King County Councilman Larry Phillips took a step toward challenging Executive Ron Sims with the opening of an official exploratory committee to raise money and test the waters for a 2009 campaign. Phillips said yesterday in an e-mail to supporters:

Running for County Executive is a big undertaking and one I do not take lightly. I have a deep respect for the incumbent, as he's done many good things in King County, and I realize that it's hard to move on. But 13 years in office - with an unprecedented fourth term on the horizon - is a long time. The times are changing, the problems are changing, and too often they are left unattended and without effective Executive leadership.

Sims describes Phillips as "a naysayer and a complainer.”

Phillips’ website, GoForItLarry.com, isn’t yet live. His early strategy for challenging fellow Democrat Sims, now in his third term, relies in part on the state’s new top-two primary system.

With the new "Top Two" elections system, the opportunity presents itself even more - there's plenty of room for two from the same party to run.

Phillips’ and Sims’ party doesn’t like the top two and is likely to challenge it in court before November 2009. As more intra-party challenges surface, though, we may see some Democrats and Republicans lobbying their leaders to keep the top-two.