Reichert today announced he had been endorsed by the Enumclaw firefighter's union. It is the sixth endorsement from police and fire groups for Reichert, the former King County sheriff.

Now, three virtually unknown Democrats are seeking the party nomination for the chance to face off against Campbell in the Nov. 7 general election.

"It's almost an amateur audition that's going on," said Bill Harrington, chairman of the 2nd District Democrats.

A few challengers responded as well. Candidates are increasingly less likely to answer the questions, said Project Vote Smart's Adelaide Elm. She said they are counseled by consultants and party leaders to keep their opinions to themselves.

Legislative candidates are no better. In 2004, the first year our primary was covered by Project Vote Smart, 32 percent of candidates responded. This year it was 19 percent, Elm said.

In a test sample of 250 random ballots Monday, elections officials found one in five voters voted along strict party lines.

Yet their choices from that part of the ballot must be thrown out. That's because the voters didn't pick their party affiliation — a task of connecting the front and back of an arrow with a simple line.

Here's the AP version of the story.

• Any question John Kerry is running for president? An update: "This weekend John Kerry will travel across Iowa to campaign with Democratic candidates running in critical races up and down the ticket on Friday, Sept. 15 and Saturday, Sept. 16."

• Any question John Kerry is running for president? Oh, never mind. I just opened the mail and got a big, fat, envelope from "Friends of John Kerry" with DVDs and copies of speeches he gave over the summer on energy and health care. He's running.