Grange wants nonpartisan offices

OLYMPIA — The state Grange, still hoping to scuttle Washington's unpopular "pick-a-party" primary-election system, is promoting a plan to make all of the state's political offices nonpartisan, including governor and seats in the Legislature.

A key lawmaker said Thursday the plan is dead on arrival in the Legislature.

The politically active farm-based organization was the original sponsor of the state's popular "blanket primary," which for decades allowed voters to choose their favorite nominee for each office, without regard for party label.

Federal courts threw out the system, saying it unconstitutionally infringed on political parties' rights to determine their own nominees without outside interference. The Grange hit back with a successful 2004 initiative to allow the top two vote-getters for each office to advance to the general election, regardless of party. The courts threw out that, too, and the Grange is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Thursday, the group announced a new tactic: legislation to get around the legal objections to a blanket-style primary by simply leaving party labels off the primary and general-election ballots. Voters could again pick their favorite for each office, and parties would be free to recruit, finance and publicize their favored candidates, Grange President Terry Hunt said.

Essentially, this would mean nonpartisan elections, such as the state already uses for the judiciary, and which many local governments use for offices such as Seattle mayor, city councils and school boards.

Legislators could still organize by party and Olympia would run much the same way as always, said Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, the prime sponsor in the Senate.

Voters have never gotten over their fury at being told they must restrict themselves to one party's slate of candidates, he said. The state has used a Montana-style "pick-a-party" primary since 2004 while the legal challenges have unfolded. About 100,000 ballots were spoiled in last year's primary because voters did not fill them out properly.

"One party doesn't have the monopoly on the best ideas and people want to choose from among all the people running," Sheldon told a news conference. Sheldon is a conservative Democrat who was elected as a Mason County commissioner as an independent and has backed Republicans, including 2004 gubernatorial nominee Dino Rossi and President Bush.

But Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, chairwoman of the committee that handles election bills, said the Grange plan will be bottled up.

"I support a 'top two' primary, but there is no way this could pass, so why should I even hold a hearing on it?" she said in an interview.

The political parties and key legislators have previously resisted nonpartisan elections, and even Grange leaders said it's a longshot at best this year.

If the Supreme Court doesn't restore the "top two" system voters approved by 60 percent in 2004, the Grange can push an initiative next year, Hunt said.

Final briefs were filed with the high court Tuesday. Few cases are accepted for review, but Don Whiting, the Grange legislative director, estimated this case has a 50-50 chance of being heard. The Grange may hear something before the Legislature adjourns in April. An appeal would be argued in the September term and a decision could be expected in 2008, he said.