By Kevin Hanson
The Courier-Herald
Voters will head to the primary polls Tuesday for their first encounter with a new system that controls their selection process.
This is the first chance to cast ballots since the courts tossed out Washington's popular blanket primary. When voting Tuesday, citizens will have to declare which party's ballot they desire. Gone are the days of voting for a Democrat in one race and a Republican in another.
Once they get past declaring a party preference, voters will fact an interesting slate of primary decisions.
There are no local races, as Plateau communities and school districts are set until the next election cycle. And the 31st Legislative District's incumbents, Dan Roach and Jan Shabro, are running unopposed.
The only strictly-local decisions will be for voters in Fire District 12, which sits between Buckley and Bonney Lake, operating out of headquarters on 234th Avenue East, and the city of Buckley.
District 12 is asking voters to bump their tax rates to a previously-approved level of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. While that level of taxation had once been authorized, tax-limiting measures have eroded fire districts' ability to collect. For that reason, fire boosters argue the Tuesday measure isn't a request for "new" taxes, but a reauthorization of a former tax rate.
If passed, it will cost District 12 property owners 57 cents per $1,000 of property value. That works out to $108 annually on a property (home and land) valued at $200,000.
The city of Buckley is hoping voters will reauthorize, for six years, a tax levy of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. The money is earmarked solely for emergency medical services.
The city has been collecting at a rate of 39 cents per $1,000, so passage of Tuesday's measure would mean an additional $22 annually on property valued at $200,000.
The following are a few of the major races to be determined in Tuesday's primary.
€ U.S. Senate: Democrats will choose between incumbent Patty Murray, Warren Hanson and Mohammad Said. Republicans will favor George Nethercutt, Reed Davis, Brad Klippert, Gordon Pross, William Chovil, Carol Cassady or Chuck Jackson.
€ U.S. House of Representatives (filling the seat being vacated by Jennifer Dunn): Democrats will pick either Alex Alben, Dave Ross or Heidi Behrens-Benedict. Republicans will choose from Conrad Lee, Dave Reichert, Diane Tebelius or Luke Esser.
€ Governor: Democrats will see six names, but the only two with broad familiarity are Ron Sims and Christine Gregoire. The Republican field has just three names, and Dino Rossi is the party's hand-picked favorite. The Libertarian Party has two candidates, Michael Nelson and Ruth Bennett.
€ Attorney general: For the Democrats, it'll be Deborah Senn of Mark Sidran. Republicans will choose between Rob McKenna and Mike Vaska.
€ Superintendent of Public Instruction: This is a non-partisan race, so everyone gets to help narrow the field. There are six hopefuls, but the two generating interest are incumbent Terry Bergeson and former SPI Judith Billings.
Kevin Hanson can be reached at khanson@courierherald.com.
