “Toss-Up” category.

The fundraiser comes at the tail end of this weekend’s conference, a gathering of the nation’s current and former governors. Several dozen sitting governors attended the proceedings, participating in panel discussions on issues ranging from energy to health and human services.

On Monday morning, as the weekend’s official proceedings were drawing to a close, the Democratic and Republican governors met separately behind closed doors at the Ritz Carlton hotel in meetings sponsored by the party governors associations.

Brian Namey, a spokesman for the Democratic Governors Association, did not specify if Gregoire’s re-election had been a topic at the meeting.

But Namey noted, “This weekend the Democratic Governors discussed this year’s gubernatorial races including Washington, our number one priority. We are confident that Gov. Gregoire will be re-elected because she has an exemplar record of moving Washington forward…”