Helen Sommers has a run for her money this year, going up against Miss Oregon 2000 Angela Brink, a young and energetic candidate who's got hearty endorsements from Seattle firefighters and the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs. But while foxy Brink has experience working for the King County Council and as a state legislative intern, plus leadership in the 36th District's Republican Party, we don't think she fits the liberal 36th District.

The Glee Club likes the incumbent, Democrat Helen Sommers, chair of the House Appropriations Committee. She's smart as a whip on state budget issues, and we can sure use her brains this year as the legislators try to crawl out of our $2-billion-plus deficit. Sommers showcased her fiscal wits earlier this year as one of the first legislators to criticize the $11 billion "plan" to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel.

While a tunnel and a park would be almost as pretty as Miss Oregon, there's no cash for it. Tell it like it is, Helen!