John Gotts

Shakespeare's Juliet once pondered, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet." But in politics, does the same rule apply?

Washington's new "top two" primary is giving candidates a chance to find out whether or not the Republican Party, by any other name, would smell as sweet.

By and large the party preferences statements have been very predictable. Most candidates say that they "prefer Democratic Party" or "prefer Republican party", along with a few Greens and Constitution Partiers. The most common variation on the filing list is between Republican and GOP, two terms that are synonymous for the same thing.

Eastern Washington added a second Democratic candidate in as many days yesterday when White Salmon businessman John Gotts called the Tri-City Herald to announce his run for Doc Hastings' seat in the 4th District.

Gotts told the Herald that he is a "very, very, very pro-business" Democrat who has gone back and forth between the two major parties in his adult life, voting for George W. Bush as recently as 2000 but now supports Barack Obama and American troop withdrawal from Iraq.