Sen. Luke Esser, R-Bellevue, who lost his re-election race in November, seems preparing a run to head the state Republican Party. The P-I had a story on this today. Esser would face current Chairwoman Diane Tebelius, who is up for election to a full two-year term in January.

I asked King County GOP Chairman Michael Young what he had heard about Esser's plans:

"I think he is doing the things one would do if they were interested in running for state chair."

Esser himself is more evasive. He wouldn't answer direct questions about whether he wants to replace Tebelius. He said that a lot of Republicans are talking about "where do we go from here."

"I am certainly one of the people having those conversations and want to be helpful in that process."

Tebelius, elected last January to fill the rest of former Chairman Chris Vance's term, said she hasn't heard anything firm about Esser's plans. She said she has heard from state committee members "who are saying they've heard he's interested in running. But no one has confirmed that he has made any calls."

Esser and Tebelius were both in the 2004 Republican primary for the 8th Congressional District. The primary, and the general election, were won by Dave Reichert.

She said that previous GOP chairs always faced challengers so she won't be surprised if she does, too. But she does not think that Republicans' poor showing in last month's election reflects on her leadership. (In King County, where the GOP took deep losses in legislative races, Young was recently re-elected as party chairman.) Said Tebelius:

"I think everybody across the state believes that Republicans did a great job in this election. They worked hard, they went out there and did what they needed to do to win."

They didn't win, she said, because the race was nationalized and local Republicans were caught in the wave. She points out, though, that the state's three Republican members of Congress were all re-elected.

The Republican state committee will elect a chair at its meeting Jan. 27 at Southcenter.