Brad Klippert

Although voters have had a chance to breath with Tuesday's "top two" primary fully out of the way and early August's hot weather long gone, such is not the case for all of the candidates seeking legislative positions here in Washington. With votes continuing to come into county auditors by mail, the outcome of a handfulof races across the state are still up in the air.

In the 8th Legislative District, a normally Republican House seat long held by the retiring Rep. Shirley Hankins (R-Richland), the sole Democrat in the race, Carol Moser, is the only candidate so far to ensure her spot in the general election. That is because the Republican side of the primary was crowded with four candidates who split the vote almost equally.

The House Democratic Campaign Committee, the arm of elected state Representatives that  works to increase the size of their caucus, recently gave Richland Democrat Carol Moser a contribution of $20,000 in her bid to replace the retiring Rep. Shirley Hankins (R-Richland) in the 8th Legislative District, the Tri-City Herald's Chris Mulick reports.

"That was a nice gift, wasn't it?" the candidate told Mulick.

Considering that Democrats in the 8th District have been regularly and roundly defeated by margins of at least 30 points in the past fifteen years, it really is.

Republican Skip Novakovich, a Kennewick businessman, has said that he will formally announce his candidacy for retiring Rep. Shirley Hankins' seat in the 8th District in the coming weeks.  

He joins Rick Jansons, Brad Klippert and Steve Simmons in the race. Novakoviach, who had worked on many of Hankins' campaigns in the past, was critical of their decision to  toss their hats in before she officially decided to retire last week.

“I’m kind of surprised, really,” Novakovich said. “It’s almost like a slap in the face to her. She’s making a tough decision.”

Chris Mulick at the Tri-City Herald got the story and has more details here. 

After months of teasing the press about whether or not she would run for re-election to at 13th term, the Tri-City Herald reports that Rep. Shirley Hankins has announced that she will indeed retire. During the last legislative session Hankins was the third longest serving member in the House.

Her exit leaves four candidates in the race for the 8th District seat, Republicans Brad Klippert, Steve Simmons and Rick Jansons, and Democrat Carol Moser.

As reported by Chris Mulick, the 8th District race for House position 1 is getting some unexpected drama. Well, drama considering the district is a full-fledged Republican hotbed where Democratic opponents struggle to get one third of the vote.  read more »