In an email to supporters yesterday, state Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen made it official that he's running for reelection. A moderate Democrat, Owen has been Lt. Gov.—essentially the president of the state senate and next in line for governor if the sitting governor leaves office—since 1997. Before that, he was a state legislator. (Owen brings a sarcastic late-night comic schtick to his parliamentary duties as senate president.)

The noteworthy thing about his email is this line: "As you may very well know, there has been talk of a serious candidate potentially entering the race in 2012."

This is a reference to state senate majority leader Sen. Lisa Brown (D-3, Spokane). Brown was once a name that came up on lists of potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates, but she's scaled back her immediate ambitions. The rumor now is that she's interested in Lt. Governor. We have a message in to Sen. Brown.

Indeed, the Lt. Governor has the final say on a big-deal issue for Brown: the two-thirds rule for raising taxes. Brown thinks the Tim Eyman rule is unconstitutional. She brought the issue to the state supreme court in 2009, but the judges refused to hear the case, saying she didn't have proper standing. (The house Democrats may bring the issue back, having, they think, established standing by explicitly raising the issue on the house floor during a special session vote to repeal tax loopholes.)

Owen has consistently sided with Eyman on this issue—making it clear that he also believes eliminating tax loopholes counts as raising taxes and therefore requires a two-thirds vote.

Owen is also a critic of marijuana and drug reform. Back in 1999, he was fined $7,000 for illegally using state money to oppose a drug reform measure.

Here's his email:

Friends,

I hope you are well-recovered from the legislative session and can enjoy our little spots of sunshine.  You may not be aware of this, but summer and sunshine were limited this year due to severe cuts in the operating budget!

On a serious note, I wanted to announce that I am running for re-election next year for Lt. Governor.

In addition to running the Senate and performing other duties as Lt. Governor, I will continue to work in my capacity to promote Washington to international markets and to growing our economy.  The more I travel to foreign countries promoting Washington business, the more potential and attention is generated for Washington products and services.  I know Washington is well-positioned to weather the ongoing economic storm.

As you may very well know, there has been talk of a serious candidate potentially entering the race in 2012.  To prepare for this possibility and in hopes of preventing it, I have started raising money early for the campaign.  It is clear that we will need to raise more money than in past elections.

Please show your early support for my campaign by sending a check or making a pledge today.