The Washington press corps is gearing up for another campaign season as ballots for the board of the White House Correspondents Association are landing in mailboxes around the region this week, promising another grueling race.

The opening salvo, an ad from "Off-airs For Truth" hitting Ann Compton's "friendly" image by pointing to her 1986 phone-throwing incident at the Mercer Hotel, shows this will be another year heavy on negative advertising. Similarly, the Association is currently trying to figure out how to respond to a round of leaflets dropped in the briefing room yesterday alleging that Knight-Ridder's Bill Douglass is actually a Supreme Court justice who died 25 years ago and hence ineligible to run.

The ballot:

President 2007-2008: Ann Compton (ABC News), Joe Curl (Washington Times), and Connie Lawn (Audio/Video News)

At-Large Seat (3-year-term): Ken Basinet (NY Daily News), Ann Compton (ABC News) Joe Curl (Washington Times), Bill Douglass (Knight Ridder), and Connie Lawn (Audio/Video News)

At-Large Seat (2-year-term): Steve Holland (Reuters), Dick Keil (Bloomberg), and Kate McCarthy (C-SPAN)

Newspaper Seat (3-year-term): Ed Chen (LA Times)

Photographer Seat (3-year-term): Brian Haefeli (Fox) and Doug Mills (NY Times)

Proving that the Correspondents Association is closely aligned with the Florida Board of Elections, a member running for president must also be elected to the board--hence it's conceivable that every person running for president could lose if either Basinet or Douglass wins the at-large seat.

Ballots are due on July 6, although the National Election Pool exit polls should be available in about a week.

In the candidates' statements accompanying the ballot, many suggest that the Association needs to take a larger role in press credentialing and issues of access.

"Now, of course, the issue of 'who is a journalist' and who gets credentials is more important than ever," writes Lawn, who herself as a freelancer fought the White House in the 1960s for access. "I support the present policy of the widest possible inclusion, unless the applicant is a security risk."

ABC News' Compton weighed in, saying "Credentialing is still in White House control, as it should be, but our voice should be heard. I support a broad definition of White House journalist, including bloggers and columnists."

Bloomberg's Keil though argues that the West Wing needs to adopt "tougher standards for admission to the briefing room in order to avoid another Jeff Gannon situation." It's worth noting that neither Compton nor Keil specifically came out against admitting security risks.

Beyond whether pants-less bloggers and male escorts should be admitted to the White House, most candidates for the board are interested in the annual dinner (after all, it's the biggest thing in the city) and the forthcoming briefing room renovations.

Such oversight might be all the more important as it appears the renovations are very much in flux. A memo to news media following a recent walk-thru shows that concerns about asbestos abatement in the press work area might derail the low-impact schedule.

The plan right now is for "replacing seats, carpeting and lights in the briefing room, installing new desks/furniture in the common work areas. Plus the White House is looking at HVAC, plumbing, electrical, structural and storage issues throughout." The most exciting news, considering that the best choice for internet access for occasional White House reporters currently is a dial-up connection in the basement bowels, is that the briefing room might go wireless and each seat might also be wired for data.

As to the timeline, the memo reports: "Your correspondents' association and the network reps stressed that doing the work right is more important than doing it immediately. No one from the White House disagreed."