[caption id="attachment_20181" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Screen grab from WSDOT's scary viaduct video"][/caption]

Elizabeth Campbell, the anti-tunnel activist who has already sued the city and the state over issues related to the proposed $4.2 billion deep-bore tunnel, has filed an ethics complaint against a long list of state officials, including Gov. Christine Gregoire, former Gregoire transportation advisor Ron Judd, transportation secretary Paula Hammond, and viaduct program administrator Ron Paananen.

The complaint alleges that officials at the Washington State Department of Transportation and the governor's office attempted to influence the Seattle mayoral primary election in favor of Greg Nickels. The complaint is based on a string of emails between state employees, including one in which Judd wrote,

As you all know the Mayor is in big trouble and I am not sure he can pull it out even if he is in the run off.

That brings me to the big issue that will be front and center between now and the election......our tunnel. I think we need to pull together a discussion about messaging and other strategies for the tunnel over the next 2+ months. It will not be helpful if this election turns out to be a referendum on the tunnel. So we need to work on ensuring as much as possible that does not happen.

The complaint alleges that the state officials "sought to influence the outcome of the mayoral elections in order to ensure that the State could let a contract to build ... the Central Waterfront Tunnel," first by seeking to ensure Nickels' reelection, then by supporting Joe Mallahan against now-Mayor-Elect Mike McGinn.

Previously, Campbell alleged that the state was trying to influence the mayor's race by releasing a frightening video showing the viaduct falling down in an earthquake. Campbell had requested the video as part of a larger public-records request. At the time, state officials said they had no choice but to release the video because it was part of a records request; however, it’s hardly standard operating procedure for public agencies to release responses to public records requests to the general public.