Three Washington Republicans Considering Seante Race

[Moooooo]

From Roll Call (subscription only):

With failed gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi mostly out of the picture, Republican Senate hopefuls are finally lining up in the Evergreen State to challenge freshman Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

At least three would-be Senate candidates are gauging support, crunching numbers and laying the groundwork for possible bids.
...
Nonetheless, Safeco chief executive Mike McGavick, former Rep. Rick White and National Republican Committeewoman Diane Tebelius are all moving toward Senate bids.

"I'm evaluating to see what the support is out there among the base of the party; I found it to be very good," Tebelius said in an interview Monday. "I'm looking at business leaders and so far I've gotten great response from that. I'm still continuing to look - obviously I want to make this sooner rather than later."

But Tebelius, like McGavick and White, has not formed an exploratory committee, has not begun raising money and has not set a timeline for making a decision.
...
After Rossi, many national and state Republicans seem excited about McGavick. McGavick turned around Safeco, a property and casualty insurer, and put it back in the black since taking the helm more than four years ago. He is also a well-respected political veteran, having run the comeback campaign that returned Slate Gorton (R-Wash.) to the Senate in 1989. He then did a stint as Gorton's chief of staff. "He would be an outstanding candidate," NRSC spokesman Brian Nick said of McGavick. However, there are questions about whether McGavick is free to run or if he is bound by contract to stay on at Safeco. Even if he does make the race, it is not clear that White and Tebelius will back off.
...
National Republicans are high on their chances in Washington. They believe lingering GOP resentment over the governor's race combined with Cantwell's status as a fairly low-profile freshman make it an ideal pick-up situation. They also think Cantwell will have a tough time raising the necessary funds. Cantwell bankrolled her 2000 upset over Gorton with wealth obtained through stocks of RealNetworks, her former employer. When the high-tech sector tanked in 2000, she saw her personal wealth shrink considerably. She said she would not be able to finance another campaign herself and had to pay back loans she had personally guaranteed. Despite all that, Cantwell paid off the loans and managed to bank almost $1.9 million as of March 31. She also has been working hard to raise her profile back home and take a more prominent role in the Senate.

[Erc]

*snooze*

[Alcon]

Lordy, those are some crappy candidates.

Never heard of McGavick.  Heard of White for all the wrong reasons.  I remember Diane Tebelius losing to George Nethercutt in the primary - he went on to lose to Patty Murray in a small landslide.

Is this all the GOP has?  Dino Rossi seems to be the only actual candidate they have for any race these days.