Editorial Page staff
The Seattle Times
Secretary of State | Attorney General
Secretary of State
The most important part of the job of secretary of state is managing the state's elections. Voters of Washington state have been well-served by incumbent Secretary of State Ralph Munro.
Even after four terms in office, he retains a reformer's enthusiasm for improving electoral processes. Munro, a Republican, was an early and effective advocate of the so-called motor-voter law that allows people to register to vote when they get their driver's license. The law passed in this state and subsequently was approved by Congress, leading to increases in voter registration.
Munro also has been a leader in using new technology to inform voters. Under his guidance, computer kiosks have been installed at shopping centers throughout the state for use by citizens seeking information about candidates and ballot issues.
Democrat Phyllis Kenney brings energy and seriousness to her attempt to unseat Munro, a difficult task for any challenger. Her personal history as the daughter of migrant workers and her long association with community colleges and social issues adds to her appeal as a political candidate. She has raised some important issues in the campaign, including the cost of elections and the confusion over the open primary ballot and the way some ballots were counted. Those are refinements that the incumbent can address, however, and probably with more force and experience than Kenney could.
Attorney General
Attorney General Christine Gregoire, a Democrat, is another incumbent who deserves to be returned to office. In her first term, she has demonstrated that she has both the legal and leadership skills to adeptly manage what is essentially one of the state's largest law firms.
Gregoire's long career in public-service law and public-policy administration has served her well. She was an assistant and later deputy in the attorney general's office and headed the state's Department of Ecology the last three years of the Booth Gardner administration. In that post, she negotiated the tri-party agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency regarding cleanup of Hanford. Now, as attorney general, she's uniquely qualified to protect the state's interests at Hanford as federal dollars become ever more scarce.
Gregoire has reduced costly state lawsuits by pushing alternative methods of resolving legal disputes. She has energized volunteers to supplement the work of the Consumer Protection Division, saving both consumer and taxpayer money.
Republican Richard Pope lacks the experience to be considered a serious challenger. He is a 34-year-old Shoreline family-law attorney best known for suing his alma mater, the University of Washington. He challenged the UW's collection of Social Security for its employees and his own assessment for out-of-state tuition. He eventually lost on appeal and still owes the state $8,000 in costs assessed against him.
Gregoire is one of the smartest, most effective elected officials of either party and deserves re-election.
