Wake the watchdogs; an election is coming | TheNewsTribune.com | Tacoma, WA

Read More Here: "Have you heard the one about Randy Dorn? Apparently, the candidate for state superintendent of public instruction has conspired with a powerful labor union to skirt the state’s campaign finance laws.

Want proof? Sorry, the only evidence is circumstantial. How about a vetting of the charges by a trusted third party, you say? Check back with us after the election.

Now go forth and make an informed choice about who should lead the state’s school system. Your vote Tuesday could possibly decide the race.

Is that any way to conduct an election? Certainly not. But such is the situation voters face in sizing up late-breaking allegations of campaign misdeeds.

Washingtonians look to the Public Disclosure Commission to be their campaign watchdog, but the agency often acts more like a punt dog that charges only after the trespasser is out of reach. Candidates know that the PDC can’t act quickly on a complaint; the less scrupulous use that fact to their advantage.

Superintendent Terry Bergeson – who filed the complaint against Dorn on Monday, eight days before the primary election – might well have a legitimate beef."