Locke signs bill to cancel primary

OLYMPIA — Gov. Gary Locke on Tuesday signed legislation making Washington the seventh state to cancel its 2004 presidential primary.

Locke, who pushed the one-time-only cancellation through a special session of the Legislature on Friday, called it a common-sense move to save at least $6 million by skipping a "useless election."

The governor said the money will be better spent on education, health care or other pressing needs at a time when government has had to trim spending everywhere.

Locke noted that Democrats are using Feb. 7 caucuses to allocate their national convention delegates, and that Republicans already have their nominee — President Bush — and thus don’t need a primary either.

"To me, it would have created more cynicism among the public to go ahead with an election that neither party would use," he told reporters.

Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, the initial sponsor of the cancellation bill, called it "a win for the taxpayers."

Rep. Kathy Haigh, D-Shelton, chairwoman of the House elections panel, said, "We don’t lose a thing, since neither party will use the results."

The measure, House Bill 2297, sailed through the House 84-7, but almost died in the Senate when all but one of the majority Republicans locked up against it. In the end, all 24 Democrats formed a coalition with the Senate president pro tempore, Shirley Winsley, R-Lakewood, and passed the bill by the slimmest possible margin.

Critics said the cancellation cuts average voters out of the loop and caves in to the political parties’ desire for ultimate control over the nominating process.