Laptops stolen from Bush campaign office

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SEATTLE -- The state's Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters in Bellevue were burglarized overnight and three laptop computers containing campaign plans were stolen, Republican Party officials said Friday.

Sometime between 2 a.m., when campaign workers went home, and 8 a.m., when the office reopened, a person threw a rock through the window of Jon Seaton, executive director for the state's Bush campaign, said Chris Vance, state GOP chairman.

Stolen were three laptops that Vance said belonged to Seaton and Chris Taylor, head of the office's get-out-the-vote campaign. A third computer had been slated for a field office.

Information on the computers included much of the Bush-Cheney campaign strategy for the state, he said.

Leah Yoon, Washington state Bush-Cheney campaign spokeswoman, declined to comment on what was on the computers, but said they did not contain advertising schedules, as had been previously reported.

"We've already been violated enough," she said.

The headquarters are located northeast of downtown Bellevue, in an area with several office buildings.

"This looks like it was politically motivated," Vance said in an interview from the Republican party offices in Tukwila.

Bellevue police confirmed the burglary Friday afternoon, but could not confirm Vance's claim.

"No evidence at the scene indicated this was politically motivated," police spokeswoman Jessamyn Poling said.

State Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Brost said Democrats knew nothing about the break-in.

"We think it's awful and we definitely condemn the actions of those who stole these computers," she said.

Vance said a similar incident occurred in 2000 when a joint Bush-Slade Gorton office was broken into and a laptop was stolen. Gorton is a former Republican senator from Washington state.

"Somebody is trying to get a look at the Bush campaign plan or disrupt the campaign plan," he said.

In recent months, there have been several complaints of various acts of subterfuge against the Bush campaign, Vance said.

The party's office was called by Republican voters who said they received telephone calls alleging Bush would reinstate a military draft if re-elected, which Vance said isn't true.

Cars with Bush bumper stickers also have been vandalized, he said, and campaign signs have been painted over with swastikas and burned.

"There's always some tension in the campaign, but this is out of control," Vance said.