Oregon Public Broadcasting

A big issue in the Washington governor’s race is how the candidates balanced budgets in the past.  That's because Washington faces a potential nearly $3 billion deficit in the next two-year budget cycle. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

Neither Democrat Chris Gregoire nor Republican Dino Rossi will offer specifics on how they plan to close the budget gap. But issues of taxing and spending have become fodder for campaign ads by both candidates and third-party groups.

Independent pollster Stuart Elway says about 25-percent of voters remain undecided or open to being swayed in this governor’s race. Even with all the advertising, he doubts the budget balancing issue will be what moves those voters.

Stuart Elway: “They know the candidates pretty well, they know the records, they’re waiting for, I don’t know what, something to tip them but I don’t know that it’s going to be budget.”

If the past is any indicator, Gregoire would fill the current budget hole with a combination of targeted tax hikes and spending cuts. Rossi would focus on cuts alone.