Lisa Brown

 The progressive interest group Fuse has come out with an awards show of sorts on its website, complete with a red curtain and a long list of awards under the banner of what they called the "Sizzle Awards".

In addition to highlighting a handful of prominent Democratic lawmakers, they give Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown (D-Spokane) "The Boss" award for "being a progressive rock star", and they even showed some kindness to a Republican. Rep. Skip Priest (R-Federal Way) was named "The Collaborator" for his success in working across the aisle with Democrats

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown is looking to hire a surrogate to increase her name recognition on the Westside of the mountains. The Spokane lawmaker’s name has been floated for governor for many years, but she lacks the roots in Western Washington that any candidate for governor needs to win.

On Tuesday the Spokesman-Review's Rich Roesler compiled a list of the top state senators in terms of cash on hand in their campaigns, whether they are running this year or in 2010.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown (D-Spokane) leads the way with $131,104 followed by Sen. Margarita Prentice (D-Renton), which makes sense considering their power and the DemocraticSen. Lisa Brown (D-Spokane) lean of the state, but following those two are five Republicans. Vancouver's Don Benton has $107,842 and Minority Leader Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla) has $102,199, while Joe Zarelli (R-Ridgefield), Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) and Bob Morton (R-Kettle Falls) aren't far behind.

So while the leadership caucus may not be terribly successful, as came to light during the Pam Roach controversy earlier this year, Republican State Senators are performing relatively well.