The Chelan County judge assigned to hear the lawsuit over the governor's election removed himself from the case yesterday after Franklin County attorneys took him up on his offer to have him bounced, no questions asked.

Judge T.W. "Chip" Small wrote a letter Monday to attorneys in the case, which names all 39 counties and their election directors, outlining his potential conflicts to help them decide whether he should hear the case. He said any party to the suit that didn't want him to continue need only contact his court reporter and request a recusal. The court reporter would not tell the judge which party asked for the move.

Republicans and gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi filed the lawsuit in Chelan County Superior Court last week. They said because of errors in the vote count, Democrat Christine Gregoire's victory should be thrown out and a new election called.

When a scheduled hearing yesterday in the case began 45 minutes late, Judge John Bridges appeared rather than Small.

Bridges read a short letter that had come from Franklin County asking Small to recuse himself, said Dale Foreman, the Republican Party's local counsel in the case.

The county's attorney could not be reached for comment. Other officials said they did not know the reasoning for the move.

Bridges yesterday approved a motion allowing the Democratic and Libertarian parties to join the case.

The change in judges also caused a week's postponement in a preliminary hearing originally scheduled for tomorrow.