With Wednesday’s untimely passing of state Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, questions have emerged as to how — and when — his vacant 28th legislative district senate seat will be filled.

Under the appointment process for a vacant legislative seat —  spelled out in Washington’s Constitution and in state statute — the Pierce County Council will have the first crack at deciding Carrell’s replacement.

Because Carrell was a Republican, the county’s Republican Party gets to choose three candidates to submit for the county council’s consideration. The council has up to 60 days from the date of vacancy (Wednesday) to appoint Carrell’s …

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In Tacoma, few surprises and little activity emerged as the candidate registration filing period came to a close on Friday. In all, five seats on the city’s non-partisan council are up for election this year.

Olgy Diaz, a legislative aide to state. Rep. David Sawyer, D-29, formally challenged incumbent Councilman Joe Lonergan for the 5th District seat representing south Tacoma. Meantime, Justin Van Dyk, a former sales consultant who previously had announced intentions to oppose Lonergan, did not file as a candidate.

In Tacoma’s 2nd District – a horseshoe-shaped area that stretches around Commencement Bay from Northeast Tacoma to Old …

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In an article in a newish national political website called therun2016.com, Chris Gregoire is among a handful of Democrats who are part of the party’s “deep bench” of potential women candidates for president.

The article by former POLITICO writer David Catenese quoted EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock urging pollsters to broaden their list of names being tested among voters. The names she dropped were: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Gregoire.

But Schriock declined Thursday to say whether she’s spoken to any of …

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In trying to clarify the intent of the Washington State Constitution regarding the number of votes needed to pass laws, including tax-increases, the members of the state Supreme Court might have misused one of the key phrases in both the decision and one of the dissents.

That is, is a simple majority REALLY what the constitution requires to pass such bills? And was the use of that phrase accurate, especially in that it was used to describe two very different vote requirements – i.e. a majority of those elected to each house AND a majority of those present when a …

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Or so it seems.

Leading up to Washington’s presidential primary in 2008, Hillary Clinton was making a hard push for endorsements from the state’s leading politicians. That was considered the safe move as Barack Obama, though leading, was still the underdog for the Democratic nomination.

Winning these big-name endorsements had more than nominal effect. Most were also super delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

At the time it was considered pretty brave to stand up with Obama instead of Clinton. But that’s what Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire did at a Feb. 8 rally in a packed Key Arena. Also on …

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In a landmark ruling 20 years in the making, the Washington State Supreme Court this morning struck down Initiative 1053 as unconstitutional. The court majority said the constitution controls the majority needed for tax hikes and the constitution requires only a majority of the members of the House and Senate.

That means the only way for backers of the so-called super-majority for tax hikes can achieve that goal is to go through the more-burdensome method of amending the constitution which itself requires a two-thirds vote of both houses and then a majority vote of the people.

“The language and …

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Well, yeah. Sort of.

The so-called coup by 23 formerly minority Republicans and two Democrats that broke in mid-December came just after the final undecided Senate race was decided.

Because it was so close, the race between GOP incumbent Don Benton and challenger Tim Probst wasn’t official until the election was certified. Benton won reelection by 78 votes out of just under 55,000 cast. Once he was in and the GOP total was up to 23 votes, the coalition with Democrats Rodney Tom and Tim Sheldon could became a majority of 25.

Did Benton deliver the majority? …

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