When they are starting to call you grid-Locke, you'd better forget the political correctness business, and start coming up with solutions that WORK, not wishful thinking.

Will Foreman run for governor? GOP chairman to announce Thursday whether he'll face Hochstatter in primary By Dan Wheat, World staff writer

WENATCHEE -- Republican State Party Chairman Dale Foreman says he will announce Thursday whether he will run for governor.

And he says he was surprised by fellow North Central Washington Republican Harold Hochstatter's announcement Thursday that he is running for governor.

"It was a real surprise. I had no idea he was contemplating it. But that's fine, competition is good," said Foreman, of Wenatchee. "He has a very good voting record and is a good man. So I'm glad to see someone is willing to tackle (Democratic Gov.) Gary Gridlocke (Locke)."

Foreman, 51, has been considering running since narrowly losing an eight-way Republican primary for governor four years ago. He said he has the support of most of the state's Republican establishment, including U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton and U.S. Reps. Richard "Doc" Hastings and Jennifer Dunn.

Foreman said the primary convinced him Locke can be defeated. He said 39.3 percent of votes cast were Republican ballots, 37.3 percent were independent ballots and 23.4 percent were Democratic ballots.

"And a vast majority of the independent ballots went for McCain or Bush, not Gore or Bradley," Foreman said. "So this primary was a rout for Democrats. It shows how weak the Democratic ticket will be in the fall."

Foreman said if he runs it will be against Locke, not Hochstatter, a state senator from Moses Lake.

And Hochstatter, 62, said he likes Foreman and can't imagine their race getting ugly.

Hochstatter said he's been thinking about running since last fall because he wants to take power away from administrative bureaucrats and return it to elected officials. "It's not a Republican-Democratic thing," he said. "It's a separation-of-powers thing."

He said he was also concerned Locke might go unchallenged.

"I thought my party should be embarrassed we didn't have anyone out there sooner," Hochstatter said. "We had a candidate a year-and-a-half before this last time.

"Dale is not as scrappy as I am. I think he would like to have not gone through the pain of a primary, but I have nothing to lose. I need a primary. It's just a different viewpoint. I think the party and voters profit."

-- Mark Stilson (mark842@hotmail.com), March 06, 2000

Answers

I think it is highly likely to force him to move to the center, away from his Seattle liberal roots. What else it will do? It's too early to tell. If Gore doesn't win Seattle by a huge margin, he may well lose the state. Do coat-tails mean anything anymore?

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Monday, March 6, 2000 Foreman will challenge Locke for governor ASSOCIATED PRESS and KIRO 7 EYEWITNESS NEWS

OLYMPIA (AP) -- State Republican Chairman Dale Foreman will announce his bid for governor on Thursday.

The former House majority leader wasn't talking Monday, but sources close to the campaign said Foreman has definitely decided to take on Democratic Gov. Gary Locke. They said the announcement will occur at the Capitol on Thursday, and that he'll have the pre-primary endorsement of Sen. Slade Gorton, Reps. Jennifer Dunn and Doc Hastings and other top Republicans.

"I thought so," Locke said when told that Foreman is jumping in.

Foreman, 51, came close to winning the GOP nomination four years ago, and has been Locke's most persistent critic ever since.

On election night last November, after voters gave landslide approval to tax-revolt Initiative 695, Foreman called it a repudiation of the governor, who strongly opposed the measure, which cut state and local revenues by $750 million a year by eliminated the car tax.

Foreman also noted Locke's opposition to other popular ballot propositions, including spending limits, property-tax relief, transportation funding and rollback of government affirmative action programs. On key issues of the day, Locke is out of step with the voters, he said.

Foreman is a Harvard-educated lawyer who has a law practice in Wenatchee and operates an orchard, all while running the state party. He grew up in Seattle, the son of a Seattle Pacific University professor and a church organist. He and his wife, Gail, have three children.

He served in the state House four years, two in the minority and two in the majority after the "Republican Revolution" gave the GOP a big majority. He left his safe seat in 1996 to run for governor and finished second, to Ellen Craswell, in a crowded primary field. Craswell lost to Locke in a landslide.

For the past three or four months, Foreman has been weighing his options, at times seeming ready to back away from the race and at other times raring to go. He told close advisers of his decision over the weekend and was calling supporters on Monday to give them advance word of his announcement.

After the presidential primary last week, Foreman said in an interview that the results were encouraging for all Republican candidates in the state. A plurality of voters, more than 39 percent, took Republican ballots and many more voting for GOP candidates on unaffiliated ballots, he said. Less than 25 percent took a Democratic ballot.

"I think George W. Bush will be the nominee and will have powerful coattails," Foreman said.

Steve Sego, one of Foreman's campaign advisers, said Monday that no one knew until the last 48 hours what Foreman would decide.

"He has definitely laid the groundwork to do this for almost the last four years," he said. "He has sliced it and diced every possible way, and knows that there are no guarantees."

Sego called Foreman a "fierce competitor" taking on "a very quiet incumbent" who has little to show for his term in office. Polls show Locke to be personally popular, but support is thin when voters are asked about the governor's position on issues, he said.

"He is very beatable," Sego said. "The economic times are good, but there is some dissatisfaction and some outright frustration with his position on issues, whether it is on ballot issues or working in Olympia on education, property taxes, transportation and reform, such as privatization.

"He hasn't done anything to connect with where the voters seem to be heading."

Blair Butterworth, the governor's campaign adviser, said Foreman's entry is no surprise. "He's been dying to do this for four years," he said in an interview.

He complained about Foreman's "slash-and-burn" style and added, "It will be a tough and competitive, unpleasant perhaps, campaign."

Locke will take Foreman seriously, taking nothing for granted, Butterworth said. Craswell was "terribly marginalized," but still managed to get 41 percent of the vote, he said. "If she could do that,, the Locke campaign will take any challenge seriously."

Locke plans to make his formal re-election kickoff next month, and raised about $600,000 last year before a fundraising ban went into effect. The governor and legislators are forbidden to raise or solicit money during the session or 30 days before and after the session.

Locke spent about $2.3 million in his last campaign and would like to raise about $3 million this year, Butterworth said. Sego said Foreman will need at least $2 million to be competitive.

Republican state Sen. Harold Hochstatter of Moses Lake announced his candidacy last week, but the Foreman camp didn't sound worried. A third Eastside Republican, state Rep. Jim Clements of Selah, previously has said he would defer to Foreman.

-- (craigcar@crosswinds.net), March 06, 2000.

The state surplus continues to grow under Gov. Locke. Republicans are their own worst enemies, promoting policies of exclusion and division.

It is true that Gov. Locke is out of step with the voters. But, when was the last time Dale Foreman sided with the middle class at the expense of business interests? Foreman and the Republicans are out of step, too.

As for a Bush landslide in the fall, it's possible, as Gore has the charisma of a wet rag. But, Bush is a real rat, and, therefore, out of step with the middle class. Most people I know would rather see the social security retirement age restored to 65, not raised to 70. How is Bush going to sing and dance around that?

Offering tax breaks to the very wealthy is not the highest priority of the voters.

-- Matthew M. Warren (mattinsky@msn.com), March 07, 2000.

"Offering tax breaks to the very wealthy is not the highest priority of the voters. " Unless you are going to go with a reverse income tax, it's about all you can do. They pay a lot more of the taxes than anyone else.

-- (zowie@hotmail.com), March 07, 2000.

to Zowie: Not true. There are a variety of tax breaks one can offer working stiffs (like me). For example, the social security (plus medicare) tax could be lowered from 7.65%. Since both the worker and the business pay an equal amount, the lowering of the tax would benefit both.

Another potential tax break would be to eliminate the federal excise tax on gasoline, since the working poor (not like me) pay a disproportionate share of their income compared to those of us with higher incomes.

So, as usual, you are wrong. There are billions in tax breaks which would benefit ALL workers immensely.

-- Matthew M. Warren (mattinsky@msn.com), March 08, 2000.

Matt-

I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Alworth is correct: Matt- You're an idiot and not worth further response.

Mikey

-- Mike Alworth (m_alworth@olympusnet.com), February 22, 2000.

I will defer to his better judgement, and just not respond to you in the future.

zowie

-- (zowie@hotmail.com), March 08, 2000.