Clark county marriage certificate

Governor

GUIDE TO THE PRIMARY

Voters will be making choices in a lot of races on Tuesday - from the governor's office to county courthouses. Here is a roundup of information on major candidates in key national, state and local races. Because of limitations on space and resources, this preview does not include full biographies on candidates who are uncontested in the primary or who are not running significant statewide campaigns. For more on candidates, races and other political topics, go to Election Central at spokesmanreview.com.

CHRISTINE GREGOIRE, DEMOCRAT.

Personal: 57; married, with two college-age daughters.

Education: Graduated from Auburn High School, near Seattle, in 1965, and the University of Washington in 1969, with a teaching certificate and a bachelor's degree in speech and sociology. Earned law degree from Gonzaga University in 1977.

Professional: After graduating, went to work as a "clerk-typist 2" for what was then called Adult Probation and Parole, now the state Department of Corrections. She was promoted eventually to regional head of the Office of Special Investigations, working on welfare fraud cases. While in law school, she went to work at the state attorney general's office in Spokane, working on social service cases, consumer protection and education cases. After living in Spokane from 1974 to 1982, Gregoire became the first female deputy attorney general in state history and moved to Olympia. She was appointed director of the state Department of Ecology from 1988 to 1992.

Political: Gregoire was elected attorney general in 1992, a post she still holds.

Key issues: Jobs and the economy - she wants the state to have 250,000 new jobs within four years. Improving the state's education system, from preschool programs through university, is also high on Gregoire's list. Teachers must be paid more, she said, and colleges must be ready for a predicted surge in freshmen and transfers. "I think priority No. 1 has to be stopping the hemorrhaging of our young folks dropping out of high school," she said.

RON SIMS, DEMOCRAT.

Personal: 56; married, with three sons.

Education: Born and raised in Spokane, Sims graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1966. He has a 1971 bachelor of arts in psychology from Central Washington University.

Professional: After college, worked in the consumer protection division of the state attorney general's office. Later worked for the Federal Trade Commission, Seattle's juvenile offender program, and in the state Senate as a legislative aide.

Political: Elected to the King County Council in 1985, serving three terms. In 1996, he was appointed King County executive. He's now in his second term.

Key issues: Improving education, transportation, health care and the environment. And to pay for it all: broad tax reforms, including an income tax. Washington must pay teachers more, shrink the number of students in classrooms and expand colleges' ability to absorb a coming wave of new students, Sims said. On transportation, Sims said, Spokane must have the North Spokane Corridor, a long-awaited link between U.S. 395 and I-90.

DINO ROSSI, REPUBLICAN

Personal: 44; married, with four children.

Education: Raised in Mountlake Terrace, graduated from Woodway High School in Edmonds. Bachelor's degree in business management from Seattle University, 1982.

Professional: Rossi is a commercial real estate broker. He manages and owns real estate.

Political: Elected to the state Senate in 1996, on his second attempt, representing a district in the Seattle suburbs and Cascade foothills.

Key issues: The economy and education reform. "We've got to get people back to work," Rossi says. How? By making it easier to do business in Washington: doing away with outdated or unneeded regulations. By making it harder to file big liability lawsuits, particularly against rural doctors.

MICHAEL NELSON, LIBERTARIAN.

Personal: 65; single, no children.

Education: Graduated from Clover Park High School in Lakewood, near Tacoma. Bachelor's degree in business administration and economics from the overseas branch of the University of Maryland. Master's in business administration and accounting from the University of Minnesota.

Professional: Stock market and real estate investor.

Political: Four previous runs for office, all unsuccessful. He ran for state House of Representatives in 1980 and 1982 and for King County Council in 2002 and 2003.

Key issues: Nelson's key issue is to eliminate the state's $7.16 minimum wage so that people who just aren't worth that much could still find work. Other issues: promoting Washington as a place for filmmakers to shoot movies. Opening state college and community college libraries and campuses at night to encourage people to learn instead of sitting home in front of the television. Bennett also wants to promote the colonization of space.

RUTH BENNETT, LIBERTARIAN

Personal: 51; in a relationship with her lesbian partner.

Education: Graduated from R.E. Long High School in Longview, Wash. Graduated from Washington State University, with a bachelor's degree in anthropology in 1975.

Professional: Owned and recently sold a travel agency in downtown Seattle, which she built from 1984 to 2000. Now does some consulting and traveling, but is mostly retired.

Political: Ran for lieutenant governor in 2000 and for state House of Representatives in 2002, losing both races. She is also the former state chairwoman of the Libertarian Party in Washington and in Colorado.

Key issues: Bennett wants the state to legalize same-sex marriage. Other issues include giving patients and doctors the power to try experimental drugs or procedures without the FDA's lengthy approval.

Other gubernatorial candidates on the ballot:

Mike the Mover, Democrat; Eugen Buculei, Democrat; Don Hansler, Democrat; Scott Headland, Democrat; John W. Aiken Jr., Republican; Bill Meyer, Republican