Will David Irons be Nonpartisan if he's Elected?

Back in 2006, David Irons, a former Republican officeholder who is now running for the nonpartisan office of King County Elections Director roundly criticized a fellow Republican, now a Democrat, for pointing out PDC errors of the King County Republicans. Richard Pope first pointed out the errors to the Republican Party organization and after 3 months, when they had not been corrected, filed a complaint with the PDC.

As reported in the Seattle PI :

"The investigation found that the party had missed the deadlines for more than 100 reports, which were filed anywhere from five to 306 days late. The reports covered nearly $170,000 in contributions and other money received and more than $180,000 in expenditures. For the year, the party took in more than $342,000 in contributions and receipts and spent nearly $358,000.

The investigators also found that the county GOP had failed to provide the required occupation and employer information for 90 percent of the contributors who gave more than $100. That represented 114 contributors who gave a total of $92,744...."

The Republican Party was fined $40,000 by the PDC for their mistakes.

But David Irons, in a fiercely worded e-mail sent to Richard Pope afterwards apparently didn't take kindly to his Republican Party being called to task for violations of our state's public disclosure laws:

"In your effort to damage others I fear you have destroyed what little reputation you had remaining. It must be lonely sitting on that pedestal you built for yourself.

I personally forgive you for your actions and the manor in which you have so aggressively attack good people. As for your hate, I sorry to say that is likely to continue to consume you for now until eternity."

Kind of makes you wonder what kind of response people in the King County Elections Department would receive from him if they point out mistakes or problems if he was elected their boss. I certainly would not feel comfortable working for someone with this kind of attitude. And will his decisions favor one party over the other? Can you expect an old dog to learn new nonpartisan rules?

You can read the original post and the full e-mail over at the blog Horsesass.org entitled David Irons Slams Richard Pope.

Also you can read David Postman's take on it at Postman on Politics in a post entitled, David Irons condemns whistleblower "until eternity"

The election for King County Elections Director is an all mail in elction with ballots needing to be postmarked by Tuesday, Feb 3, 2009.

Note: Majority Rules Blog is urging voters to support the currently appointed King County Elections Director Sherril Huff who is also on the ballot. You can learn more about her by visiting her website at http://electsherrilhuff.com/.

BIAW Jumps in King County Elections Race

The right wing builder group, the BIAW, that has previously spent enormous amounts of money trying to get its conservative candidates onto the Washington State Supreme Court, get Dino Rossi elected Governor and helped Rob McKenna in 2004 get elected, has just dumped $26,500 into Republican Pam Roach's campaign for King County Elections Director, according to the Seattle Times.

Even so, she is far behind fellow Republican David Irons who according to PDC records has raised $115,536, of which $103,460 comes out of his personal pocket. Irons is spending some $75,489 on last minute mailings and automated robo calls.

Considering the Office pays $160,000 a year, the campaign spending is still luke warm.

Meanwhile Sherril Huff, the candidate backed by Democrats, has been slow on raising money. Latest reports show her having raised $21,236 and spent $46, 845.

One wonders where Ron Sims is and why he has not been helping more.. After all he is the King County Executive who appointed her to the position several years ago and in December worked to get other Democratic candidates, like Jason Osgood who ran for Secretary of State in Nov. and Port Commissioner Lloyd Hara, to exit the race. They had more name recognition than Huff.

One would have assumed Ron Sims would have made a stronger commitment to raise money for the candidate he supported because the name Sherril Huff is not exactly a household word. Sure she is technically the "incumbent" and comes highly recommended, getting 35 of the state's 39 county auditors to endorse her but this race is such a sleeper that one of the two Republican candidates might win this race just by turning out hard core Republican votes based on residual name recognition alone.

The economy of course is terrible, so deep pockets like David Irons has and special interest money like the BIAW is spending, are working the Republican side of this election. The Democrats are doing grassroots efforts but you have to wonder why more money is not flowing into Huff's campaign.. She has raised the most money from individuals but this is after all a county wide race, not a legislative district race and being the only viable Democratic supported candidate you would expect more support.

This little gem of a special election devised by Republican operatives with no primary is so far seeing only 10% of the ballots for this all mail election being sent back to King County Elections. A low turnout election can be unpredictable but with such a low turnout Irons' willingness to commit his own money is significant as is the BIAW's smelling the possibility of a Republican win for this seemingly nonpartisan race.

Democrats better get busy this weekend spreading the word to their family, friends and neighbors to vote for Huff. And of course money can help pay the bills so people who want to see the professional elections person win, not a right wing Republican, should contribute now to Sherril Huff at her website electsherrilhuff.com

Vote for Sherril Huff for Elections Director

Sherril Huff is the current Elections Director for King County, having been appointed to the Office several years ago by King County Executive Ron Sims. Her tenure at King County Elections has seen a clean election process and numerous reforms. She deserves to be returned to the Office as the first elected Director of Elections in King County.

Last November voters approved a Republican sponsored initiative to make the Office an elected position, like it is in the other counties in the state. In other counties the Elections Office is run by an elected County Auditor. Sherril Huff has been endorsed by Auditors in 35 of Washington State's 39 counties.

You can visit Sherril Huff's website here.

But as important as this office is and the need to have a competent person with election experience run the office, the special election is currently only seeing 10% of the registered voters returning their ballot. The deadline for this all mail in ballot to be returned in next Tuesday, February 3, 2009. Ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday or turned in to special drop boxes around the county on Tuesday.

Here is what some other people and organizations have to say about Sherril Huff and the other candidates:

Seattle Times 1/21/2009

"...she oversaw consolidation of three dispersed election facilities to one location and implemented important electronic security measures. Huff is credited with cleaning up the operation and dramatically improving organizational and cultural climate in elections.

The proof was in the latest election. King County produced a much smoother election in 2008 than it did in 2004 and Huff gets a lot of credit. Secretary of State Sam Reed has publicly complimented the county's noticeable improvements. He did not endorse in the race but is very impressed with Huff's work."

FUSE : see Progressive Voters Guide here

"Sherril Huff has been highly regarded for her work managing the county's 1.1 million voters since King County Executive Ron Sims appointed her in 2007. Of the five candidates vying for her office, Huff stands out for her experience and non-partisanship. She has helped the county institute more than 300 reforms in response to the 2004 county elections debacle and has helped conduct 21 successful elections since then.

A two-term county auditor, she has been endorsed by just about every county auditor in the state.Huff has been rated Outstanding by the Municipal League of King County, and has been endorsed by Washington Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, National Women's Political Caucus of Washington, Fuse Washington, SEIU Healthcare 775 NW, UFCW Local 21 and 35 Washington County Auditors (both Republicans and Democrats)."

environmental community:

“As a political organization Washington Conservation Voters is mindful of having sound election systems and processes that encourage voter participation,” said Sudha Nandagopal, a spokesperson for Washington Conservation Voters. “Sherril Huff has unparalleled experience in overseeing elections. We need someone who will continue running smooth elections for King County and push for accuracy and innovations to ensure a fair, open election.”

“The Sierra Club recognizes the important role that the Elections Director plays in ensuring fair King County elections. Sherril Huff knows exactly what it takes to run a high performing elections office,” said Scott Otterson, Political Chair for the Sierra Club Cascade Chapter. “As the county transitions to all-mail voting, it’s critical that Sherril Huff retains her current position and continues to pioneer and push for high standards.” November general election."

NorthWest Progressive Institute Advocate:

"King County Elections has come a long way since the 2004 gubernatorial recount exposed a slew of problems. Under Huff's leadership, the department has moved into a centrally located secure facility in Renton, the number of ballots with unmatched signatures in recent elections has plummeted, and accountability has been vastly strengthened. Huff's calm demeanor has been readily evident in all the major debates that have been held so far."

Peace Tree Farm :

"Sherril Huff is, in essence, the incumbent in the race. She was named Director of Elections a couple of years ago when it was (properly, IMHO) an appointed position. As Director of Elections, she has coordinated King County’s efficient and entirely uncontroversial elections ever since. In fact, as I noted a few weeks ago, King County was, amazingly, the second county in the state to report its final counts in the November general election."

the Stranger:

"Why should you vote for Sherril Huff? Well, consider the competition. It includes: Chris Clifford, a Republican schoolteacher from Renton who's also leading the effort to recall port commissioner Pat Davis; former Republican King County Council member—and emerging crank candidate—David Irons, who allegedly beat his own mother; disgraced former elections director Julie Anne Kempf, who was fired after she allegedly mailed ballots out late and lied about it; Pam Roach, a gun-totin' Republican state senator with a vendetta against the King County Council and a violent passion for flowers; and Bill Anderson, a former bank manager who says he's qualified to count votes because "votes are like checks," but otherwise seems harmless enough.

Huff, in contrast, is competent, sane, and highly qualified. As elections director, she's overseen steady improvement at an elections office whose incompetence was at the center of a Republican challenge to Governor Christine Gregoire's win in 2004. She shouldn't have to run for her job, but she deserves to keep it."

You can check out all the candidates yourself by visiting the on line voters pamphlet put out by King County Elections

Mayor Nickels Joins Chainsaw Gang

Mayor Greg Nickels has decided to join the Seattle School Board Chainsaw Gang. In a decision based partly on challenged flawed documents produced by the Seattle School District, Mayor Nickels, through his Department of Planning and Development, has given the Seattle School District conditional SEPA approval to proceed with the Ingraham High School construction project.

The final project permit has not been approved. The public has until Feb 5, 2009 to appeal the city’s conditional SEPA decision. The City’s lack of commitment to save the trees under this decision brings the trees one step closer to being cut. Save the Trees -Seattle will be appealing the flawed decision.

The Seattle School District has proposed cutting down 72 large Douglas fir, western red cedar and Pacific madrone trees on the west side of Ingraham High School that are 75 years old and over 100 feet tall to replace some existing portables. The trees to be cut are seen in the picture above.

Ingraham High School can have both trees and classrooms. The open lawn area on the North side of the school in the picture above has been chosen as a future building site for the school and could be used now to build the proposed addition without having to cut down any large trees.

At 28 acres, the Ingraham High School campus is the largest public high school campus in the city. There are also other locations the addition could be easily built without having to sacrifice a unique urban forest area.

What hasn’t been debated publicly is that at the same time the Seattle School District is shutting down schools across the city because of excess capacity, it is proposing adding an additional 10,000 square feet to Ingraham High School above the 12,000 square feet it is demolishing and replacing. The School District has said it has an extra 3000 high student seat capacity yet is adding, according to its application, 200 more seats at Ingraham High School above the current 1200.

Why when the Seattle School District is experiencing a $37 million shortfall and closing schools is it not re-evaluating the $24 million it is spending for new parking lots and more classrooms at Ingraham High School?

The City’s decision notes that the Washington State Department of Natural Resources has classified habitat containing Douglas fir, Pacific madrone and Salal as a “rare plant community” in King County. Mayor Nickel’s DPD however accepts the School District’s incomplete and false statements that the understory does not have adequate species diversity.

One of the School District’s own arborist reports confirmed the species diversity is there despite the district’s repeated efforts to cut and mow the understory. Salal is growing back in a number of areas in the tree grove once mowing stopped last year. The DPD even confirms the viability of the unique habitat by noting that “the Northwest Tree Stand could eventually be restored.” The critical componet of the habitat is the 75 year old trees. The understory has been mowed repeatedly by the School District but is actually coming back once they put the fence up and stopped mowing.

Save the Trees- Seattle calls Mayor Nickel’s decision hypocritical because he has strongly touted the need to save trees in Seattle and increase our urban canopy. Yet when he has a chance to save a threatened urban grove of trees he fails to act.

Citizens have to spend time and resources trying to save trees across the city because the Mayor and City Council have failed to enact needed stronger tree preservation ordinances. Other cities like Redmond and Lake Forest Park for example require a permit to cut down any tree over 6 inches in diameter. Here in Seattle people can cut down almost anything they want without a permit or city permission. That is one of the reasons the cities tree canopy has decreased from 40% in 1973 to only 18% today.

The Mayor’s actions speak louder than words. His lack of commitment to save trees when given the chance like at Ingraham High School shows he has a stronger preference for more development and parking lots than he does for saving our green urban habitat. His lack of decisive action to save the trees joins him with the Seattle School District in their disregard for protecting our neighborhoods, our natural environment and our diminishing green urban canopy and diverse habitats.

Link to DPD website with decision on application #3009549: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/LUIB/AttachmentProject3009549ID31883009549.pdf

Is it David Irons, David W Irons or David W Irons Jr running for King County Director of Elections?

For someone running in the February 3, 2009 Special Election to be King County Director of Elections, you would think David Irons aka David W Irons aka David W Irons Jr would be a little more careful about how he uses his names in the campaign and associated required campaign filings.

After all, he can only vote under one of these names, not all three and voters likewise only have one name to choose of his on the ballot. So why does he at different times use one of three different versions of his name?

David Irons previously ran as a Republican for both the King County Council and for King County Executive. A big deal ihas been made by Republicans, of disqualifying ballots if voters do not sign their ballots exactly as they are registered to vote.

Yet in his official campaign dealings in this campaign Irons has used at least 3 "different variations of his name". This can be confusing to voters but also appears to have confused the computers and/or workers at the Public Disclosure Commission enough that their programs listing campaign contributions and expenditures were not correctly reporting campaign finance data results for the Feb 3, 2009 King County Director of Elections race.

David Irons is registered to vote as "David W Irons" according to his declaration of candidacy. His response on his declaration of candidacy to "Please print my name on the ballot exactly as follows:" was "David Irons".

So why did he not file all his forms with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission -as "David Irons"? This is who he is asking the public to vote for and the name you would thus logically expect to look up for more information at the Public Disclosure Commission.

He filed his C1 initial filing with the PDC as "David W Irons". (See PDC -"actual reports" you will have to search for David W Irons as the PDC site does not stay live in searches). This is not, however, how he identifies himself on the ballot or video voters pamphlet or even on his website where he is David Irons.

But here's where it gets confusing. He then filed all of his subsequent filings with the PDC using another version of his name - "David W Irons Jr." (See PDC -"actual reports" - Again you will have to search for David W Irons Jr this time as reports do not stay live) This was how he filed his PDC forms previously with the PDC when he ran for King County Council and King County Executive.

The result of filing all of his forms under David W Iron Jr except for his C1, was that the Public Disclosure Commission up through yesterday, erroneously listed David Irons as not having raised any funds or made any expenditures when one used their "search the database" function for 2009 County Director of Elections races.

In reality, the actual reports filed not under the C1 name "David W Irons" or his ballot name "David Irons", but under "David W Irons Jr" show him receiving $40,756 in cash and $6,460 in kind in his campaign to be the King County Director of Elections.. The bulk of his cash, some $35,000 came from his personal funds which he contributed back on Dec 8, 2008.

The PDC has now caught the problem caused by reports being filed by Irons under different names but one would think that someone running to be the Director of Elections for the largest county in the state with over 30% of the voters would be aware of the problems caused in computer databases by his using "different names" in filing required public documents.

Maybe the PDC should have been aware of the potential problem when it received his initial C1 and realized he had been a candidate before. Yet he also should have been aware of this, particularly considering the office he is running for.

Previous names he used when he ran for office likewise show show a lack of continuity in how he identified himself.

When he first ran for County Council he filed a C1 on 7/8/98 where he was listed as candidate - David William Irons Jr and his campaign name was- Friends to Elect David W Irons Jr

When he ran for re-election he filed an amended C1 on 10-23-2003 where he was candidate - David W Irons Jr and his campaign name was Friends to Re-elect David W Irons.

When he ran for King County Executive and filed another amended C1 on 3-23-2005 he was candidate - David W Irons Jr and his campaign name was - Committee to Elect David Irons. This was changed 4/05/2005 to David Irons for County Executive.

And his most recent C1 on 12/4/2008 lists him as candidate David W Irons and his campaign name as Irons for Elections and his ballot name as David Irons.

Of course the Jr issue is complicated by the fact that in 1996 his father David W Irons Sr ran for the Washington State Senate and those PDC records are still on file.

Activists Plan Multitude of Legislative Lobby Days in Olympia

The Washington Low Income Housing Alliance has compiled a great list of citizen lobby days in Olympia for a variety of public interest groups for the 2009 Session of the Washington State Legislature.

You can review the details and contact people for more information by going to http://www.wilha.org/. Click on the button for the Standup Alliance Legislative Lobby Day List for the latest update.

Here is the current list of Legislative Lobby Days:

Jan 15 National Alliance on Mental Illness Day
Jan 15 Washington Assoc.. of Colleges for Teacher Education Lobby Day
Jan 19 People's Summit& March on the Capitol
Jan 19 Washington Assoc. for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention Day
Jan 28 Annual Disability Legislative Reception
Jan 28 Head Start/ECEAP
Jan 28 Indian Child Welfare Awareness Day
Jan 29 Hiker Lobby Day
Feb 4 Am Cancer Society, Am Lung Assoc. & Am Heart Assoc. Jt Lobby Day
Feb 5 American Pacific American Legislative Day
Feb 6 Gifted Education Day
Feb 9 Service Employees Intl Union Lobby Day - SEIU 775
Feb 10 Refugee and Immigrant Legislative Day
Feb 10 Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs
Feb 11 March of Dimes
Feb 12 Washington CAN! Day
Feb 12 Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition Advocacy Day
Feb 13 Youth Advocacy Day
Feb 16 King County Democrats Legislative Action Day
Feb 16 Big Brothers Big Sisters Lead Big! Advocacy Day
Feb 16 National Assoc. of Social Workers Days
Feb 17 2009 Washington State Senior Citizens Lobby Days (1)
Feb 18 AIDS Awareness & Action Day
Feb 19 Environmental Priorities Coalition Lobby Day
Feb 22-23 Jr League of Washington Capitol Days
Feb 23 Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice Lobby Day
Feb 24 Catholic Advocacy Day
Feb24 Housing Advocacy Day
Feb 24 Transportation Advocacy Day
Feb 24 Unity Day
Feb 26 WA State Parent Teacher Assoc. - 2009 Leg. Focus Day
Feb 27 Have a Heart for Children Day
Mar 5 Toxic Free Legacy Lobby Day
Mar 5 Washington CAN! Lobby Day
Mar 10 Healthy Washington Coalition Lobby Day
Mar 13 Hispanic/Latino Legislative Day
Mar 17 Fund Families First: Faith Advocacy Day
Mar 19 Statewide Domestic Violence Day
Mar 20 Hunger Action Day
Mar 25 2009 WA State Senior Citizen's Lobby Days (2)

Go to http://www.wilha.org/ to get more details for specific lobby days.

Municipal League Gives Sherril Huff and David Irons Highest Rating for King County Director of Elections

The Municipal League of King County released their ratings today for the 6 candidates running for King County Director of Elections. As the result of voters last November passing I-25, King County voters will be voting for the first time for an elected Director of Elections in a special election on Feb 3, 2009.

Here are the ratings in alphabetical order:

Bill Anderson – Very Good
Chris Clifford – Adequate
Sherril Huff – Outstanding
David Irons – Outstanding
Julie Kempf – Adequate
Pam Roach – Adequate

You can read the questionnaires submitted to the King County Municipal League by each of the candidates by clicking on the link. You can also get links to the candidates websites.

You can get statements by each of the candidates as they were recorded in the King County Video Voters Guide by clicking on the link.

The election will be the first all mail election for King County voters. There will be no primary, so whoever gets the most votes in the Feb 3, 2009 election will be the winner.

This poorly designed process that was put on the ballot as the result of a paid signature campaign by Republicans is a rush job that does not best serve the voters. The lack of a primary in particular allows a candidate with less than 50% of the vote to win if votes are more or less split among 6 candidates.

So far very little money has been reported as being raised for this race by the candidates. As of today on the PDC website for this race Sherril Huff has reported raising $3500 and Pam Roach $3200. None of the other 4 candidates have reported raising anything and Chris Clifford has not even filed with the PDC as running.

The Municipal League is having 2 candidate forums for the King County Director of Elections race.

King County Elections Director Candidate Forum
Nordic Heritage Museum
3014 NW 67th St. NW, Seattle
Tuesday January 13th 7-8:30 p.m.

King County Elections Director Candidate Forum
The Golf Club at Newcastle
15500 Six Penny Lane
Newcastle, WA
Sat. Jan 17th, 9 AM - 11 AM

Seattle PI Faces Chopping Block

The financial crisis facing many communities across America strikes home again. The Hearst Corporation today confirmed yesterday's rumor that the Seattle Post Intelligencer is on its way to a quick grave. Basically by saying they will give 60 days time for somerone to step forward and buy it means they are giving, in this economy, 60 days notice that the end is coming.

You can watch Steve Schwartz, the President of Hearst's Corporation Newpaper Division break the news at noon to the PI's newsroom. here as well as read the PI's news article and Schwartz's press release.

In a rather backhanded slap at the PI, despite Schwartz's lavish praise for the paper and its reporters and its history, Schwartz refused to answer any questions after his statement.

Schwartz said that 60 days signaled the end of the print edition but left the door open for the continuation of an on-line edition with a drastically reduced staff. But even that is in doubt because if that economic model worked you would argue why isn't it working now.

The loss to the community will be great if no buyer emerges. Two newspapers have been a luxury for Seattle but the clock started ticking for one to disappear when a few years back the Seattle Times shifted to a morning edition like the Seattle PI, putting them in direct competition with each other.

The Seattle PI has generally been viewed as the more progressive or liberal of the two papers and its loss would mean a more conservative newspaper would be the only print edition.

The Weekly Stranger has become more standard fare for raising issues with an alternative viewpoint. When the Seattle Weekly was sold and its activist staff let go, it quickly degenerated to a non entity is covering news and raising questions and doing any kind of real investigative reporting.

The Seattle PI over the years has had good investigative reporting and editorial writers who looked at issues with a critical eye. David Horsey and his political cartoons have been a Seattle staple for as long as I can remember. I first met Horsey when he was at the UW when I was a graduate student.

Joel Connelly, Neil Modie (recently retired) and Eric Nalder among others have been PI fixtures on Seattle's waterfront for years. A landslide change will cover Seattle's political landscape if the end is truly here. Maybe we can ask Obama to include newspapers like the PI in his economic stimulus package, as worthy as any road or bridge that we could build in terms of community impact.

Every Vote Counts In Minnesota for Al Franken

Democrat Al Franken on Monday emerged on top in the US Senate recount in Minnesota, beating incumbent Republican Norm Coleman. Out of over 2.9 million votes the state's independent canvassing board certified, the final vote margin Franken won by was 225 votes. Franken now gives the Democrats a 59 to 41 edge in the US Senate.

However as the New York Times reports, Coleman is planning to challenge the results and Franken's seating in the Senate could be delayed for weeks or months. Funny thing when Republicans are ahead in the vote, they are always urging Democrats to give up. But when they are behind they want to continue the fight and refuse to move on.

Republicans toke a trouncing in this last election. They deserved it. They would be better off regrouping and re-evaluating their out of date positions on many issues than continuing to endlessly protest.

Funny how they are now arguing for open hearings and publication of the stimulus package proposal Obama is proposing. When they were in charge they passed legislation all the time without consulting Democrats and certainly didn't believe in airing the actual text of what they were trying to pass in advance.

People need to realize the Republicans change to suit the circumstances only as it affects them. Fair play is only required when they are not in charge. The record is there - their moaning is hypocritical. There's work to be done. Let's do it and not be sidetracked by Republican tactics that only serve to delay.

Yes let's open up the process and not be like the Republicans. But don't be taken in by their phony hypocritical moans that they aren't be given enough time to review what's up. They've had plenty of time to push their agenda.

And let's seat Franken. It's time to get to work and stop being obstructionists.

Veteran Democratic State Rep. Bill Grant of Walla Walla Dies

State Representative Bill Grant passed away on Sunday from lung cancer. Grant was 71 years old and had been diagnosed only a month previously with cancer. Grant was a conservative Democrat representing the 16th Legislative District in eastern Washington, including Walla Walla and Pasco.

Democrats from eastern Washington are a rare breed as it is, so losing one is of note. Grant was a wheat farmer and was the only Democrat in eastern Washington representing a mostly rural area. Grant was a member of the Democratic House Leadership serving as Caucus Chair.

Grant was a member of 3 committees for this upcoming session - Agriculture and Natural Resources, Rules and Ways and Means. A number of people do remembrances of Grant over on the comment thread at Horsesass.org.

As tricityherald.com notes Grant served in the Legislature for 22 years and had just been re-elected to another term. The Secretary of State's election results for his race showed that he defeated Republican Terry R Nealey 27,648 votes to 23,673.

Republican Senator Mike Hewitt ran unopposed. Republican Maureen Walsh easily defeated her Democratic opponent, Dante Lee Montoya 36,697 votes to 13, 885 votes, for the other House seat in the district.

Republicans will have to wait 2 years however to try to pick up the seat as the Washington State Constitution says that the person appointed to fill a legislative vacancy must be the same party as the previous elected seat holder.

Article II, Section 15 of the Washington State Constitution provides that

"... in case of a vacancy occurring in the office of joint senator, or joint representative, the vacancy shall be filled from a list of three nominees selected by the state central committee, by appointment by the joint action of the boards of county legislative authorities of the counties composing the joint senatorial or joint representative district, the person appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative district and of the same political party as the legislator whose office has been vacated, and in case a majority of the members of the county legislative authority do not agree upon the appointment within sixty days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within thirty days thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for herein, appoint a person who shall be from the same legislative district and of the same political party as the legislator whose office has been vacated.
[AMENDMENT 96, 2003 House Joint Resolution No. 4206, p 2819. Approved November 4, 2003.]"

Joint action is required because the 16th LD is composed of parts of Benton and Franklin County as well as all of Walla Walla and Columbia County.

Obama Accepts Richardson's Withdrawal as Commerce Secretary Nominee

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has asked Barack Obama to withdraw his nomination to be Commerce Secretary. Obama has accepted his withdrawal..

As reported locally by Ken Camp on the Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate Richardson's office released a statement this afternoon announcing his withdrawal. Ken Camp was a strong advocate for Richardson's campaign for President.

As reported by the New Mexican, Richardson's statement was released by his office and noted the following:

"I felt that duty particularly because America is facing such extraordinary economic challenges. The Department of Commerce must play an important role in solving them by helping to grow the new jobs and businesses America so badly needs. It is also because of that sense of urgency about the work of the Commerce Department that I have asked the President-elect not to move forward with my nomination at this time. I do so with great sorrow. But a pending investigation of a company that has done business with New Mexico state government promises to extend for several weeks or, perhaps, even months," the governor said."

In a statement by Obama released through Richardson's office, Obama stated:

"It is with deep regret that I accept Governor Bill Richardson's decision to withdraw his name for nomination as the next Secretary of Commerce.Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of Commerce Secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office. It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time ..."

As noted in the Huffington Post:

"New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson abandoned his nomination to become commerce under pressure of a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors _ an investigation that threatened to embarrass President-elect Barack Obama. ...A federal grand jury is investigating how a California company that contributed to Richardson's political activities won a New Mexico transportation contract worth nearly $1.5 million. Richardson said in a statement issued by the Obama transition office that the investigation could take weeks or months but expressed confidence it will show he and his administration acted properly."

I see two reasons why Richardson was forced by circumstances to withdraw. One certainly was the hint of pay to play politics that dominated the news with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich scandal over the nomination of a replacement Senator for Barack Obama's seat. A second hint of scandal, even if not true, only focused the public's attention more and more on the issue and away from Obama's agenda.

The second reason was timing - Obama needs his cabinet appointments to hit the ground running and the grand jury investigation would only delay Richardson's confirmation. Obama and the country need cabinet members to get busy tackling the problems left by Bush and the economic meltdown right away. Unfortunately Richardson's problems left doubts as to when he would get Senate approval.