Patricia Terry

Patricia TerryThe 10th Legislative District Democrats Executive Board met on Saturday to determine their official slate of endorsed candidates for the "top two" primary on August 19. Notably, they chose to give a sole endorsement for state House, position 2, choosing party nominee Patricia Terry (D-Camano Island) outright over fellow challenger Ann McDonald (D-Greenbank).

The top Democrat in the "top two" primary will likely advance to the general election along with the incumbent, Rep. Barbara Bailey (R-Oak Harbor).

This is what the LD10 Democrats had to say about their endorsement of Terry:

"Patricia Terry, a 30-year Registered Nurse, performance evaluator, regional manager (West/Far East) quality oversight with the Department of Defense, and Masters degree in Public Administration makes her an especially attractive Candidate."

The 10th Legislative District held its nomination meeting Thursday night at Skagit Valley Community College in Mt. Vernon where they officially endorsed Patricia Terry over Ann McDonald for the Democratic nomination for state House, position 2. The official weighted PCO count was 220 for Taylor and 13 for McDonald.

The District also nominated Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen for re-election to the Senate and Tim Knue for state Representative, position1.

Monday was the deadline for reporting April contributions and expenditures for campaigns here in Washington. Now that six months remain until election day, PolitickerWA.com will begin a monthly rundown of the financial status of the state's top races.

Here is how things stand as of April 30, 2008. The first number listed is contributions, the second number is expenditures and the third number is the difference between the two. Precluding any unusual circumstances, that third number is equal to cash on hand. The candidate with the most cash on hand is listed at the top of each section.

As Legislative Districts around the state move to nominate candidates for local offices before their party conventions, many are running into a fresh problem. With the recent decision by the United States Supreme Court to uphold Initiative 872, better known as the "Top Two" Primary, the party nomination process has been turned on its ear, leading some local LDs to openly buck state party rules.

No longer is it up to party voters to decide who their candidate is in races like those for State Representative since the "Top Two" primary ballots do not allow for partisan sections and labels. Still, that ruling does not mean the Parties will just sit idly by and allow their candidates to be chosen for them.

Instead, they have been forced to come up with new nomination processes. Now, at least in the Democratic Party, is up to a small cadre of party activists at the LD level made of up Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) who have been both elected and appointed to those pots.

But not all party officials have come on board. In the last week and a half, two Legislative Districts' Executive Boards have voted to eschew the party rules and are choosing not to officially nominate any candidates at the State Representative level.