Sam Reed

Tim Eyman, the chief sponsor of the Initiative 985 that would require the implementation of certain traffic congestion reduction measures recommended by State Auditor Brian Sonntag, announced today that the campaign is on the cusp of the 225,000 signatures required to gain access to the ballot in November.

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Washington's slate of statewide candidates gave speeches this afternoon after becoming the official nominees of the party.

Peter Goldmark, Jason Osgood, and John Ladenburg all spoke on behalf of their candidacy with a few digs at their opponents. Recaps below the fold. 

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Rep. Sam Hunt (D-Olympia) just introduced state Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz in a discussion about the "top two" primary, how it came about, and where it might lead. He enumerated the differences between Washington's current setup and the Louisiana process after which it was modeled. Hunt, like Pelz, is not a fan of the system.

Pelz read from the Supreme Court's decision that upheld I-872, notably the passage that created wiggle room by stating that voter confusion in the ballots could reverse the decision.

The party chair maintains that "it is our opinion that the courts did not uphold the constitutionality" of top two when they upheld it earlier this year, but rather they declined to rule on it.

"We think Democrats should pick Democratic candidates," he reiterated, "and Republicans should pick Republican candidates."

Jason Osgood, the only democrat to earn accolades from the right-wing bloggers at Sound Politics, is making an unusual run to the right of Republican incumbent Secretary of State Sam Reed.

The Seattle Times' David Postman is reporting that Jason Osgood, a 40 year old computer programmer and prominent blogger from Seattle, will file as a Democrat for Secretary of State. Osgood, who has never run for office before, gained some press last year when he helped stop King County from spending a third of a million dollars on an ill-conceived ballot tracking program.

Postman goes further into Osgood's opposition to ballot tracking, Secretary of State Sam Reed's standing in the election reform crowd in his article, found here.

SPOKANE - Check out some of the images of the Washington State Republican Convention. More below the fold.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers: 5th District Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers speaks to Peter Cowman of MoveRed.org

Unexpected consequences of the "Top Two" primary have been in the news lately here in Washington. The Olympian reported late last week on the PDC's dilemma over whether or not to suspend the enforcement of a law that requires political advertisements to state the party affiliation of a candidate running for partisan office.

Then today the Seattle Times weighs in on the handful of races across the state that appear to be headed for a scenario where two candidates who prefer the same party advance after the August 19 primary.

UPDATE: Rich Roesler at the Spokesman-Review says that the meeting to postpone enforcement of some PDC laws last week included putting a hiatus on the law that bars candidates from falsely claiming to be an incumbent. That would mean that challengers can put "re-elect" on their yard signs without fear of legal punishment.

Washington's "Top Two" primary, the result of Initiative 872 and its recent Supreme Court victory, continues to take shape with the release of the ballot rules by Secretary of State Sam Reed.

Secretary of State Sam Reed's office has released the long-awaited ballot guidelines for the "Top Two" primary this summer, created to "winnow the number of candidates to two for the General Election."

The main rules for the ballot are as follows.  read more »

Longtime AP writer Dave Ammons is swtching sides, taking his thorough understanding of all things Olympia across the street into Secretary of State Sam Reed's office. It's a bit of an adjustment when hacks and flacks switch sides, but Reed is lucky to have him and we wish Ammons all the best.  read more »