Mark Mays

Mark Mays5th Congressional District Democratic nominee Mark Mays went on the air today with his first set of radio advertisements of the campaign. The two ads will run for a week on Spokane radio stations KQNT, KEYF, KJRB, KIXZ, and KISC, and the campaign hopes to expand the buy later in August. Both ads look to introduce Mays to voters and target the voting record and campaign statements of incumbent Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Colville).

"While we think that Cathy is a good and decent person, we believe that her votes in Congress are detrimental to the voters and the residents of the 5th Congressional District in Washington State," Mays said in a press release announcing the advertisements.  "The policies of the Bush Economy are eliminating what was the middle class in America, and the divide between the haves and the have nots has grown even larger during her watch.  Cathy has voted with President Bush 96% of the time."

Mark Mays (D-Spokane) will give his campaign for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' (R-Colville) 5th Congressional District seat a boost this month when he goes on a listening tour of the Eastern Washington district. His tour, similar ones of which were popularized locally by former Republican Rep. George Nethercutt in 1994 and nationally by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), will start this week in the southeastern corner of the district.

Mays will hit Dayton, Clarkston and Pullman on Wednesday, July 9, 2008. Full details can be found in the campaign's press release.

The filing deadline for Washington's candidates for public office ended last Friday afternoon. The full list of filers can be found here at the Secretary of State's website. The Tacoma News-Tribune has also compiled the same list, but theirs is worth including because they denote the incumbent in each race, if applicable.

As with any filing period, there are a few surprises in terms of candidates who filed without formally announcing beforehand, but nothing major. Gov. Chris Gregoire is still seeking re-election, and Dino Rossi is still challenging her for a second time. Attorney General Rob McKenna and Democratic challenger John Ladenburg both remembered to get their paperwork in well before the deadline. The top races in the state before last week will remain the top races going forward.

SPOKANE - Positioning himself as a moderate Democrat, 5th District U.S. House candidate Mark Mays made his presence known at the Washington State Republican Party Convention today. Volunteers for the campaign visited the parking lot across the street from the convention center and dropped fliers off on the windshields of every car touting Mays as "a clear, moderate alternative to the current Representative."

Mays, who is running against Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, said of her in an accompanying press release, "My opponent supports the War in Iraq, has voted for the Patriot Act repeatedly, has voted to create the largest Federal Budget in U.S. History, has refused to defend the Constitutional Balance of Power, and has voted with President George W. Bush 95% of the time. She does not represent the views and values of the people of Eastern Washington."

Former Spokane Valley City Council candidate Jennie Willardson (D-Spokane Valley) announced her intention to run for Congress in the 5th District, according to Jim Camden. Willardson joins Democrat Mark Mays in challenging the incumbent, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Willardson says on her website, "It is going to take a woman to win agains a woman and I am that Democratic woman.an to win agains a woman and I am that Democratic woman."