The candidate who announced his bid today for a Senate seat isn’t the only GOP challenger in the 26th District.

Doug Richards, a battalion chief at South Kitsap Fire and Rescue, is running for the House seat now held by Democratic Rep. Larry Seaquist.

The Olalla resident, 41, has a Facebook page up proclaiming his candidacy, where he writes: “This state and country need a new direction and new leadership.”

Richards has at least one thing in common with Seaquist: service in the Navy.

Marty McClendon, a real-estate broker and Republican from Gig Harbor, announced today he will run for the seat now held by Sen. Derek Kilmer.

The challenger blamed Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat, for “reckless spending” in Olympia and said legislators should create jobs by avoiding new taxes and regulations. He also wants to protect schools from “irresponsible cutbacks,” he said.

“It’s just flat out wrong to be raising taxes in the middle of the worst recession in 70 years,” McClendon, 42, said in a statement.

Kilmer will have some armor against charges of tax hikes: He has voted against this year’s proposals by Democrats to raise more tax revenue.

The 26th District includes Gig Harbor, Port Orchard and Bremerton.

UPDATE: While Kilmer voted ‘no’ on the Senate’s main tax package, he was a ‘yes’ on increasing tobacco taxes. The Senate Republican Campaign Committee pointed out his cigarette-tax vote and said McClendon opposes raising the cigarette tax.

After the jump, the full press release:

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The revolving door turns again in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s upper management ranks. Robin Arnold-Williams is the latest, announcing that she departs at the end of April as head of the governor’s executive policy office.

Arnold-Williams took over the job in December 2008 after a more than three-year run as secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services.

Washington officials say they’re making progress in efforts to change how criminals like Maurice Clemmons who move from state to state are handled.

The Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision will form a committee to consider Washington’s requests: that states receiving paroled offenders have information about their history and authority to send them back.

The executive committee of the board agreed unanimously today to form the committee, Washington Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail said today after meeting with the board in Lexington, Ky. Gov. Chris Gregoire also sat in on the discussion by phone and Web camera.

The full commission could …

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State Democratic lawmakers crafting on budget cuts and tax increases continue to be hopeful of reaching an agreement. If a deal were to happen this week — say by Friday — legislators would go home for the Easter weekend then possibly not return until Thursday or Friday next week.

That’s not “the plan,” but it is “a plan” being talked about by House Democratic leaders, Democratic caucus spokeswoman Melinda McCrady said this evening. An email to outlining some of that went out to House Democrats this evening to let them know they might be needed.

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Two things from Scott Roberts … First, he has no inside information as Thurston County Republican Party chairman. Second, there isn’t any doubt in his mind that Dino Rossi is running for U.S. Senate against three-term Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.

Rossi was in Washington, D.C., last week meeting with Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele and also visiting with Republican senators who want to win back a few seats from the Democrats.

“I think Rossi is in. … He doesn’t get seen in D.C. unless he is in,” Roberts said Saturday at the Thurston GOP’s county …

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Toll violators will get a second chance to pay what they owe under a law signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire today.

Lawmakers created a grace period for fines on the Tacoma Narrows bridge and future toll roads. Drivers will have 80 days to pay the $4 toll and an administrative fee before the fine kicks in to bump the cost to $52.

It’s part of a bill passed during this year’s regular legislative session to allow toll projects like the bridge to keep all the money from fines that now go mostly to the court system. The new funding …

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Pierce County Public Works Director Brian Ziegler has been named one of the top 10 public works leader of the year by the American Public Works Association. You can read the press release below.

Pierce County Public Works and Utilities Director Brian Ziegler was named one of the Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year by the American Public Works Association on March 23. This national award recognizes outstanding career achievements of public works professionals in both the public and private sectors and focuses on career service to the public works profession overall, rather than on singular projects. Nominations for the Top Ten are reviewed by an APWA Committee. The association has over 29,000 members across the United States and Canada.

Ziegler has served as the Public Works and Utilities director since September 2003. He supervises over 600 employees who deliver transportation and environmental services to over 800,000 Pierce County residents. He oversaw several high-profile projects at Pierce County including the Chambers Bay Golf Course, and the newly constructed Central Maintenance Facility. While at the Washington State Department of Transportation, Ziegler managed the design and environmental work on the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Under his leadership, Pierce County received countless awards and recognitions, including being the first county in Washington State to be accredited by the APWA.
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