Gov. Chris Gregoire added five newspaper endorsements over the weekend, including two who chose Dino Rossi in 2004.

This past Sunday's editorial pages included pro-Gregoire editorials from the Spokesman-Review (Spokane), Everett Herald, Bellingham Herald, Skagit Valley Herald (Mt. Vernon), and Kitsap Sun (Bremerton).

Newspaper endorsements frequently tend to favor incumbents over challengers, but still the Gregoire campaign is particularly happy to receive a "flip" from the largest newspapers in two key battleground counties, Snohomish (Everett Herald) and Spokane (Spokesman-Review). Both of those papers endorsed Rossi in 2004, and he won both counties that year, but Gregoire made gains in this year's "top two" primary.

The S-R editorial indicates that Gregoire has had a mainly positive term and appreciates her work with Eastern Washington.

"Like many statewide politicians, Gregoire pledged to govern on behalf of ‘one Washington,.'" they write. "Unlike so many predecessors, she has backed it up with action. "

The Everett Herald also compliments the progress made under Gregoire, particularly on the issues of education, health care and trade, and their ed board came to the conclusion that she would continue to do so.

"Gregoire has proven to be a strong leader who's not afraid to take on entrenched interests when necessary, and she'll need to keep doing so in what will be a challenging second term," the Herald says. "We think she's up to the task."