Ballots to be mailed this week

OLYMPIA – Ballots for statewide primary elections are scheduled to go in the mail July 17.

Thirty-six candidates are running for governor, a record for a statewide race according to the office of the Secretary of State. The previous record for candidates in a Washington governor’s race is 15, set in 1924 and repeated in 1996.

Candidates pay a filing fee equal to 1% of the job’s yearly salary; in the case of the governor’s office, that would be $187,353 as of July 1, or 1% of $187,353.

According to Washington state law, a candidate who claims to be unable to afford the filing fee can, instead,...