John Burbank

Leslie BlossLeslie Bloss, the Republican candidate for state House, position 1 in Seattle's 36th Legislative District, has endorsed Democrat John Burbank now that the "top two" primary has ended her campaign. Bloss first reported the news in a comment on PolitickerWA.com.

This afternoon over the phone Bloss confirmed her endorsement of Burbank, mainly on the strength of three issues: keeping an elevated Alaska Way Viaduct, fixing Mercer Street and supporting Katie's Law.

"I think that Burbank is more in line with me, particularly wanting the Viaduct and the Mercer Street mess fixed. All those three things [including Katie's Law] are important to me."

Reuven CarlyleSen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle) has endorsed Reuven Carlyle for Representative in her 36th Legislative District, the Seattle P-I is reporting. Kohl-Welles has represented the district since 1992, for one term as a representative and in her current seat ever since.

"I am very pleased to endorse Reuven and I strongly encourage the people of our district to support him in the general election," Kohl-Wells said in a statement. "While our district is blessed with two strong candidates, Reuven has an impressive combination of public policy and business skills along with extraordinary life experience that will make him a very effective citizen legislator."

Carlyle is engaged in a close race with fellow Democrat John Burbank.

Although voters have had a chance to breath with Tuesday's"top two" primary fuly out of the way and early August's hot weather long gone, that is not necessarily the case for all the candidates seeking legislative positions. With votes continuing to come into county auditors by mail, the outcome of a handfulof races across the state are still up in the air.

In the 8th Legislative District, a normally Republican House seat long held by the retiring Rep. Shirley Hankins (R-Richland), the sole Democrat in the race, Carol Moser, is the only candidate so far to ensure her spot in the general election. That is because the Republican side of the primary was crowded with four candidates who split the vote almost equally.

John BurbankThe three candidates running to replace the retiring Democratic Rep. Helen Sommers in Seattle's 36th Legislative District, Republican Leslie Bloss and Democrats John Burbank and Reuven Carlyle, will meet tonight at 7 P.M. at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard for a debate sponsored by the Municipal League Foundation.

On the Democratic side, where voting history suggests both Democrats will move beyond the "top two" primary, the race in the 36th has been one of the state's most heated. Fundraising numbers have been among the highest in the state and candidates joke that it is the only state-level legislative position that requires a foreign policy.

The stakes will continue to be high tonight with three weeks remaining until the Aug. 19 primary and each candidate looking to build momentum with a strong showing, and hoping to use tonight's debate as an opportunity to show voters what separates them from the field.

The Municipal League of King County released its ratings of candidates in King County legislative and judicial races Tuesday. The Municipal League is a nonpartisan volunteer group dedicated to keeping government open and effective.

Ratings ranged from "Not Qualified" to "Outstanding" with "Adequate", "Good", and "Very Good" between them. Most candidates received at least a "Good" rating, with just under ten percent of all 85 candidates reviewed achieving the level of "Outstanding".

The 36th District Democrats met in Ballard Thursday night in an attempt to sort out what their executive board could not do earlier this week - officially endorse a candidate for state House of Representatives.

But when all the votes were counted, the membership body ultimately came to the same deadlock.

After a motion to issue a dual endorsement failed in a vote of the member body, the 36th LD Democrats voted 107-61 in favor of John Burbank over Reuven Carlyle. Although the tally represented a clear majority of those in attendance, it did not meet the two-thirds majority necessary for an official endorsement.

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.

Yesterday while most of the political news in the state was focused on John McCain's visit, two new candidates for state Representative emerged. Mulick's Olympia Dispatch has the word on a couple of entries in Western Washington.

In Seattle's 36th, where Democrats Reuven Carlyle and John Burbank are engaged in a high profile battle for retiring Rep. Helen Sommers' seat, Republican Leslie Bloss has joined the fray. She is a former Boeing employee and a real estate agent, not to mention one of the very few Republicans in the 36th LD.

Then in Pierce County's 25th LD Fife City Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Robert Cerqui, a Democrat, has filed to run for the seat of retiring Rep. Joyce McDonald (R-Puyallup). He joins Republican Bruce Dammeier and Progressive Laurence Pratt, both of Puyallup.

Monday was the deadline for reporting April contributions and expenditures for campaigns here in Washington. Now that six months remain until election day, PolitickerWA.com will begin a monthly rundown of the financial status of the state's top races.

Here is how things stand as of April 30, 2008. The first number listed is contributions, the second number is expenditures and the third number is cash on hand. The candidate with the most cash on hand is listed at the top of each section.

John BurbankSeattle's 36th Legislative District is one of the most reliably blue districts in the state, a place where constituents rarely disagree over the core issues, and if anything they will have differences over what constitutes the best form of democracy. That idea came about again recently when, at a Democratic debate in the 36th District Thursday night, candidates John Burbank and Reuven Carlyle differed on the implementation of spending caps for their state House race.

After a question was asked about public election financing where both candidates affirmed their support of the idea, Burbank turned to Carlyle and asked if he would agree to spending limits in this year's race. Carlye declined at the time, and later called the question nothing but a debate gimmick and an attempt at a "gotcha" moment.