The sponsors names are drawn from such environmental groups as The Bullitt Foundation, Earthjustice, the Washington Environmental Council and Seattle Audobon: It should add up to a handsome haul of greens' greenbacks for the reelection coffers of Gov. Chris Gregoire.

The enviros are sponsoring a noon fundraiser for Gregoire on Tuesday, July 8, at Wild Ginger.

The price of admission is $500, the tab for being an event sponsor is $1,000.

The most prominent sponsor is Denis Hayes, president of The Bullitt Foundation, which funds environmental causes with money from the Bullitt family, founders and former owners of King Broadcasting.

Gregoire has been under fire on the airwaves. The campaign against the governor, which moved from radio to TV last week, is financed through a front group by the Building Industry Association of Washington.

The BIAW is the state's leading anti-environmental lobby, having opposed the Puget Sound Partnership as well as global warming legislation sponsored by the governor. It has championed the political career of Gregoire's GOP challenger, former state Sen. Dino Rossi.

In turn, Gregoire has been a hero to environmentalists, especially those west of the Cascades. The Washington Environmental Council endorsed her in 2004, causing Rossi to skip the WEC's annual "Wake Up for the Environment" breakfast. The Sierra Club has already endorsed Gregoire's reelection bid.

(In Eastern Washington, Gregoire has aroused suspicion among some environmental activists. She has supported cattle grazing on state wildlife lands -- a favorite cause of the Washington Cattlemens Association -- and is suspect on several water storage projects.)

Wild Ginger has become a favored venue for well-heeled Democrats.

It was "discovered" a decade ago, when White House press secretary Mike McCurry took friends there while Bill Clinton was dining with donors in Bellevue. "We're going to eat a lot better than the people here, and for a lot less," McCurry quipped as he decamped from the fundraiser.

Clinton came to see for himself in 2001, capturing the main dining room and working the kitchen at Wild Ginger before heading upstairs with prominent Democratic moneymen.

Wild Ginger became a favorite of Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. She was allowed to order takeout.