Local News

A bill would forbid lawmakers from adding money to cover any Highway 99 cost overruns in a forthcoming state transportation plan. It would also reinforce the earlier spending limit of $2.4 billion in state funds, approved in 2009 when the Legislature chose a deep-bore tunnel to replace the fragile Alaskan Way Viaduct. Any day now, the Senate is…

While you were obsessing over the State of the Union or Deflategate, Washington state politics moved forward. Here’s what you may have missed: 1. Seattle City Councilmembers Nick Licata and Tom Rasmussen to retire 2. Truth Needle: GOP leader is right, Inslee polluter list tags UW, WSU 3. On Muslim Lobby Day, Muslim residents march through…

Susan Hutchison Former KIRO TV news anchor Susan Hutchison has been re-elected as chairman of the Washington State Republican Party. Meeting in Skamania County over the weekend, GOP state committee leaders unanimously picked Hutchison for a two-year term, according to a party news release. Hutchison will serve through January 2017. She was first elected in 2013…

Yakima Herald-Republic Republican Clint Didier has formally conceded the race to Dan Newhouse for Washington’s 4th Congressional District seat. Newhouse, also a Republican, was projected to win the race since Nov. 7, but Didier, a tea party ally, said early last week the campaign was still counting ballots and hoping for a recount. Since then, Newhouse has…

The Associated Press SPOKANE — Republican U.S. House candidate Clint Didier has dropped his federal lawsuit against a volunteer for his opponent’s campaign over an alleged misuse of state resources. Didier had originally sued opponent Dan Newhouse, also a Republican seeking the House seat from central Washington, plus Newhouse’s campaign and volunteer Christopher Voigt, who is the…

Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, has written a letter to a state ethics board alleging that Gov. Jay Inslee acted improperly when pulling back state troopers last month who were escorting grain inspectors into the Port of Vancouver. The question of trooper escorts has come up in the middle of a protracted contract battle between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) at the…

On Tuesday, we wrote about a GOP campaign mailer calling a Democrat state Senate candidate too Republican for his district. Today, we’ve got a brand new mailer. This time, the state GOP mailer praises its own candidate, Mark Miloscia, for “standing up to the party bosses and out-of-touch politicians.” Wait, what? Is the state Republican Party developing self-loathing issues? Actually,…

JZ Knight Two years ago, the state Democratic Party was shamed into giving up $70,000 in donations from JZ Knight after videos surfaced of the Yelm mystic — who claims to channel the 35,000-year-old warrior “Ramtha” — making offensive comments about Mexicans, Catholics and other groups. But Knight’s money is OK by the Thurston…

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee’s moratorium on capital punishment is a misuse of executive power, said Sen. Steve O’Ban, University Place Republican and chair of the Senate Human Services and Correction committee. “The Governor abused his power of clemency and has co-opted the role of the Legislature,” O’Ban said at a news conference with Republican lawmakers….

Joan McBride, the former mayor of Kirkland, will run against Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom as a Democrat in this year’s top-two primary election. Democrats have said they plan to target Tom, D-Medina, because he crossed party lines last year to help give Republicans control of the state Senate. Senate Democratic Leader Sharon Nelson on…