Filing Week 2010: A look at who's filed in key races as of Monday afternoon
June and the 2010 filing period for elected office are upon us. All this week, elections officials around the state will be accepting formal declarations of candidacy from Washingtonians who have decided they want to run for office.
There are a number of important contests on the ballot during these midterms, so we'll be keeping a close watch on key races around the state. This post is the first in a series of Filing Week reports we'll be bringing you at regular intervals until the close of filing on Friday at 4:30 PM.
United States Senate
The business day had hardly began before Patty Murray and an unknown from Poulsbo (Schalk Leonard, who is apparently an independent) had filed their e-paperwork. They were followed by Norma Gruber, Republican of Walla Walla, independent James Mercer of Bellevue, and perennial also-ran Goodspaceguy, who says he is a Democrat. No sign of Dino Rossi yet...
U.S. House
Doc Hastings is the only incumbent Republican who has filed for reelection so far. Three of the six incumbent Democrats have filed (Jay Inslee, Norm Dicks, and Adam Smith). Two candidates endorsed by the Washington State Progressive Caucus have filed for the positions currently held by Rick Larsen and Brian Baird; they are Larry Kalb (an NPI alumnus) and Cheryl Crist.
Suzan DelBene has filed to challenge Dave Reichert in the 8th, and so has Republican Ernest Huber, who apparently is unhappy with his representation. Adam Smith has two Republican challengers and a Green Party challenger.
In the 5th, Barbara Lampert is seeking the seat now occupied by Cathy McMorris Rodgers; she identifies herself as a Democrat.
State Legislature
A mix of challengers and incumbents have filed so far. Some of the notable candidacies that caught my eye:
So far, only Charlie Wiggins (who is running against Richard Sanders) has filed. Wiggins is a Bainbridge Island attorney who frequently serves as a pro tem judge in Jefferson County. He is an expert in constitutional law, having written a series of articles on Washington's Constitutional Convention. Like many judicial candidates, the theme of his campaign is impartiality, but his theme has greater meaning because his opponent's record is less than stellar.
There are a number of important contests on the ballot during these midterms, so we'll be keeping a close watch on key races around the state. This post is the first in a series of Filing Week reports we'll be bringing you at regular intervals until the close of filing on Friday at 4:30 PM.
United States Senate
The business day had hardly began before Patty Murray and an unknown from Poulsbo (Schalk Leonard, who is apparently an independent) had filed their e-paperwork. They were followed by Norma Gruber, Republican of Walla Walla, independent James Mercer of Bellevue, and perennial also-ran Goodspaceguy, who says he is a Democrat. No sign of Dino Rossi yet...
U.S. House
Doc Hastings is the only incumbent Republican who has filed for reelection so far. Three of the six incumbent Democrats have filed (Jay Inslee, Norm Dicks, and Adam Smith). Two candidates endorsed by the Washington State Progressive Caucus have filed for the positions currently held by Rick Larsen and Brian Baird; they are Larry Kalb (an NPI alumnus) and Cheryl Crist.
Suzan DelBene has filed to challenge Dave Reichert in the 8th, and so has Republican Ernest Huber, who apparently is unhappy with his representation. Adam Smith has two Republican challengers and a Green Party challenger.
In the 5th, Barbara Lampert is seeking the seat now occupied by Cathy McMorris Rodgers; she identifies herself as a Democrat.
State Legislature
A mix of challengers and incumbents have filed so far. Some of the notable candidacies that caught my eye:
- Democrat Connie Ladenburg, wife of John Ladenburg, is running for State House, vying to succeed Steve Conway, who is seeking to move on up to the Senate and replace Rosa Franklin (who is retiring).
- Democrat Ron Weigelt has filed to challenge wacky Republican Pam Roach, who has been somewhat ostracized by her caucus for her inappropriate behavior towards staff.
- Maralyn Chase has filed to run for Darlene Fairley's seat (Fairley is retiring). Ex-Shoreline City Councilmember Cindy Ryu is now pursuing Chase's spot.
- Sharon Nelson is another early filer. She hopes to succeed Joe McDermott, who is running for Dow Constantine's old seat on the King County Council.
- Fake Democrat Tim Sheldon has attracted a Republican opponent who is listed as (no, not kidding) Nancy (grandma) Williams. Her campaign email address is similiarly themed: grandmasgottarun4senate (at) live (dot) com.
- Eric Pettigrew failed to identify himself as a Democrat when he filed to seek reelection as a State Representative. Was that intentional?
- In the 44th LD (which covers a big slice of Snohomish County), incumbent Democrat Steve Hobbs already has two Republican opponents. One of them, Dave Schmidt, was defeated by Hobbs in 2006.
So far, only Charlie Wiggins (who is running against Richard Sanders) has filed. Wiggins is a Bainbridge Island attorney who frequently serves as a pro tem judge in Jefferson County. He is an expert in constitutional law, having written a series of articles on Washington's Constitutional Convention. Like many judicial candidates, the theme of his campaign is impartiality, but his theme has greater meaning because his opponent's record is less than stellar.
# Posted by Andrew : 5:15 PM
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