Doug Sutherland

LONGVIEW -- Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland (R-Tacoma) took part in Dino Rossi’s “Road to Victory Tour” on Saturday to tell Cowlitz County Republicans about the importance of his re-election this fall.

Afterward, PolitickerWA.com spoke with Sutherland, who said he felt “pretty good” about his electoral chances. The latest SurveyUSA poll showed Sutherland leading his opponent Peter Gold mark (D-Okanogan) by two points, 45-43.

“We are feeling pretty good,” Sutherland said. “I’ve seen polls and two is the smallest margin I’ve seen, all the way up to nine but the trend is continuous so we’re feeling pretty good.

A new poll shows Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire with a large lead over Republican challenger Dino Rossi. The survey, which took place July 27-31 with a relatively small sample of 405 registered voters, had Gregoire up by a count of 52 percent to 36 percent with 12 percent undecided. Gregoire defeated Rossi in 2004 in the closest election in state history, and forecasters have been labeling their rematch one of the tightest gubernatorial races in the nation.

Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) makes both the winners and losers list, but it's all bad news for state Rep. Jim Dunn (R-Vancouver) this week. | CLICK HERE

Because of the delayed reporting date for July, in accordance with the seismic changes in the Public Disclosure Commission's website this summer, June's and July's entries in PolitickerWA.com's money races at a glance series have been combined into one post.

The first number listed is contributions, the second number is expenditures and the third number is the difference between the two. Precluding any unusual circumstances, that third number in bold is equal to cash on hand. The candidate with the most cash on hand is listed at the top of each section. Asterisk denotes incumbent.

With the exception of the gubernatorial and attorney general races, in-kind contributions were ignored and significant campaign loans and personal candidate contributions have been noted in parentheses where applicable.

See April's figures here, and May's figures here and the latest number after the jump.

SPOKANE -

Washington's slate of statewide candidates gave speeches this afternoon after becoming the official nominees of the party.

Peter Goldmark, Jason Osgood, and John Ladenburg all spoke on behalf of their candidacy with a few digs at their opponents. Recaps below the fold. 

May is the second in a monthly PolitickerWA.com series of the financial status of some of the state's top races.

Here is how things stand as of May 31, 2008. The first number listed is contributions, the second number is expenditures and the third number is the difference between the two. Precluding any unusual circumstances, that third number is equal to cash on hand. The candidate with the most cash on hand is listed at the top of each section.

All numbers below are in the thousands of dollars, unless otherwise noted. See April's figures here.

Washington's State Commissioner of Public Lands, Republican Doug Sutherland, formally began his campaign on Tuesday with events in Bellevue and Spokane sandwiched around the time he spent with John McCain. Now that he is fully on board, he is already touting his bipartisan support.

Sutherland sent out a press release highlighting the endorsements of Republican and Democratic leaders from across the state in the legislature and beyond. 

NORTH BEND -

Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain participated in a roundtable discussion on environmental issues today at the Cedar River Watershed Education Center in Eastern King County. McCain was joined by a wide slate of interested parties, ranging from Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland to REI CEO Sally Jewel, former Governor Dan Evans and Mercer Island City Councilman Steve Litzow along with a handful of local business and non-profit group leaders.

Local Republicans in attendance at the event included Attorney General Rob McKenna, who is McCain's state chair, former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton, former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, state Senator Cheryl Pflug and Party Chair Luke Esser. The first thing off their tongues was their excitement at having such a prominent national figure in town.

Sen. John McCain leads a roundtable discussion