David McDonald

State Democratic Party lawyer David McDonald, who is also a member of the Democratic National Committee, told state attorneys yesterday that the "top two" primary runs contrary to a federal court order of 2005 and as a result would call into question the legality of this year's vote.

David Postman reports on McDonald's letter at the Times that McDonald's letter was brought about by a call for "supplemental briefing materials" from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week, signaling that the case still had some life despite being upheld by the Supreme Court in March.

SPOKANE -

Rep. Sam Hunt (D-Olympia) just introduced state Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz in a discussion about the "top two" primary, how it came about, and where it might lead. He enumerated the differences between Washington's current setup and the Louisiana process after which it was modeled. Hunt, like Pelz, is not a fan of the system.

Pelz read from the Supreme Court's decision that upheld I-872, notably the passage that created wiggle room by stating that voter confusion in the ballots could reverse the decision.

The party chair maintains that "it is our opinion that the courts did not uphold the constitutionality" of top two when they upheld it earlier this year, but rather they declined to rule on it.

"We think Democrats should pick Democratic candidates," he reiterated, "and Republicans should pick Republican candidates."

One of Washington's automatic delegates, DNC member David McDonald, has pledged his support to Sen. Barack Obama, per the AP.

McDonald sat on the DNC rules committee that met over the weekend to decide the fate of disputed delegates in Florida and Michigan, and waited until after the meeting to endorse in order to avoid a perceived conflict of interest.

Obama "has brought astounding new energy and hope to the Democratic Party nationwide," he told the AP.

One of Washington's undecided slate of Democratic National Committee superdelegates, David McDonald, spoke to the press about his status today, but only to announce that he would not be throwing his superdelegate weight around until after the May 31 meeting of the DNC rules committee. That meeting will decide how to seat the delegations from Florida and Michigan who were penalized for moving their primaries earlier than DNC rules allowed.

McDonald is on the DNC's rules and bylaws committee that initially voted to strip Florida's and Michigan's delegates as a punishment. It was a move that McDonald supported. He told The Olympian today that he hoped to reserve the appearance of impartiality prior to that meeting.