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Tag: Jay Inslee

After 45 years in public life, Sam Reed bids farewell

After 45 years in public life, Sam Reed bids farewell

(Photo courtesy of  Legislative Support Services Photography) Secretary of State Sam Reed bade a fond farewell to the people of Washington Tuesday after 45 years in public life, including 35 years as a state and county elected official. Addressing a joint session of the Legislature, Reed brought along a special reminder of his family’s long connection to Washington politics and government — his grandfather Sam Sumner’s battered leather briefcase.  Exactly 100 years earlier, Sumner, a state GOP chairman and longtime…

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WA lawmakers off to dramatic start

WA lawmakers off to dramatic start

Washington’s 63rd Legislature is off to a dramatic start, with a coalition of minority Republicans banding with two dissident Democrats to take over control of the state Senate. The debate was fairly low-key. Despite having an elected majority in the upper chamber, the Democrats were left with little option but to accept that 23 Republicans had lined up support of fiscally conservative Democratic Sens. Rodney  Tom and Tim Sheldon to form the 25-member coalition to run the 49-member Senate. Democratic…

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WA lawmakers & new gov gird for grueling session

WA lawmakers & new gov gird for grueling session

Washington lawmakers and incoming Gov. Jay Inslee are arriving in Olympia for a grueling budget-year legislative session that begins at high noon on Monday. The 63rd Legislature and the newly elected governor face a big budget shortfall — perhaps $2 billion, counting pay raises, rising cost of services for a growing and graying population and a state Supreme Court order to invest more in the state’s public schools.  Democrat Inslee and a number of legislators say they will try to…

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Gregoire unveils $34b budget & tax plan

Gregoire unveils $34b budget & tax plan

Gov. Chris Gregoire, in one of her last major acts as governor, has unveiled a $34 billion, two-year budget for state government, along with a tax package devoted largely to upgrading the K-12 budget. The Democratic governor, leaving office in January after serving eight years, laid out spending priorities for every sector of state government, including schools and colleges, parks, social and health services, prisons, the courts and Legislature, Puget Sound cleanup, and the departments of government.  She also released…

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WA voters: Yes to gay marriage, Obama & Democrats …

WA voters: Yes to gay marriage, Obama & Democrats …

But the governor’s race, the marquee state contest in the General Election, remains very close.  Democrat Jay Inslee, who gave up a safe congressional seat to run for the office being vacated by two-term Gov. Chris Gregoire, led Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna 51.32 percent to 48.68 percent, or about 50,000 votes out of nearly 1.9 million counted.  Inslee told cheering supporters it looked like victory, but didn’t declare himself the winner in so many words.  McKenna, still seeing a…

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`The race is on’: WA primaries next up

`The race is on’: WA primaries next up

Washington’s campaign season is officially underway, with hundreds of candidates signed up for 364 offices, from the U.S. Senate and statewide offices to key races that will determine control of the state Legislature and the future of 10 congressional districts. Secretary of State Sam Reed said he was pleased with the remarkable rush of interest in state and local office, given the difficult problems facing Washington state and the sometimes harsh nature of modern campaigning and the unpredictable influence of…

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1st District voters will fill Inslee vacancy

1st District voters will fill Inslee vacancy

Voters in Washington’s 1st Congressional District will choose a successor to Jay Inslee for the final weeks of his two-year term. Gov. Chris Gregoire, with the support of Secretary of State Sam Reed, announced Monday that she is calling a special election to coincide with the regularly scheduled Aug. 7 Top 2 Primary and the Nov. 6 General Election. Democrat Inslee, a 15-year veteran of Congress, resigned effective March 20 to devote full time to his bid for governor. The…

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WA redistricting panel produces new district maps

WA redistricting panel produces new district maps

Washington’s citizen Redistricting Commission, under the gun to reach bipartisan agreement on new congressional and legislative district boundaries, pulled it all together just a few hours before their absolute deadline on the night of New Year’s Day. With all four voting members — two Republicans and two Democrats — signing off on the plan, the new boundaries are expected to take effect this spring.  Under the voter-approved constitutional amendment that created the process in 1983, lawmakers will have only a…

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Gregoire bows out of 2012 gov’s race

Gregoire bows out of 2012 gov’s race

Washington will have a new governor in 2013. Two-term Democratic incumbent Chris Gregoire made it official Monday, telling reporters on the front porch of the Executive Mansion that she won’t seek a third term in 2012.  She talked about “amazing triumphs and difficult challenges,” and said stepping down is “the right decision for me and my family.” Her news, no surprise to politicos, means a wide-open governor’s race for the first time since Gary Locke stepped aside after two terms…

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