It’s not official yet, but one could assume that the 23rd District’s next state senator will be Rep. Christine Rolfes. She is midway through her third term in the State Legislature and likely will be appointed by Kitsap County commissioners to replace fellow islander Sen. Phil Rockefeller, who was recently appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

Before the appointment gets to the commissioners, the county’s Democratic Central Committee and Precinct Committee Officers will weigh-in on the three nominees that state law requires. If only Rolfes applies, as she said this week she will do by the June 28 deadline, then chances are the party’s Central Committee will ask two other qualified Democrats to apply.

Rolfes may very well be the most well-qualified of the trio, so  the former City of Bainbridge council member probably will be a state senator by the end of July. Then the process will begin all over again for her replacement in the House.

Rigged, you say? Republicans who are shut out of this process until the 2012 election may think so. They believe it perpetuates the dominant party because, among other things, incumbents have a built-in advantage during elections.

Perhaps, but allowing political parties to choose replacements is equitable because both operate under the same system. For example, Democrats in parts of upstate New York have been whining for decades because the dominant Republicans know how to play the game, too. So if you’re outside looking in, then it’s labeled corrupt. Otherwise it’s fair. The point is, that’s the method and it’s legal until we concoct a better way to do it.

In this instance, however, Rolfes is a highly qualified legislator who works extremely hard to represent her constituents, a majority of whom are Democrats. No surprise there. And it’s doubtful that a better choice can be found in Kitsap County.