The dailies all give extensive coverage to Dino Rossi's entry into the 2008 gubernatorial race and Gov. Chris Gregoire's response. (Gregoire has said she'd announce after the legislative session, although no one doubts that she's running.) Most of the stories touch on the expected themes of what will be a long campaign season.
The Spokesman-Review:
... Gregoire spoke to reporters in Olympia and said she's proud of her three years in office. A $2.2 billion state-government shortfall has moved to a $1.5 billion surplus on her watch, and the state's made key investments in education and health care, she said.
"All we have to do is ask ourselves: Are we better off as a state today than we were three years ago?" she said. "You bet we are."
Rossi countered that the state's economy might be good for big business in Washington, but the state is still seeing a high number of small business failures. Boeing and Microsoft are doing well, he said, because in the strong national economy people are buying airplanes and software.
"The national recovery has spilled over onto the state," he said. "She's taking credit for things she has nothing to do with."
Ralph Thomas in the Seattle Times has fun with numbers.
Rossi, a former state senator and budget writer, used a lot of numbers to show Washington is on the wrong track.
He pointed out that, under Gregoire, state spending has increased more than 30 percent and more than 6,000 people have been added to the state payroll. He said the state "has no idea where more than 1,300 sex offenders are," referring to offenders who have failed to register with the state. He pointed out that two-thirds of the state's 10th-graders fail to pass all portions of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.
But there are other numbers that don't bode well for Rossi, including:
• 4.8 percent: Washington's unemployment rate last month, a slight increase from the historic low rate set last spring.
• Fifth: Where Forbes Magazine recently ranked Washington on its list of "best states for business."
• $1.5 billion: The state's latest projected budget surplus for next year.
• $3 million: The amount of money Gregoire has raised already for her 2008 campaign.
• 27: The number of years since Washington voters elected a Republican governor.
Also good stories in The News Tribune, the Herald, and the Olympian.
