So, who were the big winners and losers in last night's inaugural "top-two" primary? On the winning side were incumbent Supreme Court Justices Mary Fairhurst and Charles Johnson, who virtually guaranteed their re-election by winning more than 50 percent of the vote. Along with incumbent Justice Debra Stephens, they'll run unopposed in the general election. Last night's losers, however, were easier to spot. ...
Last night's losers were easier to spot. For instance, times continue to look tough for incumbent Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland, who leads Democratic challenger Peter Goldmark by only 1 percent. While recent headlines about Sutherland's hushed sexual harassment scandal may have influenced some voters to go with Goldmark, Seattle Times editorial writer Lance Dickie says the main reason the incumbent commissioner could have a tough time winning in November is "the performance of Sutherland's office as the watchdog of the timber industry." The Times reported in July that "clear-cuts on steep slopes" caused massive landslides, raising questions about how the logging industry was being regulated by the Department of Natural Resources. ...
As for the rest of the races, well, uh, nothing to see here. Rossi-Gregoire, Reichert-Burner, and Carlyle-Burbank will all square off in the general election. Surprised? Me neither. A more interesting question might be: How did voters fare in the top-two primary? How did the format suit them? So far, it looks like voters have no stomach problems with the top-two system. Heck, at least this year they didn't scribble any nasty notes on the ballots ÃÂ la 2006. ...
Tough pill to swallow: Eric Earling at Sound Politics says anyone "drawing sound conclusions from the primary results ... is either a partisan hack or isn't thinking clearly." ...
Morning after pill: P-I columnist Joel Connelly goes for the kneecaps of Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi, saying we're all still waiting to see how the candidate would transform Olympia, but "we may never hear answers to such questions." ...
Morning after-effect: David Goldstein at Horse's Ass makes his case for why Gov. Chris Gregoire should be happy about last night's results. ...
Hung-up on hangovers: The editorial board at the News Tribune responds to recent protests about lowering the legal drinking age, saying "since when do we do away with good law just because there are those who choose to break them? " ...
What's the hang up? In case you were wondering why you haven't seen any primary election results from the Pierce County executive race – relax. There aren't any. ...
Spreading the news: Longtime pollster Steve Kircher explains why he trusts poll data. ...
Spreading the audit: Adam Wilson at The Olympian explains the origins of Tim Eyman's I-985 traffic congestion initiative. ...
The outsider looking in: Jeff Mapes at The Oregonian shares his views about the top-two primary results. ...
