Politicians rush to file candidacy papers

By Meg Olson

If you have your eye on the oval office, this is the time to climb onto the political ladder. This is candidate filing week and political hopefuls need to file with the county auditor or the secretary of state by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, July 26.

While this election has few local positions up for grabs, it’s an action packed slate on the federal and state level.

Freshman Democrat U.S. Representative Rick Larsen is up for re-election and will face a good fight from the Republican side. Republicans Herb Meyer and Norma Smith are both after Larsen’s seat, as well as Libertarian Bruce Guthrie. A very visible member of Congress, Larsen has strong support, if dollars are any indication. So far in this campaign he has pulled in over a million dollars in contributions, according to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Smith has reported $200,000 in campaign contributions and Meyer just over $100,000. Guthrie has not yet filed with the FEC. The salary for the position is $150,000 a year and the fee to file is $1,500.

All three state legislators for the 42nd district are up for re-election: Senator Georgia Gardner (D) and representatives Kelli Linville (D) and Doug Ericksen(R) have all indicated they intend to run again. They have plenty of competition.

County sheriff Dale Brandland (R) and Peter Tassoni with the Green Party have all filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) for Gardner’s position. Point Roberts lawyer Tom Prescott (R) is still listed with the PDC as a candidate but he has said he does not intend to run.

Ericksen has only one opponent so far – James Boyle. Linville faces competition from Micheale Reilly and former Blaine council member David White, both republicans. The salary for the position is $32,801 and the filing fee is $328

Locally, unless you’ve been to law school only one position is open on the Public Utility District board. For members of the bar, county prosecutor David McEachran and district court judges Ira Uhrig and Edward Ross are up for re-election.

Candidates wishing to jump into the fray can either file to run against Larsen at the secretary of state’s office in Olympia or file online at www.secstate.wa.gov.

Filing for 42nd district positions and local positions is done at the county auditor’s office at the court house in Bellingham. For more information, call 676-6742..

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