With Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna officially in the race now—getting a head start on framing the debate, Democrats are at a disadvantage. Rep. Jay Inslee, widely seen as the Democrats' lead candidate, has politely declined to make it official until Gov. Chris Gregoire makes her plans known.

The current rumor is that Gregoire is going to make an announcement on Monday that she will not run.

However, Greoire's spokeswoman Karina Shagren tells us "nothing has been decided. There are all sorts of rumors out there, and I wouldn't listen to any of them."

She did say that Gregoire's daughter Courtney, who lives in DC, will be in town this weekend and that Gregoire wants to confab with her whole family before making a decision.

Gregoire will sign a final set of bills from this year's session next Wednesday and then head to Europe on a trade mission on Thursday. (She's also stopping in on the the Alaskan Way deep bore tunnel contractor, Dragados, which is headquartered in Spain.)