...And apparently there is at least one more on the way, not counting the Democrats and Republicans.....

FYI—Three tickets now cleared for the November ballot in Washington state. The Democratic and Republican presidential tickets will be placed on the ballot after their respective national conventions.
Best,
David
David Ammons
Communications Director
Office of Secretary of State
o (360) 902-4140

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As expected. But now Secretary of State Sam Reed has the legal opinion to back up what he's already done.

That means opponents will have to go to court.

Here's what David Ammons of Reed's office sent us:

OLYMPIA -- The state Attorney General has released a letter explaining
the state's legal position on accepting an estimated 300,000 voter
signatures in behalf of Initiative Measure 1029, rejecting arguments
from critics who had asked that it be barred from the ballot because
petitions included one reference to it being an initiative to the
Legislature, rather than a measure to be voted upon in the upcoming
November general election.

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Gov. Chris Gregoire's campaign sent out an e-mail just now criticizing a poll that shows Dino Rossi up.

"Upon further review, the poll in question was paid for by Rossi himself and conducted by Moore Information, Rossi’s 2004 pollster and the pollster for Sam Reed, Doug Sutherland, the King County Republican Party and the House Republican Caucus."

The campaign says that an "objective review" of the public polls finds Gregoire has a lead. They later say that Rossi has been "stuck in the sand."

“Even with a million dollars worth of misleading, negative attacks by Rossi and the BIAW, the polls show that Gov. Gregoire’s record of creating jobs and cleaning up the environment can withstand the worst partisan attacks,” said Aaron Toso, spokesperson for the Gregoire campaign. “I know the Rossi campaign wants to impress their funders in Houston, but maybe they should look at some of the polls that Rossi didn’t pay for.”

Ouch.

I put the question to Jill Strait, Rossi's spokeswoman. She said the race has been close since it began. "Gregoire has endured a month of bad press and no one should be surprised to see her poll numbers dropping."

We won't really know which polls are right until November.

Until then, here's something I found interesting: A graph of the various poll statistics over the past year, courtesy of Pollster.

David Ammons, our former colleague, sends word from the "Dark Side" today that the Secretary of State's office is starting to count signatures on initiative petitions.

(The "dark side" is our snobby journalistic reference to that governmental or private sector abyss to which a former journalist crosses over to make decent money.)

Note, too, that David says the AG's office will have something soon on what to do with all those improperly labeled I-1029 petitions that were circulated by union for the home care workers.

Naturally, Tim Eyman felt obliged to weigh in on "other people's initiatives," I-1029. He thinks I-1029 supporters are being treated better than the Supreme Court treated him.

FYI, the initiative crew (21 people) today began work on checking the first initiative, Eyman’s I-985 transportation measure. Eyman submitted roughly 300k and the plan is to check a random sample of 3 percent, or roughly 10k.

The crew will use a computer-generated system to randomly choose numbers that correspond with signature on the page. The checker will make sure the person is a registered state voter and will call up the electronic version of the person’s signature from when they registered to vote.

Verifying signatures is an interesting forensic art and science. They expect the first initiative to take up to three weeks. Then they’ll start in on I-1000, Gardner’s measure, and when that’s complete, they’re planning on checking I-1029, the long-term services plan.

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There are 3 Democrats in the 2nd District House race, so I guess every little thing matters.

JeanMarie Christenson ran in 2006. This year, Chuck Collins and Ray Harper are running as Dems, too. And incumbent Rep. Jim McCune, R-Graham, is running for reelection.

Press Release: Ready for Immediate Release:

The Campaign to Elect JeanMarie Christenson is proud to announce that JeanMarie Christenson, Candidate for State Representative, Legislative District 2, Position 1 has been awarded the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union Local 23 endorsement, announced by the letter shown below.

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Just because it's so far down the ballot, the race of Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction deserves whatever blog pop it can get.

Plus, Randy Dorn has this campaign letterhead that reminds me of those bumper stickers where everybody "loved" something. You know, like "I (heart) New York."

Well, Dorn has this apple in his letterhead. So it looks like "Randy (apple) Dorn." I guess the apple is the universal symbol for education. I thought it symbolized being teacher's pet. But maybe that's just for public schools. I would never have brought Fr. Sullivan an apple at Bellarmine.

And the apple in Randy Apple Dorn is candy apple red.

Dorn Wins Major Bi-Partisan Endorsements

Booth Gardner, Judith Billings, and Legislative Leaders of Both Parties Support Randy Dorn

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The state Liquor Control Board is expected to make its decision Wednesday on Tacoma's request for a new Alcohol Impact Area.

The City Council decided in January to make the request of state officials. If approved, the AIA would ban the sale of cheap, high-octane beverages in Tacoma's East Side and South End.

Tacoma's first AIA, in downtown and the Hilltop neighborhood, was the first in the state and is generally regarded as a huge success.

For more details, here is the state's press release:

Liquor Control Board to issue decision on Tacoma’s request for a second Alcohol Impact Area

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) will decide whether to approve or reject a request by the city of Tacoma to create a mandatory Alcohol Impact Area (AIA) within and surrounding the Lincoln District of the city at a Board meeting at 10 a.m. July 16 at WSLCB Headquarters, 3000 Pacific Ave. S.E., Olympia.

If the Board approves the AIA, it will issue a resolution that restricts the sale of certain high-alcohol, low-cost beer and wine products within AIA boundaries. The proposed AIA boundaries are Interstate 5 to the west, south to 72nd and 76th streets, east to Portland Avenue, and north to Interstate 5. There are 62 liquor-licensed businesses and three state operated liquor stores within the boundaries.

In 1999, rules were adopted to create a framework for communities, the WSLCB, and the alcohol industry to work together to mitigate problems with chronic public inebriation or illegal activities linked to the sale or consumption of alcohol. The rules allow WSLCB to recognize a geographic area within a city or town as an AIA.

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