Washington State has a unique ballot system: anyone can run for any office they like, regardless of the wishes of the parties. The application to run for office includes a blank for "Party Preference". Candidates could write anything, including Sandanista Party if they wanted, or Flying Spaghetti Monster Party. The ballot would read "John Smith (Prefers Flying Spaghetti Monster Party)".
An important reason this was enacted was the make more elections competitive: Even if a race contained no Republicans, this new system would advance the top-two vote-getters to the general election, regardless of party. A sample Washington ballot
This system invites candidates to be dishonest about their actual allegiance, and Republicans are naturally jumping at the chance. (Of course! How could we anticipate any less?)
Apparently research has found that "Prefers GOP" is more palatable than "Prefers Republican Party", for voters disgusted with Bush. So, many Republicans have adopted this moniker, hoping that voters don't realize that the GOP is in fact the very same party Bush belongs to. The Seattle Times ran an article about this phenomenon here. The highest office for which a candidate is trying this is Governor, and the Rethug very nearly won last time.
Naturally, the Democrats have sued to try to make the Rethugs be honest (a noble goal, even if futile). As the article says, however, the suit is a bit late, and the law is not on their side: the GOP may get away with this chicanery.
The courts may not force the Republicans to advertise themselves honestly, but we, the netroots, can help their deception to make no difference. From now until November, media in Washington State (especially Seattle area) should be deluged with mail advertising that "GOP" MEANS Republican Party.
This deceit by Republicans may result in Washington changing its "top two" elections, approved by voters as Initiative 872 and then upheld by a federal court. This would be sad, IMO, because what other states do amounts to official endorsement of the major parties.
To help people out, I'm listing the main Washington media: