Dino Rossi held up a new blue-and-yellow “Dinocrat” bumper sticker Wednesday after a speech to the annual meeting of the King-Pierce County Farm Bureau.

Rossi, the Republican gubernatorial candidate who is locked in a close race with incumbent Gov. Chris Gregoire, used the term four years ago in his first race against Gregoire in an attempt to show he had strong support among Democrats.

The Dinocrats have a message, Rossi said: “We’re back,” he said. “And we’re bringing friends.”

The line drew applause from the approximately 75 people who gathered inside Puyallup’s Liberty Theater.

It was a friendly audience. Farm Bureau officials and Rossi both noted Rossi’s 100 percent voting record on their issues during his tenure as a state senator. President Cheryl Ouellette presented Rossi with an honorary membership.

But outside the theater, a small group of protesters marched up and down the sidewalk carrying signs and pushing a wheelbarrow full of “Dino Dollars” in attempt to draw attention to the millions of dollars that special interest groups are spending on behalf of Rossi.

With less than two weeks until election day, Rossi and Gregoire – who finished just 133 votes apart in the 2004 election – are running a dead heat, according to some polls, although Seattle pollster Stuart Elway is showing Gregoire with a 51 percent to 39 percent lead. Ten percent are undecided.

Pierce County is considered an important prize, and both candidates are making frequent appearances here. Gregoire is making two stops in Tacoma today alone; she also was in Tacoma on Saturday and Sunday, and is scheduled to visit University Place this weekend.

In his speech to the Farm Bureau, Rossi emphasized his desire to make Washington more business-friendly. He blasted Gregoire for her handling of the state budget, an attack that he’s leveled repeatedly on the stump and in his debates with Gregoire. And he again called for an end to Washington’s estate tax – which he calls a “death tax” – even though he told The Herald of Everett newspaper this week that he would wait at least two years to propose eliminating the tax in order to ease the state’s budget problems.

Rossi said that as governor he would look for bipartisan solutions – a “philosophical majority” rather than a “partisan majority.” The problems facing Washington state are too big for one party to solve, he said.

Rossi told members of the audience they should not be surprised if he taps some of them on the shoulder and asks him to help transform the culture of Olympia.

Rossi also denied that he supports lowering the minimum wage, a charge leveled against him in an attack ad. Rossi said he told a gathering of the Association of Washington Business that he supports a “training wage” for teens younger than 18, and that Gregoire “somehow morphed” that into the claim that he supports a lower minimum wage for adults.

“I never said that,” Rossi said. “It’s really rather ridiculous.”

Jason Hagey: 253-597-8542

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