The Staten Island Advance reports that former Assemblyman Robert Straniere “has begun gathering petitions” to qualify for a ballot spot in the race for the Republican nomination to succeed scandal-scarred Rep. Vito J. Fossella, R-N.Y., despite a “rocky relationship with GOP bigwigs on Staten Island.” Straniere faces a July 10 deadline to qualify for the ballot. Republicans have struggled to select a candidate since their preferred choice, Frank Powers, died of a heart attack in June. “Councilman Michael McMahon (D-North Shore) has been endorsed by the national and local Democratic parties, but the Staten Island GOP has been unable to decide on a replacement for the late Powers,” the paper noted. Straniere needs 1,250 valid signatures to get on the ballot.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, Jim King, “the Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite in the GOP primary, is suspending his campaign after being sidelined by a serious back injury.” King may drop out of the race “but won’t make that final determination until consulting with doctors next week.” His name will appear on the Aug. 26 ballot regardless, the paper said. “In past elections, Brown-Waite has easily defeated Democratic challengers but this is the first time she has faced competition from within her party.”

The Seattle Times reports that “supporters of a so-called ‘Death With Dignity’ initiative turned in an estimated 320,000 signatures Tuesday to the Secretary of State’s Office, virtually guaranteeing that Initiative 1000 will be on the November ballot.” The drive to make Washington the second state to allow physician-assisted suicide is being led by former Gov. Booth Gardner, “a Parkinson’s disease patient who filed the initiative in January,” although his condition would not “qualify him for aid in dying” under conditions set by the ballot proposition. Neighboring Oregon is the only state that currently allows physician-assisted suicide, the result of a voter initiative first adopted in 1994.