Pam Roach blogs. Who knew?
With Obama comes the changing of the guard.
The word is that democrat Congressman Adam Smith (WA-9) will be stepping up to a spot in the Obama administration. That leaves his congressional seat up for grabs. But, no grabs here.
State Senator Tracy Eide (D-Federal Way) may just have a lock on Adam Smith’s seat. Republicans will have to fight for it after Eide gets the appointment.
Huh. For a woman who wants to run for King County Elections Director, you’d think she might want to avoid showing off her total ignorance of, you know, elections. Vacant house seats aren’t filled by appointment; they’re filled by special election. It says so in the Constitution.
Well, I don’t remember her as being knowledgeable about much so it doesn’t surprise me that she knows nothing about the state constitution.
David, it’s not the state constitution that mandates special elections for House vacancies — it’s the Constitution of the United States.
Article I, Section 2, Clause 4:
Mebbe Roach figgers anythin’ that cain’t be solved with a pistol ain’t worth solvin’.
Roach makes Palin look wise and enlightened.
Like her or not..try reading what she is doing to help a child trapped in the system.
Give Pam credit. One of the few Republicans that’s not shrinking like a wallflower in the face of the total failure of right wing ideology.
Limbaugh will be touting her next.
Wait, but is the part about him leaving for the Obama Administration true or not? That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Something tells me it’s about as accurat as the other things in her post.
Um, the State Constitution reads:
SECTION 15 VACANCIES IN LEGISLATURE AND IN PARTISAN COUNTY ELECTIVE OFFICE. Such vacancies as may occur in either house of the legislature or in any partisan county elective office shall be filled by appointment by the county legislative authority of the county in which the vacancy occurs: Provided, That the person appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative district, county, or county commissioner or council district and the same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has been vacated, and shall be one of three persons who shall be nominated by the county central committee of that party, and in case a majority of the members of the county legislative authority do not agree upon the appointment within sixty days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within thirty days thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for herein, appoint a person who shall be from the same legislative district, county, or county commissioner or council district and of the same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has been vacated, and the person so appointed shall hold office until his or her successor is elected at the next general election, and has qualified: Provided, That in case of a vacancy occurring after the general election in a year that the office appears on the ballot and before the start of the next term, the term of the successor who is of the same party as the incumbent may commence once he or she has qualified and shall continue through the term for which he or she was elected: Provided, That in case of a vacancy occurring in the office of joint senator, or joint representative, the vacancy shall be filled from a list of three nominees selected by the state central committee, by appointment by the joint action of the boards of county legislative authorities of the counties composing the joint senatorial or joint representative district, the person appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative district and of the same political party as the legislator whose office has been vacated, and in case a majority of the members of the county legislative authority do not agree upon the appointment within sixty days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within thirty days thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for herein, appoint a person who shall be from the same legislative district and of the same political party as the legislator whose office has been vacated. [AMENDMENT 96, 2003 House Joint Resolution No. 4206, p 2819. Approved November 4, 2003.]
@8:
The 9th CD is a Federal, not state, office, and thus would be covered by Federal law.
But then I doubt if Adam Smith is going anywhere at the moment.
More than mere law, palamedes … the Constitution.
I agree with you, though, that Smith isn’t about to get a position in the next Administration. If any WA Representative does, it’ll be Jay Inslee — in Interior or Energy.
The long excerpt from Shapz does bring up a related point.
What if Ron Sims takes a position with the Obama Administration, e.g. in HUD? His position was just made “nonpartisan”, so would all those “of the same party” considerations still hold?
Goldy,
Before you sound off you might want to get it right.
RCW 29A.28.041 spells out how a US House seat is filled in case of a vacancy in this state, and RCW 29A.28.030 has provisions for the US Senate seat vacancy.
These procedures vary from state to state. Qualifications for office are spelled out in the Constitution.
If you remember Dan Evans was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of Scoop by our governor, but in Missouri the wife filled the vacancy caused by the death of her husband.
In California Sonny Bono’s wife filled his US House seat after he died in a skiing accident.
The process for filling a vacancy is a local issue for each state to develop how they proceed in filling vacancies.
@12. No, you get it right.
Goldy is absolutely correct that the U.S. Constitution requires that no state is allowed to fill U.S. House vacancies by appointment. Period. The RCW you mentioned is the corresponding procedure to carry out the U.S. Constitutional requirement of a Special Election. You mentioned examples of a Senate seat and a governor’s seat, neither of which apply.
Roach’s ignorance of the most basic election law (the Constitution!) which she would have to follow is pretty stunning. As is her apparent misreading of today’s Joel Connelly column.
Hey Goldy, apparently La Cucaracha doesn’t merely write a blog … she reads other blogs.
Here’s what the paragraph you quoted says now:
Nothing remains about Eide getting “appointed”, and she goes into some (correct) detail about the process.
I note also that in later paragraphs, Pam misspells the name of 30th LD State Rep Mark Miloscia. Twice. (At least she gets it wrong in the same way each time.)
Well Auburns finest take a look at this provision in RCW 29A.28.021:
For other partisan offices,including federal or statewide offices, an individual shall be appointed to fill such vacancy by the state central committee or comparable governing body of the appropriate political party.
That is not from the Constitution. That is an appointment not an election. Explain how Sonny Bono’s seat was filled by his wife. This issue is far more complex that just “the constitution”.
The above provision is only used for death or disqualification. If Smith leaves his seat to take an appointment the seat would remain vacant until a special election is held.
Bottom line is that there are times when a vacant US Senate seat or a US House seat can be filled by an appointment. RCW 29A.28.021, 29A.28.030, and 29A.28.041.
Try reading they even have books in Auburn.
@15, I guess I just disagree with you that a state code can override the U.S. Constitution. But that’s just my simple, Auburn attitude I suppose.
I hope you will go and look up whether Sonny Bono’s seat was filled by a nomination or an election. (Hint: I’m right and you’re wrong.)
The actual bottom line is that there is no situation in which anyone can be appointed to a seat of the U.S. House.
The constitution mandates an election and only election as the means of replacing House members. There was actually a campaign to amend the Constitution after 9/11 to allow for appointment of House members in the case of an attack that might wipe out a significant number of the Reps, such as bombing of the Capitol during session. The founders created the House to be accountable to the people without exception and created the Senate to be unaccountable (All U.S. Senators were appointed by state legislatures until passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913).
Goldy:
Watch what you say about Pam Roach. I hear she packs a piece.
Look at it from a bigger perspective. Roach being in the race is a GODSEND to Democrats. She can’t win in King County.
Pretty unlikely that the Rs actually want Roach to run, rather Roach wants to run for herself. Can you imagine Toby Nixon, a reasonable guy, working this hard to have Pam Roach discredit the idea of making this an elected position?
The only Rs who probably want her to run would be in the Senate as this would be a chance to move her somewhere else.
Rs would probably back partisans like David Irons or Joe Fain well before Roach. Either would have a much better chance of winning than her and both are well connected in King County politics can raise money and aren’t as controversial.
Other choices with more than partisan appeal would be more middleroaders Lloyd Hara, Anthony Hemstad or Frank Pagnelli. Many Rs & Ds would probably be fine with any of them and they are all in the middle rather than partisans like Roach/Osgood. Plus they’ve run things before unlike Roach/Osgood.
Roach is actually the nightmare scenario for the Rs and because of her huge negatives is a dream candidate for the Ds. Her negatives are so high she probably can’t break 20% even if she were the only R candidate running. Her getting in the race almost ensures that this seat goes to a D, unless 4 or 5 serious Ds end up running. That ain’t going to happen.
Does any of the 30th legislative district (in either King or Pierce Counties) overlap with the 9th congressional district? If so, Pam Roach could change her residence location and run for the vacant congressional seat.
In reality, the U.S. Constitution doesn’t require someone to even live in a congressional district to run for U.S. House of Representatives. You only have to be a resident of the state, and a U.S. citizen at least 25 years of age (and been a citizen for a certain number of years). Someone can run for any congressional district in the state in which they reside. Even a convicted felon without any voting rights under state law can run for federal office, since the U.S. Constitution does not prescribe any qualifications for office, other than state residence, age, and U.S. citizenship.
At least Pam Roach reads Goldy’s blog. It took Goldy six days to notice Roach’s blog entry of November 18, 2008 on the silly proposition that vacancies in the U.S. House could be appointed by the Governor. Roach corrected her incorrect blog posting less than five hours after Goldy ridiculed her mistake.
SO MUCH FOR TOP TWO PRIMARY FOR CONGRESSIONAL VACANCIES!
Looks like Jim Johnson (now state supreme court justice) overlooked special elections for U.S. House and U.S. Senate vacancies when he drafted the Top Two Primary (I-872) for the Washington State Grange.
The provisions of RCW 29A.28.041 specifically require a party nomination primary for special elections to fill U.S. House and U.S. Senate vacancies. Minor party and independent candidates must be nominated by convention, and can only appear on the special general election ballot.
Under RCW 29A.28.061, the regular election laws would apply to special elections to fill federal office vacancies, but only to the extent that they are not inconsistent with the special vacancy election provisions in RCW 29A.28.041 (and other provisions of Chapter 29A.28 RCW).
Maybe Sam Reed will ignore the plain requirements of RCW 29A.28.041 to hold a party nomination primary, and try to hold a top two primary anyway when the vacancy comes up.
Smith played a major role in Obama’s political success. Inslee played none. Best man for the job? Depends on the job.
As to the question of appointing replacements for House vacancies, I am perpetually amused … and the politically obsessive progressives rarely disappoint. (cf. DailyKos on Darcy Burner)
Has anybody seen Sen Roach’s blog page? While she may not be “perfect” she is fighting for a family who has had their child ripped away from them by cps. This is a tragidy that unfortunatlly is happening not only in our state, but nation wide. CPS is stealing these children from good families and keeping them in foster care for the sake of federal funding. To the tune of 14.8 million dollars last year in Washington alone! So, as much as you people like bashing on this Senator, I must stand strong beside her. In Oly. Sen. Roach stands alone on this issue while everybody else sticks their head in the sand and holds their hand out for a pay check! These are our families, these are our children and in my case our grandchildren. Yes, I am the grandfather of the little girl Sen. Roach is fighting for in her blog. A little girl since in the care of the state has had two black eyes, a goose egg on her chin, and the latest, rotovirus. We are talking about a three year old who has had diahrea for over a month straight. So bad that her colon is protruding out her rectum. And now, she is passing blood! And the state feels there is nothing wrong with that. Sen. Roach took the time to help our family when nobody else would bother. We are a good family, with no criminal backrounds, no drug or alchohol abuse, or child abuse or neglect. My family has been in the Seattle area for more then 100 years. My great grandfather is imortalized in the Seattle Fire Fighters Museum. our roots go way back here. So don’t think for a minute that you are safe from what is happening to us. I feel we need more people like Sen. Roach who is not affraid to stand up and fight for what they believe is right! regaurdless of political parties, we are all in this together. And every family is at risk. Thank You all, and God Bless!
She has alot of information pertaining to a child’s serious illness that is being overlooked and dismissed.DSHS doesn’t give a crap,Gregoire couldn’t care less and every pethetic loser in Washington seems to work for DSHS killing babies.Don’t any of you wonder where DSHS’s money comes from?It’s from selling children and collecting from the Social Security Fund.It’s called the adoption bonus…try looking that up and see where all your SS is going.