At a meeting today the Washington Sportfishing PAC announced the following endorsements of candidates they feel will best represent sports fishing in Washington.

Note these are bipartisan endorsments.

Governor Christine Gregoire D

District 7 Bob Sump R
District 13 Bill Hinkle R
District 18 Ed Orcutt R
District 18 Senator Joseph Zareli R
District 24 Jim Buck R
District 33 Dave Upthegrove D
District 39 Kirk Pearson R
District 44 Hans Dunshee D
District 49 Bill Fromhold D

So far the list of legislators and candidates who support sports fishing is growing on both sides of the aisle. That is a good sign.

Can't go along with Buck. He's on several natural resource related committees in the legislature but his politics are interupting many restoration and conservation projects out here. My vote will be for the newbie. Anyone who knows what his record has been lately will think twice as well.

pacificnw


Thanks for the input. We need more information on local legislators to make informed decisions.

Anyone else care to tell us how your local legislator votes or promises to vote on fish issues?

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Hey Grandpa,

Do any dues from PSA SnoKing dues go to Washington Sportfishing PAC? Or are all funds given to them from that RFA raffle your chapter had?

Is Corey Freeman the one who decides who the Washington Sportfishing PAC endorses?

Did the PAC pay for him (Freeman) to spend all day fishing with gubernatorial candidate Christine Gregoire August 1st at Westport on the Monte Carlo where after having a great day of fishing with her and her family he said, "If Chris Gregoire is elected Governer, I believe Sportfishers will have a friend in the highest office in Washington State"?

How objective was Corey Freemam about who the Washington Sportfishing PAC should endorse for governer almost two months later when Dino Rossi addressed the public and the Recreational Fishfing Alliance at the sportsfishing forum at Edmonds Yacht Club September 29?

Apparently there is a misunderstanding concerning who the PAC has endorsed and who the PAC has only contributed to. Endorsements and contributions is determined by the PAC board which consists of myself (Corey Freeman), Clint Muns, Mike Gilchrist, and Jim Tuggle. All of these individuals serve as individuals and not as representatives of any organization. The PAC is an independent organization that is not controlled by any specific organization.

As for the question concerning funding from the Sno-King fundraiser, there was some funds that went to the PAC specifically but the vast majority went to RFA.

As a point of claification, Clint Muns was the representative of the PAC that went on the Gregoire fishing trip in August and provided the report on the outcome of the trip.

As a rule, the PAC has not endorsed candidates that do not have a visible track record on sportfishing issues. There was only one exception to this policy and I would be will ing to discuss it with anyone that has questions.

The only plans that the PAC has concerning the Gubernatorial race is to provide information that comes from the two candidates or reports from their events. There is no public endorsement in the works for either candidate. Endorsing a gubernatorial candidate is a larger leap at this point than the PAC board is willing to take due to the fact that the PAC is still in its infancy. If there are any questions concerning PAC policy, please feel free to either email me at wasportfishingpac@comcast.net or call me at (360) 480-6646

Below is the list as it appears on the PAC's website (http://home.comcast.net/~wasportfishingpac/endorse.htm)

ENDORSEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

REPUBLICAN

Representative Kirk Pearson (District 39)

Representative Jim Buck (District 24)

Representative Bob Sump (District 7)

Representative Bill Hinkle (District 13)

Kim Halvorson (District 38 House Candidate)

DEMOCRAT

Representative Dave Upthegrove (District 33)

Representative Hans Dunshee (District 44)

Representative David Simpson (District 38)

Representative Bill Fromhold (District 49)

CONTRIBUTIONS ONLY

Republican

Senator Joseph Zarelli (District 18)

Representative Ed Orcutt (District 18)

Democrat

Christine Gregoire (Governor)

Congressman Norm Dicks (6th Congressional District)

I am sorry if my earlier post caused confusion. I was typing from a written list, when I should have cut and pasted from the PAC website.

My list was inaccureat in that I did not notice that some were endorsed and others only recieved money

I admit I am a bit confused by the distinction, as I assume one would not give $$ to an cantidate they did not endorse?

RB

None of the dues money goes to the PAC. Our chapter has donated to RFA. I , like many others, have donated personal funds to the PAC. The decisions made on who to endorse are not done just by Corey and are based on who seems to be the most likely to support sports fishing causes. The politics are nonpartisan as I hope you see. I am not sure the endorsement of Gregoire that Dave posted is accurate. Not Dave's fault as I got the same printed list as he did and Gregoire is definitely listed. I heard Corey say that the PAC would not endorse either one. I think that the PAC intends to remain neutral on the governor's race as both candidates seem to feel strongly about sports fishing's value to the state. It remains to be seen who will act but I can tell you that supporting the PAC is our current best hope for change in Washington politics when it comes to sports fishing issues we all care about.

Concerning Jim Buck, I have had some heated direct discussions with Jim in past years but see at this time his efforts to help us. He was very much responsible for getting the crab catch record card through the legislature. The legislature is where the change we seek will come from. WDFW and the commission most often mean well but it is the legislature that will give them the money they need and the oversight they need to be accountable to us.

Vote your own conscience but please support the RFA and the PAC. Those two entities will cover us in Washington state and Washington DC.

Thanks to Olyangler and Grandpa for the clarification

thanks for paying attention and caring