In San Diego yesterday a lawsuit was filed trying to get the results of a June election thrown out because of counting and ballot security irregularities. It was a special election to fill the seat of disgraced Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Ever since Republican Brian Bilbray won the election, supporters of Democrat Francine Busby have been sounding like Dino Rossi backers circa 1995 2005.

The lawsuit took specific aim at the practice of allowing poll workers to take the machines home with them prior to the election - a practice Haas said is done to ensure that polling places open on time.

The same thing happened here. King County poll workers were allowed to take machines home from the weekend before the election. Of course last year it was Republicans complaining about the practice and Democrats trying to make it sound like wild-eyed conspiracy mongering.

The attorney who filed the suit in San Diego provides another local connection. He's Paul Lehto of Everett, an election activist. He told the San Diego Union-Tribune:

"The thing you've got to know about using computers in the election is that computers do whatever they're told to do, without any regard to law, ethics or morality," Lehto said, adding he believes some machines were tampered with. "When you send them on 'sleepovers' from anywhere from three days to over a week, then you've lost all illusion about any kind of security."

Maybe Rossi backers here should have enlisted the help of the Democratic National Committee and Howard Dean, who said in San Diego, "All I'm asking the Republicans to do is count every vote!"

Prompted in part by John Carlson teaming up with former Gov. Gary Locke and Jessyn Schor of the Transportation Choices Coalition, some local conservatives say they need to get serious about finding solutions to the region's obvious transportation problems.

Orbuxmax got the ball rolling with a call for suggestions:

As conservatives and libertarians, it's not enough to say "no more taxes" when there is a genuine problem. We need to step up to the plate and offer ideas that can work. Taxes are inevitable when it comes to transportation issues, but it doesn't have to mean throwing money down bottomless rat-holes.

At Sound Politics, Eric Earling, joins up, too. After expressing some unhappiness at how he's been attacked at SP for his philosophy on transportation - including the attacks based on the fact that his father was chairman of the Sound Transit board - Earling says he's not impressed with what conservatives have suggested so far.

Now that we're back in reality, I must confess that while I applaud Orbusmax's endeavor, I've found the feedback from his readers rather insufficient. Most of the suggestions are either already being implemented (focusing bus resources on heavily utilized commuter routes), cost a ton of money (double-decking freeways), or are absolutely unworkable (ticketing cars eligible for the HOV lane but who choose not to drive in it).

But give them an E for effort. Republicans haven't had much of a cogent transportation plan in recent years. The party's opposition to raising the gas tax put it at odds with some of its friends in big business. We haven't heard much lately about the Locke/Carlson/Schor effort but it has gotten people thinking at least.

A descendant of a founder of Safeco Corporation and her politically active attorney will announce later this morning that they're suing Senate candidate and former Safeco CEO Mike McGavick for the $28 million he was paid by the company this year.

Emma Schwartzman is the great, great granddaughter of a Safeco founder. She is scheduled to appear at a press conference near Safeco's Seattle headquarters with attorney Knoll Lowney. who successfully challenged in court Tim Eyman's property tax initiative. Lowney and his firm have given political donations to liberal candidates and groups such as Washington Conservation Voters. His law partner, Richard Smith, announced last week he would run for state Supreme Court.

According to a press release sent this morning the "central claim in the suit is that a significant portion of the $28 million McGavick received from Safeco after he resigned as Safeco's CEO resulted from a fraudulent transaction between McGavick and the Board of Directors that breached defendants' fiduciary duties to shareholders. The suit also alleges that the Board of Directors violated federal securities laws by concealing the magnitude and extraordinary nature of the payout."

The Democratic Party and supporters of Sen. Maria Cantwell have already focused on McGavick's pay. The state Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission in April, alleging that McGavick's compensation was an illegal campaign contribution. In June, liberal blogger David Goldstein was searching for Safeco shareholders angry at McGavick's compensation.

McGavick reported pre-tax income of $28 million from Safeco this year even though he left the company in February to run for the Senate. Some of the money, according to his financial-disclosure form filed with the U.S. Senate, came from stock and bonuses, including for work done several years ago. In April an expert in executive salaries told The Times McGavick's pay was not out of line with other executives have gotten in recent years.

The press release says Schwartzman is represented by two prominent Seattle law firms, though only Lowney is mentioned by name.

McGavick's campaign said it would not have a comment until after the press conference.

UPDATE: A website has just gone live on details of the suit. The other attorney is Steve Berman, well-known for his shareholder lawsuits.

The PR firm handling the lawsuit, Soapbox Communications, has done some work for liberal causes in the past, but its current client list tends more toward non-profits and community groups.

UPDATE UPDATE: Mike McGavick has issued a written response to the lawsuit:

"This is a politically motivated character attack. The allies of the incumbent senator have found yet another avenue to continue their daily personal attacks on me. Today's action further demonstrates how far my opposition will go in attacking my character and the character of Safeco, one of the Northwest's great companies.

"These allegations regarding my compensation are without merit and obviously politically inspired. It is sad that my opponents insist on dragging Safeco into the mean-spirited political process."