Candidates off and filing

Sign-ups for the 2008 elections are under way.

Candidates are filing their paperwork in the offices of county auditors and the Secretary of State and online. The filing period continues through Friday.

One of the first to act – Democratic Congressman Norm Dicks. He issued a two-page press release this morning declaring the obvious – he’s seeking to return to the job he’s held since 1977.

Here’s a link to the Secretary of State page where you can see many of the early filings..

For Snohomish County filings go here. (Note info will be posted at noon and 5 p.m.)

A guy who wants to be in Congress, former Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart, e-mailed a press release declaring his candidacy on the Republican ticket. He’s taking on incumbent Democratic Congressman Rick Larsen.

Here’s Bart’s statement:

“This campaign for Congress is going to be about trust; about getting things done and about leadership. When I became Sheriff, I learned quickly to gain and keep the trust of the people. Without it, the Sheriff’s office has nothing. All of our authority comes from the people and Congress is no different! Without our trust, Congress has nothing. Their authority comes from the people they serve.

“Right now, most people don’t trust Congress. Why? Because nothing is getting done and our problems are going unsolved. They are not only going unsolved, they are getting worse! They are not working together to solve those problems. Instead, Congress keeps hiking our taxes, gas prices continue to soar, and record numbers of Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure.”

Our country is a nation that consumes too much, saves too little and has to borrow huge amounts of money from abroad to finance our fiscal and trade deficits. Both political parties must begin to work together to solve this crisis now! The finger pointing and political posturing of the past several years has done nothing to resolve this very real threat. Inaction by Congress is threatening our quality of life.”