SEATTLE — Sprinting through the final days of a bitterly contested re-election bid, Gov. Chris Gregoire called on some heavy Democratic star power Friday with a visit from former Vice President Al Gore.
Gore’s Seattle stop was billed partly as a talk on the environment, the issue that has fueled the 2000 Democratic presidential nominee’s rise to worldwide prominence, including winning a Nobel Peace Prize.
But it also was a cold political calculation: Gore headlined a 1,500-person fundraiser for Gregoire, the lone incumbent Democratic governor in America who could be tossed out of office this year. Her campaign said it expected to raise about $350,000 from the event.
After winding through a broad speech that bounced from detailed environmental science to international relations to the current presidential race, Gore told the packed hotel ballroom that Gregoire’s environmental priorities are part of the formula needed to solve his signature issue, global climate change.
“We have everything we need to do it, save political will,” Gore said. “But political will is a renewable resource. Let’s renew it by re-electing Gov. Chris Gregoire.”
In her own speech, preceding Gore’s, Gregoire criticized Republican challenger Dino Rossi and promoted her record on environmental issues — particularly climate change. Washington recently joined other states and Canadian provinces in the Western Climate Initiative, a proposed regional market to trade carbon emissions credits.
Gregoire acknowledged the closeness of her re-election race, and urged those in attendance to give money and get out the vote in Washington’s mostly vote-by-mail election, which already is under way and will culminate Nov. 4.
“My friends,” Gregoire said, laughing, “it is time for this campaign to come to an end.”
Rossi, a former state senator, is running close with Gregoire in the polls, and finished within 2 percentage points of her in the August primary. Their contest is a rematch of the 2004 governor’s race, which Gregoire won by just 133 votes after two recounts and a Republican court challenge.
This year’s race has been bruising, with millions of dollars in campaign contributions and harsh attack advertising on both sides. The candidates have smashed records for running the most expensive campaign in state history, with about $20 million total raised between them.
Just before the Gore event, Gregoire and Rossi were publicly calling each other liars, part of a protracted fight over whether Gregoire is sufficiently wary of a state income tax.
Gregoire has said an income tax is an idea worth examining, but adds that Washingtonians clearly don’t want to adopt one. Gregoire has not directly pushed a state income tax as a policy matter.
Rossi has jumped on her statement, tying it to his overall criticism of Gregoire’s record on taxes and spending. The state enjoyed relatively good financial times during most of Gregoire’s first term, but is now facing a projected $3.2 billion deficit in the next two-year budget. Both taxes and spending increased under Gregoire and the ÂDemocratic-controlled Legislature.
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