Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Darcy Burner files for WA-01 special election, setting off wave

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' WA-01: In the end, attempts by local Democrats to keep candidates running in the race for the full WA-01 term out of the same-day special election did not succeed. On Friday, the candidate filing deadline, Darcy Burner announced that she'd also run for the unexpired two-month term created by ex-Rep. Jay Inslee's resignation earlier this year. That apparently prompted most of the other big names competing for the full term to do the same: Suzan DelBene, Laura Ruderman, and Darshan Rauniyar all filed for the special as well, as did Republican John Koster.

This turn of events foiled the plans of state party chair Dwight Pelz, who ostensibly sought to keep Democrats from taking their eyes off the real prize'the election for the full term. To that end, he convinced DelBene, Rauniyar, and another candidate, Steve Hobbs, to stand aside and allow a placeholder, Snohomish County Council Chairman Brian Sullivan, to run in the special. (Some reports also said that Ruderman was a party to this agreement, but her campaign later claimed there was never any deal.) Pelz's stated goal was to keep the Dem field focused on beating Koster in the race that really matters.

But Burner had other plans, ultimately saying: "I understand that Dwight wanted the decision to be made in a cigar smoke-filled room. I disagree'I think voters should get to decide." But why do this, you're surely asking? At most the winner gets to participate in a month-long lame duck session of Congress, and for the privilege, you have to run in the old version of WA-01, whose borders were dramatically altered during the redistricting process earlier this year.

Indeed, to get a sense of just how different the seats are, check out the maps below. Most notably, the scales are completely different: The old 1st was a compact district in suburban Seattle. The new edition (in purple, on the right side) is a behemoth that stretches from the Seattle outskirts to the Canadian border. Only about half of the constituents remain the same between the two:

Old WA-01 on left, new WA-01 on right (in purple) However, there is one good reason to run in both races: money. By running in two elections at once, FEC contribution limits are doubled, so donors who've already given the maximum amount allowed by law can be re-solicited. Burner was reportedly concerned that Koster, the Republican standard-bearer, would also jump into the special, giving him a financial leg up. Koster did ultimately wind up doing so, but it appears Burner made the first move'and that prompted most of the rest of the field to abrogate their agreement with Pelz and follow suit, lest they, too, wind up at a disadvantage.

The one holdout was, as I mentioned, Hobbs, who put out a press release hammering the other candidates for trying to "dodge federal campaign contribution laws." It's not clear why Hobbs didn't follow the herd, though perhaps he thinks he's got a good angle with voters by avoiding what he called "financial trickery and shifty politics."

Pelz, the party chair, also issued a statement taking the very unusual step of directly criticizing a Democratic candidate. Said Pelz: "I am very disappointed that Darcy Burner chose to put her own perceived self-interest ahead of that of the public by breaking ranks and filing in both races." Sullivan, the would-be caretaker, piled on, too, and added that he's thinking about withdrawing. (NB: Sullivan had previously endorsed DelBene.) If Burner wins the nomination, boy is that going to make the unity rally awkward.