No, I don’t mean that it’s dark and cold. I mean there is a feature story in The Seattle Times with a headline that reads:
“Can state GOP find a way to come back?”
They do a nice job of highlighting the GOP woes at the state level….
The House GOP turnover and embarrassments can’t help:
• Rep. Richard Curtis, R-La Center, Clark County, resigned in November amid allegations that while at a Republican legislative conference in Spokane, he had sex with a man who later tried to blackmail him.
• Rep. Jim Dunn, R-Vancouver, was reprimanded and kicked off his committees last month after making an inappropriate sexual remark to a female staffer.
• Rep. Shirley Hankins, R-Richland, earlier this month agreed to pay a record settlement to the state for violations related to promoting her daughter’s business.
• Rep. Fred Jarrett, of Mercer Island, recently defected to the Democrats, saying Republicans were no longer a good fit. He plans to run for the state Senate.
Also, over the past several months, three other GOP members have either resigned or said they plan to run for another office in 2008.
Rep. David Buri, R-Colfax, Whitman County, resigned in November to work for Eastern Washington University. Rep. Chris Strow, R-Freeland, Island County, left the Legislature earlier this month to work for the Puget Sound Regional Council. And Rep. Joyce McDonald, R-Puyallup, has announced plans to run for the Pierce County Council in 2008.