Vote for
CHRISTINE GREGOIRE
(Democrat)

Good House- keeping magazine gave Gregoire its Award for Women in Government this year on the strength of her recipe for butterscotch scones. But when Gregoire isn't in the kitchen baking up a batch of her award-winning scones (or on the phone yakking the day away with best bud Janet Reno), Gregoire's been busy winning billion-dollar settlements from the tobacco industry, pushing for consumer privacy protection, and suing the recording industry for conspiring to raise CD prices. Goodness, how does she find the time? While public defenders and trial lawyers all seem united in their praise of Gregoire, some warn that her national political ambitions could distract her from the job at hand.

Speaking of distractions, earlier this year Gregoire's office failed to meet an appeal deadline in one of the largest penalties ($17.8 million) ever awarded against Washington state. That li'l mishap cost us a bundle, but hey, without little blunders like that, the state surplus would just sit there gathering dust. Gregoire, borrowing a page from other busy executives, blamed her staff for the expensive fuck-up.

Gregoire's opponents, as we said in our primary endorsements, are better suited for a high school talent show.