Local News

Gov. Chris Gregoire wipes away tears after giving her last State of the State address on Tuesday. Her husband Mike is behind her. (Photo by Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)

Gov. Chris Gregoire reflected on a tumultuous eight years in office during a Tuesday farewell speech before a joint session of the  Legislature.

Delivering her final State of the State address as part of an emotional and ceremonial day, Gregoire recapped accomplishments and challenges before concluding that Washington is “the greatest state in the nation.”

The Democrat made just two requests of the lawmakers crammed into the state House chambers: increase funding for education and transportation, in part, through raising taxes.

“Today is the day,” Gregoire said. “Now is the time. We must invest in our children and their future.”

But the governor spent most of her speech running through a laundry list of achievements, from investing in broadband Internet and combining several programs to create a state Department of Early Learning, to investing in clean energy and legalizing same-sex marriage.

She emphasized transportation, noting that $16 billion in construction projects were approved in her tenure — the most in state history.

“We — not the next big earthquake or windstorm — are knocking down the old (Alaskan Way) Viaduct, the 520 bridge and the Columbia River Crossing Bridge and we are building the future of the great state of Washington.”

But the governor also focused on budget cuts and what caused them — “the worst economic calamity since the Great Depression.”

“You were tested,” Gregoire said. “I was tested. This was not what I expected. It wasn’t what anybody expected. But we stepped up.”

Gov.-elect Jay Inslee, a fellow Democrat, will be sworn in Wednesday.

Before Gregoire’s speech, the Legislature recognized three other state officials leaving office: eight-year Attorney General Rob McKenna, 12-year Secretary of State Sam Reed and 20-year State Auditor Brian Sonntag.

Others attending the address included former Gov. Mike Lowry, King County Executive Dow Constantine and the fiancee of Washington state trooper Tony Radulescu, who was fatally shot in February during a traffic stop.

Good Morning.

Abortion talk meet abortion fact: All that election season chatter about abortion missed an important factoid that just emerged. Data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and reported by the Washington Post, show the abortion rate has hit an all-time low in America. Irony of ironies, more effective contraception, not the economy is cited as one possible explanation.

So you signed the Grover Norquist tax pledge? For the longest time, anti-tax crusade Grover Norquist has had a hold on most Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C. That grip may be easing, as another lawmaker, a conservative one, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, tells Norquist, in essence, That was then and this is now.

Chambliss is merely the latest to distance himself from Norquist. Norquist was not happy about the Chambliss announcement.

Secretary of State
Sam Reed

Secretary of State revels:  You can practically hear Secretary of State Sam Reed yelling from Olympia, “I got it right, I got it right.” The it is the 2012 general election turnout rate, now standing at 80.91 percent, which if you use your mathematical powers, rounds out to 81 percent turnout. Bingo. That’s the exact number Reed predicted well before the election.

Update:

King County officials on Sunday urged voters not to hand their ballots over to strangers.

The only way to guarantee a ballot will be counted is to mail it or drop it off at an offical King County elections site, said Democratic King County Executive Dow Constantine, joined by Sherill Huff, the county’s elections director.

“We are strongly advising citizens if they want to be sure their ballot is counted, don’t hand your ballot over to someone you don’t know,” Constantine said.

Huff said she had received complaints from residents, concerned about people going door-to-door collecting ballots. The effort is part of a Republican get-out-vote push. King County Republicans have also set up 10 collection vans in suburban parts of the county.

It’s not illegal to collect ballots for delivery, Huff said. Nor is there anything wrong with giving your ballot to someone else. Church and community groups commonly collect and deliver ballots, Constantine said. The danger lies is dealing with someone you don’t know, he said.

Secretary of State Sam Reed issued a statement Sunday saying “We strongly discourage such activity, but it’s not illegal.”

Democrats mounted similar efforts in previous elections.

Original post:

Democrats are calling on Secretary of State Sam Reed to denounce a new King County GOP get out the vote tactic they say violates state law.

The “GOP Victory Van program,” announced last week, includes 10 locations where voters can drop their ballots. Staffers at the sites, paid $10 an hour by the King County Republican Party, are promising to deliver the ballots to official county ballot drop-off centers. The staffers are also offering to turn in ballots while going doorbelling at Republican households.

The GOP is touting the program as a way to boost turnout.

“This is called get out the vote,” said Kirby Wilbur, chairman of the Washington State Republican Party. “We’re trying to get every last vote we can.”

Democrats say the tactic is over the line.

“This initiative is as ill-considered as it is unprecedented,” Kevin J. Hamilton, a Washington State Democratic Party attorney, wrote Saturday to Secretary Reed. “There is a reason why nonpartisan election officials conduct our elections and the prospect of having partisan operatives collect voted ballots and return them to the elections office is chilling indeed.”

Reed did not immediately return telephone and email messages Sunday seeking comment.

In a news release, King County officials said the county “strongly discourages giving possession or responsibility for ballots to anyone other than USPS or official King County Elections drop locations.”

County Executive Dow Constantine, a Democrat, and Elections Director Sherril Huff held a news conference in West Seattle this morning to advise voters not to give their ballot to anyone they don’t know.