ISSAQUAH — Republican Dino Rossi announced Thursday he is going to take on Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire next year, setting up the rematch that’s been expected since the last election.
“Washington state needs new leadership for a new era, and that journey starts today,” Rossi told a crowd of about 500 at Village Theater, where he launched his last bid for the job.
The next year of campaigning will be a long trip, but “we will reach our destination. Our destination is a new state government that exists to serve the people and not serve itself,” Rossi said.
Gregoire, a former three-term attorney general and state ecology director, is running for re-election, but doesn’t plan to formally announce until after the 2008 legislative session. She has raised $3 million and enters the race with the power of incumbency.
“I’ve got more to do on education. I’ve got more to do on health care. I’ve got more to do on economic development,” she told reporters Thursday following a speech to the Dairy Farmers of Washington. “We can talk politics. We can talk campaign after the legislative session.”
Rossi, 48, came close to winning the governor’s mansion in 2004, apparently leading after the first two counts, only to lose in a hand recount by 129 votes. He later lost a court challenge aimed at forcing a fresh election.
Republicans haven’t won the office since John Spellman became governor in the Reagan landslide year of 1980. Democrats also hold strong majorities in both houses of the state Legislature.
Rossi’s announcement ended months of GOP anxiety over his hoped-for candidacy. He has a clear path to the party’s nomination in the Aug. 19 primary.
In his hour-long kickoff speech, Rossi hammered on Gregoire’s record, saying the Democrat has failed to show leadership on key issues and is beholden to the Olympia establishment.
“The only buck that is sure to stop at her desk is a campaign contribution,” he said.
Rossi portrayed Gregoire as presiding over out-of-control government spending, and warned that a deficit looms in 2009. Claiming that Gregoire would solve a shortfall by raising taxes, he said: “I have a better answer: Control spending.”
Gregoire, told by reporters of the general critique, said since she’s taken office a budget deficit is now a surplus, unemployment is at its lowest level and spending on education is at its highest.
“We’re headed in the right direction,” she said. “Are we better off today as a state than we were three years ago? You bet we are.”
On his campaign Web site, Rossi says Gregoire must be held accountable for raising taxes as governor after she said while campaigning that she would not.
Gregoire said voters affirmed keeping an estate tax in place to help pay for schools and raising the gas tax to improve safety on the roads.
“The people are saying yes to what we’re doing. If he wants to stay out of step with the people of Washington, that’s his choice,” she said.
Rossi said that he’s upbeat about his chances in 2008, even if it’s a tough year for Republicans.
At his rally, Rossi choked up a bit when referring to his close 2004 loss to Gregoire, but declared his new campaign was about the future.
“We aren’t going to get the job done by looking in the rearview mirror,” he said, asking supporters to double the last election’s fundraising and organizing efforts.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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