 |
RANDY STAPILUS The View from Here |
I'm hesitant to draw any conclusions about this, and I won't - for now at least. But.
Of the three Northwest states, Washington and Oregon are the more competitive politically - look at their legislatures - and Idaho has not been.
But Idaho has had talk surfacing repeatedly in the last few weeks about contested elections coming up for major office next year. The rumors swirl about the offices of governor and U.S. representative in both districts.
Not really much of anything in Washington or Oregon. Dead silence.
Well, you can ascribe a little of that in Washington to the fact that one of the major contests in the state - for mayor of Seattle - is just now hitting its climax, and maybe more discussion and interest will emerge after that. And in the months to come, the matter of control of the state Senate will become a truly heated subject, no doubt.
And in Oregon a fair amount rides on whether Governor John Kitzhaber runs again, and he's indicated he won't say until fall. (Although there is some talk that a Republican contender may emerge in the next few weeks.)
Maybe it's just varying conditions, and there's nothing more to say about it.
But at the moment, Washington and Oregon aren't looking really thrilling.