If it seems like you’ve been seeing a lot of Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi lately, it’s not your imagination. In the span of a few days in July, Gregoire launched a Puget Sound boat tour in Tacoma, greeted Washington National Guard soldiers returning from Iraq, addressed teachers at a Tacoma convention and broke ground on a pedestrian overpass at Chambers Creek Properties in University Place.

Rossi visited the area four times in June, then returned for a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Puyallup last month. He kicked off August with a Lakewood fundraiser on Friday.

As voting begins in the Aug. 19 primary election, the leading contenders for governor are sending Pierce County a clear message: They really, really like us. It probably has something to do with Rossi’s four-point victory in Pierce County in the 2004 race.

On Friday, the county Auditor’s Office mailed ballots to 288,084 Pierce County voters. Those ballots bear the names of 10 people seeking to be Washington’s governor.

Barring some kind of shocking developments, Gregoire, the Democratic incumbent, and Rossi, a former Republican state senator, will be the candidates who advance to the November general election under the new “top two” primary system.

It would be a replay of the dramatic 2004 governor’s race, which featured two recounts, accusations of voter fraud and a court challenge. Gregoire came away the winner by just 133 votes out of 2.9 million cast.

Recent polls suggest another close race, with Gregoire enjoying a slight edge over Rossi.

That means a fight for every single vote in November. And Pierce County – the state’s second largest – appears to be a key battleground.

Maybe that’s why Gregoire has visited Pierce County 28 times so far in 2008. Rossi has visited 22 times.

“The campaigns realize how important this county is,” said Nathe Lawver, chairman of the Pierce County Democratic Party.

GOOD START, MORE TO DO

In Pierce County and across the state, both candidates are making the election a referendum on the last four years.

In an interview last week during her visit to University Place, Gregoire cited Washington’s relatively robust economy. She noted that Forbes and Fortune magazines recently ranked Washington one of the top five states for business. And she cited a survey naming Washington one of the most effectively run state governments in the country.

The governor also touted accomplishments in education, economic development, health care and other areas. She said she’s made a good start on some tough issues. But she said it takes more than four years to finish the job.

“You don’t reform education in one term,” Gregoire said. “I’ve got more to do here.”

The governor cited numerous accomplishments that have benefited Pierce County residents, including:

 • The conversion of the University of Washington Tacoma to a four-year institution.

 • Efforts to clean up Puget Sound.

 • Completion of the new Tacoma Narrows bridge ahead of schedule and under budget.

 • Her decision to set aside $700,000 to help keep the Russell Investments headquarters in Tacoma.

“We’ve done a lot in the last 31/2 years in Pierce County,” Gregoire said.

‘REASONABLE, RATIONAL, RESPONSIBLE’

Rossi has a different take on Gregoire’s first term. In a telephone interview last week while he campaigned in Skagit County, he cited a growing budget deficit, higher taxes and a bureaucracy that he says views businesses as “guilty until proven innocent.”

Rossi portrays himself as a proven budget-cutter who can rein in state spending and reform the bureaucracy. He paints Gregoire as a career politician with “an Olympia-centric view of the world.”

“Change” is a word Rossi uses often. He said this election is about “changing the culture of state government for a generation.”

Rossi noted that his $15.4 billion transportation plan includes two Pierce County road construction projects – extending Highway 167 from Puyallup to the Port of Tacoma and building the so-called cross-base highway between Interstate 5 and Highway 7. He wants to divert sales tax revenue to his road construction priorities.

Rossi said he wants to make Washington “the worst place in America to be a criminal and the best place in the country to be a business.” He cites endorsements from police in Lakewood and DuPont.

“I think people are going to look for someone who is reasonable, rational, responsible,” Rossi said.

ANOTHER CLOSE FINISH?

Rossi won Pierce County in 2004 by a margin of 51-47 percent. Deryl McCarty, chairman of the Pierce County Republican Party, said Rossi’s message is resonating here again this year.

McCarty said Rossi’s plans for road construction play well in a county where 30 percent of workers commute to King County. And he said young families like Rossi’s tough talk on spending and taxes.

But McCarty said Rossi’s appeal is more personal.

“Dino just has some sort of quality that excites people,” McCarty said.

Lawver, the local Democratic Party chairman, said Gregoire’s record goes over well in Pierce County.

“There’s been a lot of things that have gone on in Pierce County the last four years that completely lean toward the governor” winning the county, Lawver said.

As Pierce County goes, so might Washington. Lawver said Pierce County is like “an itty, bitty Washington state.” It has an urban west side and a rural east, with suburbs in between.

Lawver said he’s noticed Gregoire spending more time in Pierce County than she did in 2004. He thinks the primary election will shed light on how the message of both campaigns is playing here.

“I think August 19th will be a good indication of what the campaigns are doing well and what they’re not doing so well,” Lawver said.

David Wickert: 253-274-7341

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