Blame the ongoing state reapportionment process which won’t be completed until the end of the year. Until then no incumbent or challenger can be sure which of the 10 congressional districts they will live in.

Still, that hasn’t kept County Councilman Dick Muri, a Republican, from declaring his candidacy.

“I have been a public servant my entire adult life, from flying for the United States Air Force, to serving on a school board, and representing the people of Pierce County on their county council,” Muri said in a campaign statement. “Congress needs leaders who can repair our broken federal government. With the vote of the people I will be that leader.”

He will make his formal announcement at 10 a.m. Friday at Lakewood City Hall.

Muri was the Republican nominee from the 9th Congressional District in 2010, losing to incumbent U.S. Rep. Adam Smith. He would not be able to run again for his seat on the county council because of term limits.

But which district? Campaign Chairman Alex Hays said he thinks Muri could end up in the new 10th or in a reconfigured 9th District that gives Republicans a better chance of winning.

Here’s his campaign press release: Read more »

That’s been one of the threads in comments and in testimony before the Pierce County Districting Committee – since four of the seven districts have some Tacoma residents inside, that allows the city to dominate.

I asked Districting Master Steven Garrett for the numbers. Here are the Tacoma percentages in each of the districts in his final plan:

Distinct 7: 47,079 = 42.4%
District 6: 0
District 5: 61,521 = 54.3%
District 4: 72,667 = 65.6%
District 3: 0
District 2: 16,879 = 14.6%
District 1: 0

So, does that allow Tacoma residents to …

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Lacey Republican Kim Wyman is launching her statewide campaign for secretary of state and intends to make a formal announcement Thursday morning in Olympia.

Wyman is Thurston County auditor and first Republican to say she will run in 2012 for the position after three-term GOP incumbent Sam Reed announced yesterday he is retiring.

Wyman is running on a record of competence as administrator of elections for the two decades including what she said were “over 80 accurate, open, and clean elections” and endorsements of 23 past or current countyauditors.

“Combined with the responsibility of managing public records, licensing, and …

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He hasn’t seemed all that excited about the attorney general race lately and this must be why.

While he had filed with the Public Disclosure Commission and said he was thinking about a campaign he has made twice before, former Pierce County Prosecutor John Ladenburg said he will shift instead to the Supreme Court.

He did not say which seat on the court he might pursue but a spokesman said he would not file against anincumbent and expects there to be vacancies next year. At least one will be the seat now held by Justice Gerry Alexander who must retire this year when he reached the age of 75. Gov. Chris Gregoire can appoint a replacement but that person would have to run in 2012.

The other two justices with terms expiring next year are Tom Chambers and Susan Owens.

The attorney general’s office will be open next year because incumbent Rob McKenna will instead run for governor. The two announced candidates to replace him are two members of the King County Council, Republican Reagan Dunn and Democrat Bob Ferguson. McKenna ran for the office while on the King County council as well.

Here’s the press release sent out this morning: Read more »

If Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown runs for a statewide office in 2012, it won’t be governor. The liberal Democrat said Tuesday she is endorsing Jay Inslee in the governor’s race against Republican Rob McKenna.

Jay Manning just put out word in an email to state cabinet-agency leaders: He is quitting next month as Gov. Chris Gregoire’s chief of staff to pursue other opportunities.

Gregoire herself announced recently that she won’t seek a third term, but Manning said that was not a factor in his decision. He also is not running for office in 2012 – ruling out another rumor that has been circulating.

Read full post.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna plans two fundraising stops in Fircrest and Olympia later this week. Both events are Thursday and admission to either one is $125 per person.

The event at the Fircrest Golf Club starts at noon. A private reception is also available at 11:15 a.m. for supporters who fill a table with 10 donors or who give $1,250 to $3,200, according to McKenna’s Bellevue-based campaign.

A 5:30 p.m. reception follows in a private home in Olympia that evening.

Democrat Jay Inslee launched his campaign Monday and is touring …

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For a closer look at the official Districting Committee map released this morning here’s a link to an image file.

It is as was posted unofficially earlier (see post below), with narrower population variances than in the previous iteration called Map D but with some major changes to a central Tacoma district and the division of Parkland into two districts.

The five-member districting committee is set to meet July 12 to discuss and perhaps amend the map. But it takes four votes to amend, meaning it would have to be a change that satisfies both Democratic and Republican …

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