The filing period for elected office began this morning at 8:00AM, and will continue through end of business Friday at 5:00 PM at the Secretary of State's office. In addition to providing extra money to the state, the filing also acts to winnow out candidates who are not serious enough to spend any money to get their names on the ballot. Filing fees range from $412.80 for state legislative positions up to $1,652.00 for U.S. Representative.

Already, two candidates for U.S House, Democrat Cheryl Crist in the 3rd District and Republican Rick Bart in the 2nd, have already announced their filing. Hundreds more announcements are sure to come this week, as are accompanying campaign events in Olympia.

For more information on filing fees and where the candidates will be doing it, see the Secretary of State's website here.