Senate appointment news
While ex-Rep. Brian Hatfield [D-Raymond] seems to be the likely appointee to Sen. Mark Doumit's seat in the 19th district after easily winning the PCO popularity contest, the race to replace Sen. Alex Deccio [R-Yakima] is much more wide open. Three candidates have already entered the fray: businessman Curtis King, attorney Al Schweppe, and ex-county Democratic Chair but now Republican businessman Joe Walkenhauer. However, the Yakima GOP is waiting to hear from recently-departed Rep. Jim Clements [R-Selah] to see if he's interested in seeking the appointment. While he would probably win the appointment if he wants it, Clements doesn't seem too keen on it so far. Putting on my best Takeshi Kaga hat, if memory serves me right, Clements disavowed any appointment to the Senate when Deccio was seeking appointment to the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board (which was ultimately won by Sen. Joyce Mulliken) and Clements was announcing his retirement from the House. I think he's going to stay out, and among the current trio, my gut says King would win it.
posted by TMW @ 10:33 AM
6 Comments:
The word (well this was in July from Rep. Ericksen) was that Deccio was going to be replaced by Clement (this was the real reason why he "retired" in the first place) The ol' watch dog should be coming to the Senate!
Yeah, I remember hearing the rumour about Clements replacing Deccio then, I'm just curious if he's still interested in it. There seems to be absolutely no talk of appointing Rep. Mary Skinner, probably because she's too "liberal" for the appointment, but I'd rather have her than any of these others. Clements would still be an improvement over Deccio, I think.
Guess I should have made the newspaper rounds more recently. Clements told the Yakima Herald Republic that he wants the seat, so I'm guessing he'll be an easy bet for the appointment. Kinda disingenuous after how he was talking following his retirement announcement, but such are politicians, I suppose.
I think all along he knew he was "retiring" from the house to move to the Senate...Why would he want to run a campaign when he wouldn't need to.
Heh, I suppose so.
My sources say Clements has the inside track.
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