Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday doubled down on his efforts to make sure a new bridge over the Columbia River along I-5 includes a light-rail component. Meanwhile, a citizens’ group from Vancouver filed a lawsuit on the same day to prevent city money from being used on the project.

Both sides of the heated debate over a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River on the Washington-Oregon border drew a line in the sand on Thursday.

In Olympia, Gov. Jay Inslee signed an $8.7 billion transportation bill but vetoed a provision in the package that would have allocated $81 million to keep the Columbia River Crossing’s planning office afloat should an alternate bridge design be needed.

By vetoing the funding, Inslee is, in effect, telling the Legislature that only the current plan — which includes a controversial light-rail component linking Portland’s Tri-Met line with Vancouver — will be considered.

Washington state lawmakers are currently in the second week of a special session called by Inslee when no agreement on a two-year budget could be reached in the 105 days allotted for the regular legislative session. Among the other items on the table during the special session is a gas tax increase, which would generate a projected $450 million for the CRC project.

If the tax is voted down, however, the state could lose $800 million in promised federal funding — money contingent on inclusion of light rail — and the entire $3.4 billion bridge project could potentially be scrapped.

Inslee is gambling lawmakers will approve the unpopular gas tax hike rather than risk having no bridge at all built.

“The reality is starting to come home,” he said, “and I think this veto may sharpen legislators’ minds about the current state of reality. We have to have a reality-based plan across the Columbia River, and if this veto helps them awaken to the reality, that would be great.”

Meanwhile, opponents of the bridge on Thursday filed a lawsuit aimed at preventing the Vancouver City Council from using municipal resources to aid the project.

A ballot initiative to that effect was attempted a year ago, but city officials, who are in favor of the bridge,  kept it off the November 2012 ballot by disqualifying hundreds of duplicate signatures — as well as the originals — on petitions turned in to the Clark County Auditor.

The move left the measure just a few signatures short of the number of the number needed to qualify, but a subsequent lawsuit resulted in a ruling last month that while duplicate signatures can be tossed out, the originals must be counted. Using that standard a year ago, the initiative would have qualified easily.

Before that ruling could be issued, however, the Vancouver City Council passed a resolution saying it wouldn’t put the measure on the ballot in any case, since the bridge is a joint project of Washington and Oregon, as well as the federal government, and the city lacked the authority to stop it.

Thursday’s lawsuit, filed by Everett attorney Steve Pidgeon, would compel the city to put the measure on the November 2013 ballot regardless of the council’s objections.

“The city has argued that (the initiative) seeks to ‘appropriate money’ in violation of … the Vancouver City Charter,” the lawsuit notes. “As a matter of pure definition, (the initiative) does not appropriate money. Quite the contrary; it requires the city to not appropriate money.”

Pidgeon and the plaintiffs who filed the suit say the initiative seeks to:

• define certain words and terms in the proposed ordinance;
• prohibit the city from promoting or establishing the extension of light rail across the Columbia River into the city of Vancouver; and,
• prevent the city from using public funds to promote the extension or establishment of light rail.

Since these policies are legislative in nature, the city should be required to place the entire proposal on the ballot, they say.

“The city may not like the policy,” the lawsuit asserts, “but (it) cannot credibly argue it is unclear. Quite the contrary, the policies’ clarity is exactly the reason the city opposes the initiative.”

A ruling in the case is expected by the Clark County District Court well before the Aug. 6 deadline for ballot measures to be included in the November general election ballot.

Citing the convoluted process by which voters are currently attempting to recall the Pierce County auditor-treasurer and the city of Pacific’s mayor, the Senate Law and Justice Committee on Thursday held hearings aimed at establishing a coherent set of rules for removing a public official from office.

Because of a lack of clarity in the recall law, such efforts are frequently challenged to the level of the State Supreme Court before they ever go to the voters,  noted Law and Justice Committee Chair Sen Pam Roach (R-Auburn).

“The citizens should not have to finance a trip to the Supreme Court to effect a recall,” she said.

The key, Roach said, is to determine which misfeasance, malfeasance or other actions on the part of an elected official could meet legal criteria for a recall campaign.

Recall efforts, like the drive to remove Pacific Mayor Cy Sun from office, are rare in Washington state, but when they do happen, there needs to be a logical process followed, according to Auburn Sen. Pam Roach.

“Clearly, the triggers for a recall are not adequately defined,” said Roach. “The law should be more specific and easily understood when it comes to recalls. Elected officials need to be held accountable, and sometimes waiting for the next election is not soon enough.”

Moral turpitude, an example of which would be drunk driving, will also be discussed as a potential condition for recall.

Roach said she has had an interest in recall campaigns ever since the recall of former Senate Majority Leader Jim West from his subsequent position as mayor of Spokane.

The recall discussion, including a question-and-answer session, was prompted by difficulties citizens have had in putting together recall campaigns in King and Pierce counties. Roach noted the recall efforts against Pierce County Assessor Dale Washam and Pacific Mayor Cy Sun.

A Washington senator has proposed a plan by which the state could become a right-to-work state — as Michigan did last fall — in order to keep Boeing from locating production for the next generation of its 777 jetliner elsewhere.

For The Olympia Report

Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane) on Wednesday announced a strategy that would help Washington retain and grow thousands of Boeing aerospace jobs by introducing legislation to make Washington a right-to-work state if worker’s compensation insurance rates continue to increase.

Baumgartner, who serves on the Senate Trade and Economic Development Committee, said the effort to ensure Boeing’s next generation 777 airliner is built in Washington requires actual steps to make the state’s aerospace industry more competitive, not platitudes and press conferences.

Michael Baumgartner

“It’s very clear that Boeing is choosing to expand into states that have more competitive labor environments, and that right-to-work states like South Carolina have a significant potential advantage,” said Baumgartner, who noted that over the last decade right-to-work states have seen 9 percent higher growth in manufacturing than other states, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

“Washington is a hub of aerospace,” he said, “and it’s clear that too many of our elected leaders aren’t taking real steps to keep it that way.”

Baumgartner’s proposed right-to-work bill would secure the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join a union and make the paying of union dues optional.

“Every individual should have both the right to join a union and the right not to join a union should they so choose,” Baumgartner added. “It’s about basic human freedom.”

Under Baumgartner’s proposed legislation, Washington would become a right-to-work state if the state Department of Labor and Industries’ workers’ compensation insurance rates continue to increase.

“Boeing is a big enough company to self-insure for worker’s compensation, but many of its suppliers in our state are being crushed under the weight of ever-increasing L&I rates,” noted Baumgartner, who also supports comprehensive reform of the state’s workers’ compensation system. “If we’re going to attract and grow quality aerospace jobs in this state, we need to give them some relief.

“Michigan recently became the 24th right-to-work state,” Baumgartner continued, “and making Washington the 25th will help retain and create great aerospace-industry jobs and provide millions in new funding for other priorities like K-12 education through economic growth.”

Washington state lawmakers may be back in town to work on a budget deal, that isn’t the only item on their plates.

Members of the Senate’s Law and Justice Committee, on the second day of the special legislative session, approved the package of enhanced penalties for driving under the influence Gov. Jay Inslee has been pushing for since the start of the regular session in January.

Rather than being referred to the Senate floor, however, the measure was referred on Tuesday to the Ways and Means Committee to debate how to fund it. Likewise, a pair of related bills that would extend Washington state’s beer tax and increase taxes on hard liquor, using the proceeds to pay the costs associated with the stiffer DUI penalties, were also referred to Ways and Means — but without a recommendation.

“I know everyone here agrees we need to increase the severity of sentences on repeat offenders as well as the likelihood of their going to trial,” said Sen. Adam Kiline (D-Seattle), prime sponsor of both the underlying bill and the two funding bills. “But unless we also find a way to pay for them, we’re not doing anything but sending an unfunded mandate to our cities and counties.”

Among the provisions in the DUI bill:

• law enforcement officials would be able to take drivers into custody if there were probable cause to believe they are intoxicated or have previous DUI offenses;
• the suspect’s car would be impounded and could not be released to anyone until an ignition-interlock device had been installed, even though there had been no conviction yet;
• anyone convicted of DUI or with a blood-alcohol content of at least .15 percent, and who has two or three prior offenses within the previous seven years, must be sentenced to 364 days’ incarceration — instead of 120 to 364 days, 150 days of home monitoring, and the person must be prohibited from purchasing alcohol for 10 years; and,
• driving while impaired would become a felony on the fourth offense rather than the gross misdemeanor it is now.

Committee members on both sides of the aisle agreed with the intent of the legislation, but in some cases argued the standards still weren’t tough enough or that the emphasis was misplaced.

“Absolutely, without question we need to strengthen our DUI laws,” said Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-West Seattle). “But right now the focus is on punishment when our cities and counties lack the capacity to incarcerate more offenders. The real key is to provide for treatment. Just putting people in jail isn’t enough.”

“Personally, I’d be OK with lowering the blood-alcohol level for impairment to .1 percent,” said Sen. Pam Roach (R-Auburn). “People absolutely shouldn’t drink at all before getting behind the wheel. But I really think the people themselves need to accept a lot of the blame for establishing the culture of drinking in this country that creates these problems.”

The public shouldn’t blame the Legislature for not doing enough, Roach said, when it votes to approve ballot measures that legalize recreational marijuana use and allow hard liquor sales in grocery stores.

“The people need to know they’re at least partially at fault here,” she said.

Washington State Lt. Gov. Brad Owen said on Thursday one possible solution for the difference of opinion over the budget that’s made necessary a 30-special session would be for Democrats to stop extending the courtesy of a proxy vote to ailing GOP Sen. Mike Carrell.

“At some point … you might have to say enough is enough,” Owen said during an interview on TVW.

Democrats currently outnumber Republicans in the Senate 26 votes to 23, but during the 2013 session a pair of fiscally conservative Democrats have joined with the GOP to form a so-called Majority Caucus, which outnumbers Democrats 25-24.

Carrell, however, has been absent for much of the session as he deals with a blood disorder this spring while waiting for a bone marrow transplant. As a courtesy to the longtime Republican lawmaker, Hoquiam Democrat Jim Hargrove has cast a proxy vote for Carrell.

As a courtesy to longtime GOP Sen. Mike Carrell, above, who is suffering from a blood disorder, his proxy vote has been cast during this session by Democrat Jim Hargrove. But Democratic Secretary of State Brad Owen believes it may be time to rescind that privilege — enabling him to beak tie votes in a Senate left with a 24-24 party split.

However, if negotiations get sticky during the 30-special session scheduled to begin on Monday, Owen — a Democrat — believes the courtesy should be dropped.

In such a case, if Carrell is too ill to travel to Olympia and vote, the Senate would be deadlocked 24-24.

And Owen, who presides over the Senate, would have the right to cast the deciding vote.

“I do believe Sen. Hargrove needs to say, ‘Look, if you folks aren’t willing to compromise, I’m not willing to do this anymore,’ ” Owen said. “That’s what I would counsel.

“Sen. Hargrove is a very honorable person,” Owen said, “and what he’s doing is commendable … but it could happen that someone crosses over and makes it 24-24. In which case I certainly would step in and vote.”

Hargrove has given no indication he would agree to make Carrell’s illness a negotiating point, and Owen made clear he was speaking only for himself. But following a Supreme Court ruling earlier this spring on Initiative 1053, the Legislature is no longer required to pass tax increases by a two-thirds majority.
And with the Democrat-dominated House of Representatives convinced the state needs new revenue while the Majority Caucus remains dead set against any tax increase, Owen argues it may take hardball politics to break the logjam.

“I think that would have happened a lot more this session if the (Majority Coalition) wasn’t holding its members so tight,” Owen said.

Critics of the move to appoint GOP Sen. Don Benton to head Clark County’s Environmental Services Department were allowed by the Democratic chair of the county commissioners to be raucous and occasionally profane during more than two hours of public testimony on Monday night. Photo Courtesy of The Oregonian

The Republican majority on the Clark County Board of Commissioners was subjected to several hours of vitriol stretching into the early hours of Tuesday morning from liberals incensed by the appointment of longtime 17th District State Sen. Don Benton to head the county’s Environmental Services Department.

Commissioners Dave Madore and Tom Mielke agreed last week to offer the position to Benton, citing his 18 years in the Washington Legislature and work on countless environmental bills during that span.

The move infuriated Democratic Commissioner Steve Stuart, who complained the hiring was made without going through the usual process of advertising the position and interviewing multiple candidates. While the action does violate the county’s normal procedures, it doesn’t appear to break any laws.

That didn’t stop a two-hour parade of critics at Monday night’s council meeting from asserting otherwise, however.

“I don’t know if Don Benton is qualified — although it appears he is not,” Vancouver resident Bob Carrell told Madore and Mielke. “But the process should have been followed. You disrespected the process, you disrespected the county and you disrespected (Stuart).”

Former Clark County Human Resources Director Steve Foster agreed, noting that, “After 30 years of promoting open competition rather than cronyism to fill county jobs, I have to say that seeing this many people here to complain when that process wasn’t followed is very career-affirming.”

In all, an estimated 200 people — many of whom were allegedly recruited from Oregon — jammed into the commissioners’ chambers for a meeting that began at 6 p.m. Monday and ended around 12:30 on Tuesday morning. Public comments — normally the first item of business on the meeting agenda — were postponed until after a four-hour hearing on a plan to waive transit impact and development fees for potential Clark County employers.

Madore and Mielke, who voted for the change, said there was no reason to keep county staff members needed for the fee discussion until the end of what promised to be a long night of bitter testimony. But the perceived slight only fueled the anger of Benton’s critics — several of whom offered profanity-laced rants.

“It’s embarrassing to be a a resident of Clark County right now,” huffed Sunrise O”Mahoney.

“Don Benton isn’t qualified for this position,” agreed Peter Hodges. “This whole thing smacks of political favoritism.”

Helpfully, the meeting was chaired by Stuart, the board’s only Democrat, who urged those testifying to keep their remarks civil and asked the audience to refrain from applauding or interrupting the speakers. But he did nothing when witnesses swore at Madore and Mielke, accused them of criminal actions and demanded they resign or be recalled — while the crowd responded with boos, catcalls and standing ovations.

Former Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard called Mielke “stupid,” accused both of breaking the law and concluded by calling their actions “bull—-.”

Stuart, who had earlier threatened to end testimony if the comments turned abusive, took no action.

Madore and Mielke were not without their supporters, however.

“Don Benton has been re-elected so many times because the voters get it,” said Carolyn Crane. “He is a balanced, clear-thinking and well-grounded representative of both the people and the environment.”

“The Republican commissioners on this board were absolutely correct to do whatever they could to reverse the effect of the longtime liberal politicians and their cronies here in Clark County,” added Dick Stone. “They are fulfilling their campaign promises to reign in over-regulation, and I applaud them for that.

“Any environmentalist overseeing other environmentalists is no oversight at all,” he said.

“The idea that (Madore and Mielke) don’t represent the wishes of the voters is absurd,” said Christian Berrigan. “I voted for them — as did thousands of others — to advance a particular point of view, and they’re doing a fine job of it.

“Elections have consequences,” he continued. “Why on earth should anyone expect them to listen to people who don’t support what they and Don Benton stand for and ignore the wishes of the thousands of people who put them in office? I, for one, am delighted they’re doing exactly what they promised to do rather than acting like all the politicians who say one thing to get elected then govern differently once they get into office.”

Clark County Commissioner Dave Madore believes appointing longtime GOP Sen. Don Benton to head the county’s Environmental Services Department and abolishing a host of job-killing fees on employers will send a clear message that the county is open for business.

Clark County’s commissioners, the controversy over last week’s appointment of Sen. Don Benton to head the local Department of Environmental Services still ringing in their ears, are expected to further incense liberals tonight by voting to abolish a host of business-related fees and regulations in an effort to attract employers to the community.

“Unless we hear compelling arguments that we do not already know about, we will be voting to remove all job creator fees including traffic impact fees, development fees and building permit fees for any property that is zoned for business,” Commissioner Dave Madore wrote on his website last week. “The unprecedented move includes streamlining the permit process to speed the time to the bare minimum.”

Madore, serving his first time in office, has teamed with Tom Mielke to give Republicans their first majority on the board of commissioners in years. And they’ve moved quickly to impose a business-friendly, property-rights-respecting agenda, including naming Benton, the longtime GOP senator from Vancouver, to head the county’s environmental oversight department.

Benton’s critics insist he is unqualified for the job because his professional background is in advertising and marketing rather than environmental science. But Madore notes the position is largely political in nature and that Benton has spent many years in the Legislature dealing with land-use and environmental issues.

Don Benton

“Any dead fish can float downstream,” he said. “It takes a live, energetic fish to swim upstream. Don is one of those live fish that will go against the flow and do what’s right even when it’s unpopular.”

Benton was appointed last week to the $109,000-a-year post even tough it was never advertised and no other candidates were considered.

“We are very fortunate,” Madore said, “to have an available champion with ample experience in both the public and private sector ready to step up to maximize effective customer service provided by our outstanding staff. Don Benton is well qualified to breathe new life into this crucial department with ample qualifications as an experienced leader who knows how to help our team achieve great success.”

The combined impact of appointing an outspoken opponent of over-regulation to head the county’s environmental regulatory division and abolishing business-killing fees, Madore believes, will send a clear message to employers that Clark County is open for business.

“Our priority is to unleash free enterprise to get people back to work,” he said. “Please spread the word. If you have been waiting to launch or expand your business, the time is upon us. We can succeed in becoming a model for the Department of Ecology and champion local jobs so our community can prosper and thrive again. Let’s get our community back to work, and let’s do it now.”

Tonight’s county commissioner meeting will be streamed live on the Internet at 6 p.m. here.

When the King County Housing Authority responded to a public records request from Todd Hodgen by running a background check on him, he turned the tables by ordering a the browser records of the official checking up on him — and the results were an eye opener.

Whoever it was who said you can’t fight city hall obviously knew nothing about public records requests.

Bothell resident Todd Hodgen knew better when he filed an information request last month with the King County Housing Authority for some basic financial information and, in turn, found himself the object of a background search.

An information technology specialist himself, Hodgen subsequently noted that Mark Abernathy, the Housing Authority’s public records officer, had visited his LinkedIn page, indicating he had run a Google search on Hodgen’s name after receiving the information request — a clear violation of state law.

“Public records are just that — public,” said Tim Ford, open government ombudsman in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. “Anyone is entitled to request any information they please and the agency may not discriminate based on the identity of the requester. No one can be treated differently.”

Todd Hodgen

Washington state law, in fact, states that, “Agencies shall not distinguish among persons requesting records, and such persons shall not be required to provide information as to the purpose for the request except to establish whether inspection and copying would violate RCW 42.56.070(9) or other statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records to certain persons.”

The only exception, Ford noted, would be currently incarcerated prisoners seeking information about guards and prison personnel, which Hodgen obviously was not.

Hodgen, a member of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, could have filed a legal complaint against Abernathy and the Housing Authority at that point, but he had a better idea — filing a second information request for Abernathy’s entire browser history to determine who else he might be checking up on.

“I didn’t know at first who ran the Google search on my name, so I just requested the browser history of everyone in the agency,” Hodgen said. “I did that on a Friday, and by Monday morning I had an e-mail from the person who’d run the search suggesting we get together and work something out.”

That conversation led Hodgen to believe the bureaucrat might have reasons why he wouldn’t want his own records perused. And with good reason.

When the browser records were made public, it showed that Abernathy — whose official title at the Housing Authority is “risk manager” — spent nearly half his work day surfing the Internet instead of working.

“To my surprise, I found that during his eight-and-a-half-hour day, he spent over an hour and a half looking for new cars and RVs,” Hodgen said. “He spent another 45 minutes looking at sports pages, and for several hours he was researching diets, celiac disease, etc. In all, he spent just over half of his day actually working.”

Given the stiff competition these days for tax dollars, as well as the constant lament from public agencies about how under-staffed they are, Hodgen says his results prove conclusively just the opposite is true.

“There are 333 people working at the Housing Authority,” Hodgen said. “And they’re all being paid by the taxpayers. If one senior official is wasting this much time, how many more are doing the same thing? And how much is it costing all of us?”

He responded with a letter to Abernathy’s supervisor noting that, “My goal is not to create hardship for the individual whose browser history I had a chance to look at, but to point out to your agency that you have inadequate controls of the use of your resources — both network, computing and the labor that is assigned to them.  The taxpayers should not have to shoulder this expense, and quite frankly, much more is expected from the agency.”

Hodgen said he’s filed numerous similar requests over the years, in one case discovering that a Pierce County judge spent more  than three hours a day browsing knitting sites.

“It’s a very powerful weapon and I don’t use it all that often,” he said. “Just when I think there’s something wrong going on — or I want to punish someone.”

A provision in the transportation package passed by the Washington State Legislature last week would appoint a work group to study refinancing options aimed at keeping fares on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge as low as possible.

It isn’t as eye-catching as the bigger-ticket items in the package, but a component of the transportation budget bill passed by the Washington State Legislature last week calling for a work group to study refinancing options for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge could ultimately save toll payers millions on that project and be a model for others around the state.

During the 105-day session, 26th District Rep. Jan Angel (R-Port Orchard) said she offered numerous bills and amendments to reduce tolls on the Narrows Bridge, including selling naming rights, extending financing and returning toll-setting authority to the Legislature.

Jan Angel

Majority House Democrats defeated the toll-setting amendment and refused to allow her other bills to advance. However, a provision was placed in the final transportation measure, Senate Bill 5024, which would allow refinance options for the bridge to be investigated.

“We need to have something in place that would prevent tolls from increasing every year on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge,” she said. “Our economy is still very fragile and that is amplified by the federal sequestration cuts that deeply affect our military families in the Kitsap Peninsula who use the bridge. Many families still struggling in this economy rely on the bridge to get to and from work. We simply cannot afford higher and higher tolls.”

The provision in Senate Bill 5024 states: “The Joint Transportation Committee shall convene a work group to identify and evaluate internal refinance opportunities for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The study must include a staff work group, including staff from the Office of Financial Management, the Transportation Commission, the Department of Transportation, the Office of the State Treasurer, and the legislative transportation committees. The Joint Transportation Committee shall issue a report of its findings to the House of Representatives and the Senate Transportation Committees by Dec. 31, 2013.”

The state Transportation Commission voted last month to recommend a 25-cent fare hike beginning July 1, which would bring the price to $4.25 for electronic (“Good to Go”) tolling, $5.25 at the toll-booth, and $6.25 for pay-by-mail.

The tolls would increase by another 25 cents on July 1, 2014.

On April 19,  Angel introduced Amendment 386 that would have kept the Legislature in charge of toll- and ferry-fare setting authority as intended under voter-approved Initiative 1185.

The amendment was rejected. The final bill, which was sent to the governor Sunday, includes language that returns toll-setting authority to the state Transportation Commission.

“While we and the voters who approved Initiative 1185 lost that battle,” Angel said, “this new study will keep the discussion open and, hopefully, allow us to find ways during the 2014 legislative session to prevent future toll increases on the bridge. So I still see that as a victory.”

Angel, who is currently campaigning to fill the Senate seat vacated in November when Democrat Derek Kilmer was elected to Congress, said she reluctantly voted in favor of the transportation package because it continued construction on two new ferry boats, which her West Sound constituents also needed.

The state Transportation Commission has scheduled a final public hearing on the new toll rates for May 20 from 6to 8 p.m. at the Gig Harbor Civic Center, 3510 Grandview St.

The Legislature adjourned its regular 105-day session Sunday. Gov. Inslee has called a special session, beginning May 13, for the Legislature to complete its business of adopting a two-year state operating budget.

Port Orchard Republican Rep. Jan Angel is taking advantage of the two-week lull between the end of the regular session and the start of the special session to campaign in earnest for the 26th District’s Senate seat. With the Senate so evenly divided, what would ordinarily be an obscure, off-year special election will have huge implications for the state.

Twenty-sixth District Rep. Jan Angel wasted no time transitioning from governing to campaign mode on Monday, launching her active bid to claim the Senate seat left vacant in November when Gig Harbor Democrat Derek Kilmer was elected to Congress, succeeding longtime U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks.

Incumbent candidates are banned from raising money while the Legislature is in session, but Angel sent out an e-mail message to supporters early Monday — just hours after the regular, 105-day session adjourned and before lawmakers are scheduled to return on May 13 for a special session to hammer out a two-year operating budget.

“This week marks the official start of my campaign,” the Port Orchard Republican wrote. “Now that the regular legislative session is over I can ask you to donate to my Senate campaign.

“As a 26th District state representative,” Angel continued, “I put the constituents’ voices first in a number of key bills and resolutions. My priorities have been and continue to be creating jobs through promoting a business-friendly environment, building our future through education and keeping our district moving, healthy and safe. I believe that I can further advance these goals in the state Senate.”

Angel, midway through her third term in the Legislature after two terms as a Kitsap County commissioner, has never made any secret of her intentions to seek the Senate seat eventually and, when Kilmer announced his bid for Congress, she immediately served notice she planned to move up.

Knowing she didn’t intend to serve out her full two-year term in the House apparently didn’t phase 26th District voters, who re-elected her with more than 60 percent of the vote in November.

The district’s Democrats, meanwhile, appointed Gig Harbor emergency room physician Nathan Schlicher to serve the final year of Kilmer’s term, and he will be seeking the seat outright this fall. It isn’t clear whether any other candidates will join those two in the race.

In any case, with the Senate so evenly divided, this is more than an off-year election to fill one obscure seat. Currently, Democrats outnumber Republicans 26-23 in the Senate, but Republicans are able to wield considerable power anyway because a pair of fiscally conservative Democrats have opted to side with the GOP to form a so-called Majority Caucus.

A victory by Angel, however, would trim the Democrats’ margin to 25-24 and bring a true majority within reach in 2014.

“I’m running to help make sure our citizens have a good quality of life and can well provide for their families through good jobs and strong employment,” Angel wrote on her campaign’s website. “Good jobs and strong businesses are the foundation to economic prosperity through increased competitiveness and innovation. I want to help with good solutions for reform to limit government regulations that are continually imposed upon business. I am also running to help preserve the personal freedoms and the core values of our constitution that I believe we all hold dear.”