Drug charges, bankruptcies and other personal troubles litter the backgrounds of local political candidates around Washington, according to court records and interviews.

Eric Strawn, who is challenging the incumbent mayor in the Thurston County city of Tenino, was one who had a string of legal issues several years ago. There was a theft charge, then a bankruptcy, then a guilty plea for drug possession in 2002 which led to a 90-day jail sentence - with most of it suspended.

Strawn said he's glad to discuss his past troubles. He plans to have a copy of his criminal record on the table of a future political event so that voters will have a chance to review it and ask questions.

"We're all human here. People do actually make mistakes in their past," Strawn said. "I've overcame them. A lot of people like comeback stories."

Strawn's case, along with a variety of others, was identified by a nonpartisan group called Candidate Check, which conducts background checks on politicians and vetted a sampling of hundreds of candidates on the ballot for this month's primary. Here's a look at some of the other cases verified by AP in interviews and a review of court documents:

- Frank Jaime, who has been on the Wapato City Council for three years and is on the way to re-election, acknowledged that he has been charged with assaulting women on three occasions over the years, most recently in 2007. He was found not guilty each time, and he argued that the women were just trying to get him in trouble.

"I have nothing to hide because I didn't do nothing wrong," Jaime said. He filed for bankruptcy last year.

- Kari Ilonummi, who is running for mayor in the Snohomish County city of Arlington, had troubles for trespassing and driving with a suspended license. He said he pleaded guilty to a drug possession charge because he was using marijuana for a medical condition before he had a chance to see a doctor and get a prescription. He now has one.

Ilonummi said he's glad the background check is raising the issue.

"We need transparency. There're a lot of secrets and a lot of games (in politics). We need people aware of what they are getting," said Ilonummi. "It's not like I have a campaign sign that says, `I'm a former jailbird.' But I've brought it out openly on several occasions."

David Doud, who founded Candidate Check in Bellevue last year, said their background searches found that about 30 percent of candidates had some sort of history in public records - spanning from minor civil disputes to more serious criminal charges. He noted that the private sector regularly conducts background checks before hiring employees and said his wife recently was asked for a background check to volunteer at church.

"This is done everywhere, yet we don't do it at all in the political process," said Doud, who hopes the project proves that there is a real problem that voters may not know everything about the people we are electing to office.

Doud doesn't plan on making regular checks of candidates but instead hopes candidates come to him as a sort of seal of approval - proof for voters that they have been vetted. He hopes the business becomes a friend of candidates, many of whom have clean records.

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Associated Press Writer Mike Baker can be reached at http://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP