Linda Lingle

Hawaii governor Linda Lingle, a Republican who was first elected in the Democratic-leaning state in 2002 after a narrow defeat in the 1998 gubernatorial race, will headline a fundraiser for Dino Rossi and the Washington State Republican this Wednesday in Bellevue. Lingle's is a story the Rossi campaign undoubtedly hopes to align itself with this year after narrowly losing the 2004 race.

Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was originally slated to keynote the event, but he is staying home to help coordinate disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. He will address the audience in a video, instead.

Fundraising has been going well for Rossi lately. The campaign has just announced its 44,000th donor of the cycle, and it brought in $1.27 million during the month of August, their best month yet.