We are not endorsing candidates for any office this election. As we tell this news to the many campaigns that have paid visits to the newspaper office, or called upon us elsewhere, candidates seem either relieved or disappointed.

However, following the primary election, which is scheduled for Aug. 7, readers can share their thoughts as to why one or another candidate should be elected to Attorney General or who you think should replace Congressman Norm Dicks in representing Kitsap County and the 6th Congressional District in the other Washington.

We will print your endorsements for any candidate on the ballot in our readership area. No lines will be drawn, but for decency and intelligibility. The endorsements will be printed but for one caveat, we will will not print letters from groups, organizations or committees seeking to bolster a candidate. Instead, we leave that space available for individuals to share their perspective on who should be the next Superintendent of Public Schools or the next Attorney General replacing the outgoing Rob McKenna.

Make your case in 350 words or less and send it in email or snail mail to the address listed in a box below.

Running endorsements this way is better. Instead of a partisan stance in which we bestow upon you our reasons why a candidate should be elected as county commissioner, a powerful office for sure, we will continue to focus on providing news and information on the day-to-day government and leave it to you to decide if a change is needed in Commissioner Districts 1 and 2 or not.

Not making endorsements for races such as the 6th Congressional District retains our ability to freely question the genuineness of candidate Derek Kilmer’s redirection of every question asked about his record into his hometown boy makes good message which is deftly synched to the national buzz about bringing back “the jobs.” We stay free to ponder the lack of judgement on the part of the campaign manager who decided to overtly compare 6th Congressional Dist. candidate David Eichner to a giant of a man such as the Dwight D. Eisenhower.