History is repeating itself. Washington’s redistricting commissioners are headed toward completion of a new state political map for the 2012 elections on New Year’s Day – exactly their deadline.
The Washington state Health Care Authority said today it is receiving nearly $17 million as a federal bonus payment for having enrolled children in subsidized health-care coverage. This follows similar awards of $20.65 million last year and $7.85 million in 2009, based on the state’s enrollment in its Apple Health for Kids program.
Washington’s new 10th Congressional District drew three candidates the same day its likely boundaries were announced this week, and Republican David Castillo of Olympia could be the fourth. Castillo, like previously announced 10th-district Democratic candidate Denny Heck, ran last year in the 3rd district and lost to the eventual winner, first-term Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Washington’s campaign donation limit of $5,000 to political committees during the final 21 days of a campaign. But its ruling today also upheld Washington’s 39-year-old campaign law requiring disclosure of the addresses of donors giving as little as $25.
Washington voters may decide next year whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, in what could be a multi-state effort: A legalization campaign is also close to reaching the Colorado ballot.
Initiative 502 in Washington has drawn not only prominent local supporters from politics and law enforcement, but also money from backers with a national reach, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Drug Policy Action and Ohio billionaire Peter Lewis, the chairman of Progressive Insurance who has contributed $250,000 to the Washington campaign.
The campaign says it has the signatures of 355,000 supporters, and dropped off most of …
Democrat Denny Heck and Republican Dick Muri are the first two clear candidates in the state’s new 10th Congressional District, assuming its final boundaries are the same or highly similar to the draft map issued this morning by the Washington State Redistricting Commission.
The reason for the change is that the state Redistricting Commission tossed Dick Muri a curveball. Rather than have his Lakewood based within the 9th Congressional District it placed it in the newly created 10th.
That gave the Pierce County Republican a choice of running in a district he doesn’t live in but against the same incumbent he faced in 2010 – U.S. Rep. Adam Smith – or the new 10th where he lives.
By making the choice to run in the 10th, however, Muri could face a GOP primary against fellow council member Stan Flemming who announced for the …
The University Place Republican had been planning to run in the new 10th where ever it ended up. Federal law does not require candidates to be residents of the district and Stan Flemming was steering clear of the 9th District as fellow councilman Dick Muri had already announced for that race.
So Flemming was surprised and pleased this morning that the new 10th contains both his home and some of his current council district (at least the district that elected him) and the military bases.
“It was not just nice news, it was wonderful news,” Flemming said. Muri, however, is …