ChangMook Sohn

Rep. Jim McIntire, candidate for state treasurer: Politicker PhotoState Rep. Jim McIntire, who retired this year in order to make a run for state treasurer, appears well-positioned to continue on to the general election despite the presence of fellow Democrat ChangMook Sohn in the primary, the well-funded and well-respected chief economist for the state. It was widely expected to be one of the closest races of the night between second and third place candidates.

At the end of the night McIntire narrowly trailed Assistant State Treasurer Allan Martin, a Republican, in statewide polling but held a large lead over Sohn. With 766,357 votes counted, Martin had 44.3 percent of the vote compared to 40.7 percent for McIntire and 15.0 percent for Sohn.

Newspapers get to endorse candidates, and we're at least as smart as them, so here are our endorsements for statewide candidates in the Washington primary election.

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon (D-Everett) announced today that he is endorsing Chang Mook Sohn (D-Federal Way) for state treasurer, the beginning of what the Sohn campaign said would be a series of endorsements, including some from other county executives, in the coming days.

Reardon cited the expertise of Sohn, who has served as the state's chief economist since the 1980s, on the state's economy and his political integrity in making his choice.

"No one knows Washington state's economy better than ChangMook Sohn," said Reardon."Dr. Sohn never changed the facts to satisfy politicians' spending plans. He just told it like it was - and he was always right."

TVW has launched a video voters' guide on their website featuring eight minute video statements from statewide candidates. The videos will also began airing on television Monday and will continue to run through the August 19, 2008 primary.

Nearly every candidate gave a statement, though notably absent are state insurance commissioner candidates Curt Fackler (U-Spokane) and state treasurer candidate Chang Mook Sohn (D-Federal Way), both of whom cited scheduling conflicts for their absence.