King County absentees widen lead for Gregoire

By Ralph Thomas and Andrew Garber
Seattle Times Olympia bureau

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But Republican Dino Rossi hopes to cut into Gregoire's nearly 18,000 vote lead as more votes are tallied today and next week in the counties where he ran strongest.

Meanwhile yesterday, Democrats held onto leads in two state Senate races that could give the party control of the Legislature.

With an estimated 600,000 ballots left to count statewide, the race for governor is far from decided. Thirty counties are scheduled to count more absentee ballots today. They have until Nov. 17 to finish counting and certify the election.

Gregoire and Rossi both have taken turns in the lead since Election Day. Gregoire's lead yesterday was less than 1 percent of the more than 2 million votes cast in the race.

Their campaigns yesterday were plugging the latest vote counts into computer models but neither claimed to see any sort of trend that would indicate victory for either side.

"There's so many votes out there and so many variables," said Gregoire spokesman Morton Brilliant. "If there's someone out there with a magic crystal ball, bring it on by."

Fifteen counties tallied about 200,000 ballots yesterday. More than a third of those were in King County, where Gregoire has been beating Rossi 60 percent to 40 percent.

But Rossi is winning nearly everywhere else, holding leads in all but eight of 39 counties. Yesterday, he added to his lead in high-population counties like Pierce, Spokane and Clark.

In the battle for control of the Legislature, Democrat Brian Weinstein built his lead over Republican incumbent Jim Horn in the Eastside's District 41. Horn is chairman of the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee.

In Clark County, Democrat Craig Pridemore held a slim lead over incumbent Don Carlson, R-Vancouver, who represents the 49th District. However, the gap closed slightly.
 
Carlson and Horn did not concede yesterday. Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance declined comment.

Democrats made a concerted effort this election to regain the state Senate, which Republicans won in 2002 with a 25-24 majority. In the House, Democrats have a more comfortable majority of 52-46.

To win the Senate, the Democrats must gain at least one seat.

Though control of the House is not at stake, both parties are keeping a close eye on several races, particularly in District 26 where incumbent Reps. Pat Lantz, D-Gig Harbor, and Lois McMahan, R-Gig Harbor, have tight contests.

Lantz yesterday held a narrow lead over Republican Matt Rice, a physician.

The candidates have sparred over medical-malpractice lawsuits, with Republicans saying Lantz, chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee, has blocked tort-reform efforts. Democrats call the criticism an unfair attack by special interests.

McMahan was trailing her Democratic opponent, Derek Kilmer of Gig Harbor, who has a background in economic development.

Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com