WA election: The count continues
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"Election Day" is history now, but in Washington, it's just the beginning. The count goes on ... and on.
The Election Night report from our 39 counties showed us a great snapshot -- about 60 percent of the 2.4 million expected ballots were tallied. The rest, either still in the mail or in the courthouses awaiting the time-consuming process of scrutinizing each ballot, will be added over the coming days. Most counties will be adding freshly processed ballots daily, and most will be tabulated by week's end. Hang in there.
Secretary of State Sam Reed says the turnout looks like the best midterm turnout in 40 years. Voters were motivated by heavy media attention and voter activism at the national and local level, an avalanche of broadcast ads and record spending, robocalls, mailed brochures, doorbellers, and more, he says. The state's ultra-close Senate race, some hot congressional races, bid for control of the state Legislature, judicial and local races, and nine statewide ballot measures all combined to add spice to the midterm ballot.
Most of us voted by mail, 98 percent or more, making it convenient.
So what did we say?
--We haven't heard definitive word on how the marquee race will turn out -- that U.S. Senate race where three-term Democratic incumbent Patty Murray leads her well-known GOP challenger, Dino Rossi, by just 1 percentage point and about 14,000 votes out of over 1.4 million cast. Many, many votes remain to be received and counted -- perhaps 900,000 or 1 million more, starting with Wednesday's updates. That number would get us to the 66 percent turnout that Secretary Reed has predicted. Both campaigns see a path to victory.
--Republican Jaime Herrera, in her first bid for higher office, picked up the open 3rd Congressional District seat vacated by Democratic Rep. Brian Baird. Democrat Denny Heck conceded. In the closely watched 2nd District, Republican John Koster had a small lead over incumbent Rep. Rick Larsen. If that holds, Republicans would have a 5-4 edge in the House delegation for the first time since 1998. All other incumbents were heading to re-election, some by landslide margins.
--Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders led in a tight race for re-election. Chief Justice Barbara Madsen and Justice James Johnson were re-elected without General Election opposition.
--Republicans made major gains in both the state House and state Senate, and hope to win enough close races to gain control of the Senate. Democrats predict they'll keep both chambers, with much closer margins.
--Voters approved two anti-tax measures, Tim Eyman's plan to re-establish a two-thirds vote requirement for Olympia to pass taxes and fees, and an initiative to roll back a new tax on soda, bottled water and candy. An income tax on high-wage earners failed. One liquor privatization plan, I-1105 went down, and a rival plan, I-1100 was trailing. A proposal to let private carriers offer workers' compensation coverage failed, as did a school energy-retrofit program. A crime measure, crafted after the Lakewood police officers' shooting, passed big.
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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