campaign kickoff

State Rep. Dennis Flannigan (D-Tacoma) will begin his campaign for re-election to a fourth term in the 27th District Wednesday, but the event is not just about him. Checks will be written and speeches given, as at any campaign kickoff, with the key difference being that Flannigan's kickoff is a fundraiser not for his campaign, but for the victims of the recent earthquake in the Szechuan province of China.

The proceeds raised will go to the Mianyang relief fund, set up by the city of Tacoma through Columbia Bank. Mianyang is a "friendship city" with Tacoma. Flannigan is known for his culinary campaign gatherings, and is so far running unopposed in the heavily Democratic 27th District. 

U.S. Rep. Rick LarsenU.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Arlington) announced today that he will kickoff his campaign for re-election to a 5th term in Congress with events in each of the 2nd Congressional District's five counties next week. It has been well known that Larsen would seek another term, but beginning Tuesday in Mount Vernon, it will be official.

Larsen's opponent, Republican Rick Bart (R-Arlington), began his campaign last month.

See the full schedule for Larsen's kickoff here.

John LadenburgAt his official campaign kickoff last Monday, Democratic candidate for Attorney General John Ladenburg began his speech by talking about opening his first office as a trial lawyer in South Tacoma. He mentioned how he worked with tribes and blue collar folks from the neighborhood and boasted that he was one of the first lawyers around to work on behalf of battered women. 

Ladenburg still lives in blue collar South Tacoma, the neighborhood where he grew up. He even gets his haircut at the same barber shop on 56th and South Tacoma Way that he has been going to for thirty-odd years. It's just one of the ways that he keeps up with the local issues, and the gossip around town.

"I represented people in the neighborhood," he said.