Local News

Susan Hutchison (KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES) Update 3:30 p.m. Added comment from King County Republican Party chair Lori Sotelo. The surprise resignation of state GOP Chairman Kirby Wilbur has sent a flurry of text messages and emails flying in Republican circles, as party activists chat up possible successors. One name that has emerged is…

Washington State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur resigned Monday, announcing he is taking a job with a conservative group in Washington, D.C. Wilbur, a former conservative talk radio host, was elected to lead the state GOP in 2011, and was re-elected earlier this year despite a mostly dismal 2012 for local Republicans. In a news…

As Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn battles to get through a mayoral primary this summer, Seattle public television station KCTS-9 is airing a conversation with five men who know what it’s like to succeed — and fail — at City Hall. “The Mayors” – a one-hour special, premieres at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Hosted by KCTS-9’s…

WASHINGTON — Speaking collectively, seven congressional Democrats from Washington on Tuesday pressed the Justice Department for quick action on the state’s recreation-marijuana law. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the lawmakers — including three who personally opposed last year’s pot initiative — urged assurances that pot users and sellers won’t be “penalized by…

The Seattle mayor’s race is heading to the small screen. Mayor Mike McGinn’s re-election campaign has locked in $24,300 in cable television ads — the first candidate to make a TV buy ahead of the Aug. 6 mayoral primary. The 30-second ads will run on a variety of cable channels from July 5 to Aug. 5, according…

WASHINGTON — With the federal government mere months away from possibly breaching the debt ceiling yet again, Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle and Sen. Barbara Boxer of California are proposing to withhold lawmakers’ paychecks until they vote to raise the borrowing limit. The two Democrats on Wednesday will roll out their Pay Your Bills or Lose…

One early measure of the Seattle mayoral race is the fight for endorsements from the city’s Democratic legislative-district organizations. The groups of liberal activists, crammed into community centers, schools and union halls, provide an early sounding board and organizing heat-check for candidates at a time when few voters are paying attention. So far, Mayor Mike McGinn has come up…

A new KING 5 poll finds Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn with 22 percent support for re-election, with a trio of rivals scrapping to emerge as his leading challenger. The SurveyUSA poll of 552 registered voters was conducted over the weekend — just after city Councilmember Tim Burgess announced his withdrawal from the race. Former City Councilmember…

An Eastern Washington tea party group says it was among those targeted by the Internal Revenue Service for extra scrutiny when it applied for nonprofit status. Organizers with the Tri-Cities Tea Party said they received two rounds of detailed questionnaires from the IRS after seeking 501(c)(4) status in 2010. Radphord-Leon Howard, one of the group’s leaders, said the…

  Tim Eyman (Photo: Aaron Jaffe / The Seattle Times) Anti-tax activist Tim Eyman was paid nearly $112,000 for his initiative-campaign work last year, according to reports filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC). And he’s kicking off his latest initiative with a personal loan of $250,000. Eyman says his compensation came from fundraising appeals that explicitly…