Say What?!

Gregoire orders special election in old CD-01, could cost $770K.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012 | 12:55 p.m.

Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) said on April 2 that "a special election" to replace ex-Rep. Jay Inslee (D) "will be held in the old boundaries" CD-01 and "it may cost taxpayers as much as" $770K to conduct. "Gregoire said state law and the Constitution require she call an election even though the winner will serve less than a month."

"The past several days she's been trying to figure out if she could conduct" the election in the new CD-01, "but it became clear the U.S. House would not seat the winner of a special election unless they won in the same district that Inslee served." Gregoire, in a statement: "I am concerned about the voter confusion that could result. ... The result is some voters will cast a ballot in the current 1st District for the special vacancy election and will also cast a vote in their new district for their next representative in Congress. I've asked the Secretary of State to work with county election officers to pursue an aggressive voter education campaign so constituents understand the votes they are casting" (Cornfield, Everett Herald, 4/2).