The key phrase above is “top two.” It’s a great way to conduct an election. Voters love it; party officials hate it. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, Washingtonians with the top two primary do not have to declare a party; cross-party voting is allowed. Except for a few cases in nonpartisan judicial races, the top two vote-getters will advance to the Nov. 4 general election, regardless of party.

The Columbian will be making single endorsements in some races where strong, single candidates have emerged. After all, we know that each voter gets one vote in each race. But in other races, we’ll acknowledge two strong candidates, knowing that two will advance to the general election. The glorious, wide-open top two primary allows us that flexibility.

For example, in the primary race for governor, we recommend incumbent Gov. Chris Gregoire and Republican challenger Dino Rossi. No surprise. They’re clearly superior to eight other obscure candidates. After what promises to be a contentious campaign, but before the Nov. 4 general election, we’ll narrow our choice to one.

However, in the primary race for state school superintendent, we see no need to replace incumbent Terry Bergeson, who draws our recommendation over five challengers. Bergeson is catching abundant heat in the campaign, largely from the teachers union, which goes by the misnomer of  Washington Education Association. The union blames Bergeson for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, forgetting that the controversial accountability test was a creation of the Legislature. Bergeson’s job is to administer the Office of Public Instruction, and she has done so admirably, even with the WASL burdens heaped upon her.

In four other statewide races involving incumbents, we endorse the current officerholder:

Secretary of state Sam Reed has served admirably and in a nonpartisan way. Although a Republican, he rejects partisan influences and provides excellent oversight of statewide elections. And he has shown strong leadership on the Heritage Center project, a massive educational, cultural and archives project set to break ground in 2010 and open in 2012. Reed is the clear choice among four candidates.

Equally worthy of being returned to office is Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who faces four foes, none matching his solid record of service for more than a decade.
For state auditor, incumbent Brian Sonntag is another public servant who eschews partisan politics. Two challengers fall far short of Sonntag’s four terms of diligent work, especially in administering a rash of new performance audits for state and local agencies.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler also draws our lone recommendation in his race against two opponents. For two terms, Kreidler has contributed a wealth of expertise and innovation in a complex job.

An open race exists for state treasurer with the retirement of Michael Murphy. We recommend two whom we’d like to see advance to the Nov. 4 ballot: Allan Martin, long-time assistant to Murphy (who has endorsed Martin) and Jim McIntire, a state representative with vast fiscal experience at both the legislative and university levels. We’ll make a single endorsement in the general election.

And we’ll wait until that general election to choose in a couple of two-candidate races. Attorney General Rob McKenna faces challenger John Ladenburg, and Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland faces challenger Peter Goldmark, but all four will advance under the top two format.

Coming Monday: The Columbian’s opinions about local and state judicial races.