40th District: Today's news

Two new candidates joined the race to replace Senator Spanel in the 40th legislative district today, as the race seems to change on an almost daily basis. One is Paul Gonzales, a veteran of the Washington State Patrol and former member of the Mount Vernon City Council, and the other is Stephanie Kountouros, a coordinator of the Whatcom For Obama campaign. They join these candidates already in the race:

Hue Beattie [D], Democratic state committeeman for Whatcom County
Ken Henderson [D], former Whatcom County Councilman
Kevin Ranker [D], San Juan County Councilman
Steve Van Luven [R], former state representative

While the 40th is solidly Democratic, the large number of Democrats in the race should mean that Van Luven can expect a spot in the runoff.