Peter Goldmark, Democratic challenger for state public lands commissioner, had the floor to himself today, at what had been billed as a debate with the incumbent, Republican Doug Sutherland.

Just before the debate started around 11 a.m., at the seaside resort of Semiahmoo near the Canadian border, it was announced that Sutherland had the wrong start time on his calendar, and was just passing through Mount Vernon - about 55 miles away.

With a tightly-packed schedule featuring debates between candidates for state attorney general, superintendent of public instruction and governor, organizers with the Association of Washington Business opted to go ahead with just one candidate on stage.

The result was, understandably, lopsided. Goldmark had the floor for 30 minutes to field questions from two moderators, tout his business credentials as a rancher, and lob criticisms at Sutherland. Sutherland never got on stage, and instead wound up having to walk table-to-table shaking hands during lunch.