Murray move?

The Stranger's Slog is speculating that state Rep. Ed Murray [D-Seattle] will soon be officially jumping into the 43rd district's Senate race. People had been speculating for months that Murray would either primary incumbent Sen. Pat Thibaudeau or shoot for US Rep. Jim McDermott. Murray ruled out a challenge to McD a while back, but after a host of Democrats filed for his House seat, it appears he is on the verge of pulling the trigger against Thibaudeau. What remains to be seen, assuming The Stranger's speculation is correct, is if Thibaudeau will truly stay in to fight for her seat. Using my usual sources I cannot find her true age, but look for yourself.

Being the political junkie I am, I hope Murray does take the dive. It would make for a potentially-entertaining primary if Thibaudeau remains in, and the fight for his seat would be insane. Six Democrats have filed thus far: 43rd Democrats Chair Richard Kelley, ex-Seattle Councilman Jim Street, King County deputy prosecutor Bill Sherman, Steinbrueck aide Stephanie Pure, Democrat PCO Lynne Dodson, and gay rights attorney Jamie Pedersen. March finance reports show Street with the most cash on hand, followed closely by Pedersen, the latter whom my personal bet is on.

News is slow

I haven't really seen anything lately I felt compelled to comment on. I'm just getting out of a lull while I was waiting for my rental application in Federal Way to go through, but now that it has (rejoice) things will be moving quickly as I pack and prepare to trek cross-state. My Republican parents cannot believe I would want to live in LIEbrul King County, but in reality I'm trading in too liberal state legislators and too conservative county officials for three moderates in the legislature and Pete von Reichbauer in the county council (beats three right-wing county commissioners here). Plus, all the Pan-Asian food I can consume! Things will soon rock, indeed.

Not to go overboard and post twice in one morning, but

Derek Kilmer discontinued his reelection filing and instead filed his intent to run for the Senate on Monday. I had heard nothing of it from news organizations while I was in Seattle, nor upon searching Google News today. Once again, the PDC comes through for its junkies!

Johnson v. Owens

As speculated by many since state Sen. Stephen Johnson [R-Kent] confirmed he is not running for reelection to his 47th district Senate seat, Johnson announced yesterday he is running for the state Supreme Court. The question he did answer for the bulk of us politicos yesterday is whether he was running against incumbent Tom Chambers or incumbent Susan Owens (he and Chief Justice Gerry Alexander are friends, so challenging him would have been assholish). Johnson chose Owens, probably because she is more easily painted as liberal than Chambers, and will most likely face her in the nonpartisan general election this fall.

In all likelihood this means the other conservative making noise about running, Bellevue attorney John Groen, will challenge Chambers.

Rep. Rodney Tom a newly-minted Democrat

The GOP has lost another of its pre-Reagan breed today with the party switch of state Rep. Rodney Tom to the Democratic Party. The switch came coupled with his announcement of a campaign against conservative state Sen. Luke Esser, a campaign which will hopefully provide dividends for Tom.

Rodney Tom has been one of my favourite legislators since he was elected, he is an asset to moderate and libertarian citizens statewide, and I wish him the best of luck in his campaign for the Senate.

Cantwell challenger from her left -- just what some Democrats wanted

It seems that leftist ex-Black Panther Party member Aaron Dixon is running for the US Senate as a Green this November against incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell. This gives those liberals who complain about Cantwell's somewhat rare moderation a protest candidate, and this arguably helps Republican challenger Mike McGavick should it be a close enough race (consequently, he needs to close the gap in polls before I'll buy that this entry means anything).

I'm curious if the entry of Dixon will force a primary against previously announced Green Party candidate Bern Haggerty, or if Haggerty will simply run for something else. Since the Greens don't have major party status in the state, it must be decided in some sort of party convention setting.

Kilmer needs to step up in the 26th

Now that the retirement of Sen. Bob Oke is apparent (and we can all be happy of that), based on the House delivering on his pet anti-tobacco bill, Democrats need to get their collective rears in gear about finding a challenger for presumed GOP nominee Lois McMahan. McMahan, a social conservative like Oke, but a slight improvement in that she isn't a frequent sell-out on fiscal conservatism, still is not needed in the overly conservative state Senate. The only Democrat to have filed for the seat, Lary Coppola, has since dropped out, leaving the Democratic line empty.

Freshman Rep. Derek Kilmer, a true moderate who is a better friend to the taxpayer than most in his caucus, should be the Democrats' candidate here. Sure, Rep. Pat Lantz has more seniority, but she nearly lost to a nobody in 2004 and is yesterday's news, besides being more easily classified a liberal than Kilmer. Kilmer is young, vibrant, and, perhaps most importantly, he beat McMahan last year when she was the incumbent state representative. Get your feet wet, Derek.

PDC fans know better

Apparently some people who aren't constant visitors to the Public Disclosure Commission website were concerned when they saw homophobic boy-chaser Jim West's filing for his old Senate seat. Non-newbies would know to look at the date filed field -- in 2003, before he was elected mayor of Spokane -- means he's still a political has-been and isn't running for anything (though he has coyly suggested he's considering running for mayor again). West fans need not worry, Brad Benson still does a fine job of voting in line with West's hypocritical career.

Elway sucks

And I certainly don't mean John. Being that I'm in the process of quitting my job, finding a decent place in Federal Way, and moving, I haven't had much time to post lately, nor will for the coming month. But, it seems much has been made about Stu Elway's poll showing Maria Cantwell leading Mike McGavick by thirty points. Have people forgotten about the Elway Poll's sketchy record and massive Democratic slant? This is the same poll that showed Dino Rossi polling 38% two weeks before the 2004 gubernatorial election (methinks he didn't pull 11% to his side in the remaining time). Judging from my experience with the Elway Poll, it seems to overestimate Democratic numbers by a good 3% and underestimate Republican numbers by about the same margin, making it essentially a partisan D poll. GOP polling firm Strategic Vision had Cantwell leading 48-40 during the same time frame, and their bias is generally less than Elway. This is the most laughable Elway I've seen since they predicted upwards of 75% passage for the Top Two Primary initiative.

Never trust pollsters that charge you to see their internals. Especially to the tune of hundreds of dollars annually. Give me a break.