UPDATE 2: The (Tacoma) News Tribune published a statement by Simpson, part of which reads:

As a state legislator, I remain strongly in support of erring on the side of protecting potential victims with our laws and their enforcement – even when, in situations like mine, it can result in unwarranted charges. I am confident that once the facts come to light I will be exonerated.

UPDATE: Richard Roesler at the Spokesman-Review has a synopsis of the police report and a link to it. The domestic violence incident comes from an argument over taxes Simpson had with his ex-wife. Not surprisingly, his version differs from hers.

From earlier: Here’s the first blast about the arrest of State Rep. Geoff Simpson, who was the primary sponsor in the house to build a NASCAR speedway, which as you may recall would have been right at the gateway to Mason County, or the gateway Kitsap County, depending on which way you’re traveling.

WA lawmaker charged with assault

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ A Democratic state representative is charged with assault in an alleged domestic violence incident.

Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-Covington, was arrested Sunday after King County sheriff’s deputies got a 911 call at around noon.

Sheriff’s spokesman Rodney Chinnick says Simpson was booked into the King County jail, but the jail has no record of Simpson being in custody. Chinnick refuses to provide more details.

Covington’s prosecutor says Simpson is no longer in custody. He’s been charged in King County District Court with fourth-degree assault and interfering with a domestic violence report.

In a statement, Simpson says the charges are unwarranted, and he predicts he will be exonerated.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

If he has been charged, then there must be a probable cause statement. The details of that should be forthcoming.

Simpson was the primary sponsor of the NASCAR bill, primarily because bill supporters could not find a single Kitsap legislator to take the lead. Had Jan Angel been in the Legislature, as she hopes to be in 2009, she certainly would have signed on.

Simpson took some heat for being the lead on this. It got him a little piqued, but he didn’t back down.

In case you’re interested, here was the final blog entry dealing with the Legislature’s actions on the NASCAR proposal. It was one of the last speedway posts while this site was “Tracking the Speedway.”

Here is the story that followed the e-mail trail.

On March 15 Appleton exchanged e-mails with Simpson in response to Simpson’s forwarding of a pro-track editorial written by the News-Tribune’s Dan Voelpel. Appleton referenced the annexation issue. “Bremerton is in Kitsap County but the track would be built in an area non-contiguous to Bremerton. (so sorry, Mr. Mayor).”

Simpson responded in part, “Since none of your stated concerns seem to be valid, I’m left with the impression that your opposition is nothing more than nimbyism.”

Appleton countered that Murphy did not agree with Simpson and argued against using the “full faith and credit of the state.” She asked to “agree to disagree.”

Simpson came back with, “I’m stunned that you apparently have not bothered to learn the most basic details of the proposal. Nobody has ever proposed to use the ‘full faith and credit’ of the state. Mike Murphy, the self-proclaimed greatest Treasurer in the United States, clearly did not understand the proposal either when he testified before the House Finance Committee. The more he spoke, the better NASCAR looked.”