A few weeks ago, us folks here in The Other Washington got some very good news...Christine Gregoire had decided that 8 years of damage had created enough of a legacy for her, so she wasn't going to run for a 3rd term of office.
Shortly after that, we received some more good news...Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna announced he was going to run for Governor. Here in Washington politics, the joke is that the AG for Attorney General really stands for Aspiring Governor...it's the position Gregoire had prior to being elected Governor.
Now just a few days ago, Congressman Jay Inslee, Democrat, announced he is also entering the race for Governor. Currently, Jay represents District 1 here in Washington, which includes North Seattle, Bainbridge Island, and most of the Kitsap Penninsula.
Baring another attempt to run by Dino Rossi, I think that it's going to come down to Mckenna vs. Inslee for Governor, and I'm getting out there early as a Rob McKenna fan. It's not that we know a lot about McKenna: he thumbed his nose at Governor Gregoire and got in on the Anti-Obamacare care lawsuit, and he repeatedly got out in front in warning the Mayor of Seattle that any attempts to install a handgun ban would be challenged by the state. As AG, he hasn't had to take public stands on a lot of things.
Inslee has. Back in the mid 90's, he beat Doc Hastings for District 4's Congress seat, then was beat by Doc Hastings 2 years later. He initially ran as a centrist type, then racked up one of the most liberal voting records in the State. When some redistricting occurred in the State, he found the politics of the Seattle suburbs to be more to his liking. He's got an F rating by the NRA(which isn't everything, but it's a good place to start) and he has repeatedly worked to give the EPA more power. He was a vocal critic of Bush going into Iraq, but has supported Obama on Libya 100%. On his last re-election campaign, 86% of his fund raising came from outside his district....
I think as we get closer to an election, the race for Governor in Washington is going to get national focus. Preliminarily I feel strongly enough about McKenna over Inslee that I might actually even vote for a Republican again, instead of 'throwing my vote away' on a Libertarian...
Heck...I've already been looking at his website to even potentially...gasp...'get involved'!
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