The First congressional will have an election at the end of this year and it will be in the old boundaries. That means residents who live in the current first district (me and about half the county) will vote for a member of congress in two different districts.
The first will be the one to temporarily replace Jay Inslee, who resigned as congressman to run full time for governor. The other will be to vote for the replacement for Norm Dicks, who retires at the end of this term.
So if you’ve ever wanted to be a member of Congress, but two years is just too dang long, this could be your chance to fill in temporarily, get a decent little salary, free mail and a travel allowance.
The governor’s press release follows.
CHRISTINE O. GREGOIRE
Governor
STATE OF WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNORGov. Gregoire calls election for 1st Congressional District Vacancy
Election will fill seat in existing 1st Congressional District for month of DecemberOLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced she has called for an election to fill the vacancy in the 1st Congressional District. The U.S. Constitution requires the governor to order an election to fill a vacancy during a congressional term.
The special vacancy election for the current 1st Congressional District will be on the same schedule and the same ballot as the regular primary and general elections, as required by state law. The primary election will be held Aug. 7 and the general election will be held Nov. 6.
“It is important that the people of the 1st District have representation, especially in December when key votes on matters that affect our state may need to be cast,” Gregoire said. “Washington state will need to have full representation in Congress.”
The special election to fill a vacancy in the current Congress falls in a year when new districts have been drawn for the next Congress. This means that candidates to fill the vacancy will be on some of the same ballots as candidates for newly drawn district seats. New congressional boundaries are drawn every 10 years, and the boundaries proposed by the citizen redistricting commission were accepted by the Legislature and become effective for elections for the new congressional terms that begin on January 2013.
If Washington conducted a special election using the new 1st District boundaries, the House of Representatives could decide not to seat the person elected, according to a memorandum by the General Counsel to the House of Representatives Committee on House Administration. The memorandum notes that if new district boundaries were used to elect a representative for the remainder of the current Congress, it would mean some voters in the old district would have no representative for the remainder of the term while other voters who were previously part of another congressional district would be represented by two members of Congress, possibly violating “one-person, one-vote” constitutional principles.
“I am concerned about the voter confusion that could result,” Gregoire said. “This is an unusual situation where an election to fill a vacancy occurs in a year of redistricting. The result is some voters will cast a ballot in the current 1st District for the special vacancy election and will also cast a vote in their new district for their next representative in Congress. I’ve asked the Secretary of State to work with county election officers to pursue an aggressive voter education campaign so constituents understand the votes they are casting. I also ask the media to help educate and inform the public in the existing and new 1st Congressional Districts.”
“I support the Governor’s decision to allow voters of the 1st Congressional District to fill the remainder of Rep. Jay Inslee’s term by holding a special election in conjunction with our regularly scheduled primary and general election,” said Secretary of State Sam Reed. “The winner of the full two-year term will be chosen by the voters of the newly redistricted 1st District, but the short term must be filled by the voters of the old 1st District who elected Jay Inslee. We will work with the affected counties to explain this situation clearly.”
I feel like Lou Costello—whose on first?
Oooops.. I meant Who’s on first.
Steven Gardner for Congress;-)
Disclaimer, this endorsement and any and all support for the above candidate will expire permanently after 30 days from the swearing in.
So Steve is on first ? What ?
@Mick, it is a little bit of an inside joke based on a conversation I had with Steven after the last Bremerton City Council retreat. I am just having some fun with him (smile)
ha Colleen , missed my humor .
So Steve is on First was reference to Lou Costello comment about about WHO on first above . Then Lou would say in the routine “what” and Lou would say “who” , and Bud would say First Base . It goes on for about 10 minutes of total confusion spaking aboutthe whole team and positions . . Actually quite funny the first 10 times you listen to it .
Kind of a American treasure . especially for us guys .
I was trying to be funny , no one got it . The story of my life . ;o)
Don’t beat yourself up too much, Mick. That joke a few months ago about signs I may or may not have was pretty funny.
Easter Sunday front-page Gardner article on Inslee says in the opening sentence ” . . . 1 million dollars seems like a lot of money.” Steve: $1M is a lot of money, what’s with the qualifier of “seems.” Who you, Mitt Romney?
@James,
In this field we mostly refrain from absolutes. I’m allowing that there may be someone out there who doesn’t think $1 million to stage an election in one-ninth of the state is a lot of money. I might think it is or isn’t, but what I think doesn’t matter. You might think it is or isn’t and you’re free to say so.
Steven Gardner
Kitsap Sun
@Steven,
I must say that free speech is a wonderful thing and I am always glad to see Mr. Olsen express his version.