Booth Gardner

Larry Faulk is hoping for a political comeback.  He was first elected to the State Senate back in 1966, at age 30.  He lost his seat four years later when Democrat Booth Gardner defeated him.  Faulk late ran for Pierce County Executive and lost to Gardner, who later became Governor.  Now at age 72, Faulk is mounting an uphill race for Senate in District 27 against incumbent Debbie Regala.

If Christine Gregoire, now trailing Dino Rossi in a Rasmussen Reports poll released today, loses her bid for re-election to a second term, she will be the first incumbent Governor to get tossed by the voters since Republican John Spellman lost to Democrat Booth Gardner in 1984.  Four years earlier, Democratic Gov. Dixie Lee Ray lost the Democratic primary to now-U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, who went on to lose the general to Spellman -- and the '84 primary to Gardner.

The Catholic Church is active in every anti-choice activity it can get its hands on, but given the controversies surrounding the abuse within the Church, perhaps, for once, they ought to keep their hands off.

The AP calls it assisted suicide, but the right to die, or aid in dying, or death with dignity, ought to be a personal choice that Washingtonians make for themselves – without being told what to do by the government or by the Associated Press.

OLYMPIA -

Volunteers and staffers for the I-1000 Death with Dignity campaign gathered on the capitol steps today to turn in 320,000 signatures in support of their cause, nearly 100,000 more than the 224,800 needed to gain ballot access, more than half of which were gathered by volunteers. 170,000 of the signatures were collected for free compared to 150,000 by paid signature gatherers.

The supporters sat around 50 strong on the steps while opponents of the measure, who refer to it as assisted suicide, had a little over 30 gathered on the sidewalk below. Many of them were repeating prayers and singing songs in solidarity.

Former Gov. Booth Gardner speaks to I-1000 supporters: Politicker Photo

The deadline for turning in signatures to place an initiative on the November ballot is July 3, and three big campaigns are gearing up to take their “oughta be a law” ideas directly to the people.

Leslie Brown writes a profile of former Governor Booth Gardner's fight for the I-1000 "Death with Dignity" campaign in the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber. Gardner keeps a summer home on Maury Island. In it, Brown details the struggles Gardner goes through on a daily basis balancing the hard work of campaigning and fundraising on behalf of the initiative while also dealing with the debilitating effects of Parkinson's disease.

"My health is unusually good," Gardner tells Brown. "But I'm pushing myself pretty hard."

Read the full story here.

Spokesman-Review's Richard Roesler is reporting that I-1000, the death with dignity initiative, is a real cash cow. The supporters of the initiative have raised $900,000 with contributors from all fifty states, $215,000 of which came from Oregon's Death with Dignity interest group. But they seem to need all that money given that they have spent nearly $600,000 on consultants, fundraising and signature-gatherers.

The article also provides copies of fundraising letters from former Gov. Booth Gardner, who is a leading spokesman for the I-1000 group, and from opposition leader Chris Chandler of Spokane.

Although the formal campaign has yet to launch, people are talking about former governor Booth Gardner’s death with dignity initiative.  read more »