Thin crowd glimpses state history

WENATCHEE — Nearly every morning for the past two weeks, Dennis and Lois Ferguson have hopped in their car and traveled an hour and a half from their Moses Lake home to witness a piece of Washington history.

The Fergusons, retired federal employees, are among the dozen or so courtroom watchers drawn here to the trial over the 2004 gubernatorial election that installed Democrat Christine Gregoire as governor by a 129-vote margin.

They'll be back this morning when Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges is expected to announce his decision. Republicans hope he'll void the error-marred election and give another shot to their candidate, former state Sen. Dino Rossi.

Why did the Fergusons and other spectators sit through dozens of hours of sometimes dull testimony in a courtroom populated mostly by lawyers, political operatives and news reporters?

Ask them and they invariably turn the question around. Why didn't more people join them?

"The first day I got here, I was surprised it wasn't packed," said Susan Freiberg, a Gregoire supporter from Wenatchee who has been a regular at the trial.

The courtroom watchers haven't exactly been sitting elbow-to-elbow. The case has played out in an auditorium across the street from the Chelan County Courthouse, with teams of lawyers arguing in front of a blown-up copy of Gregoire's official "Certificate of Election."

A few hundred people could fit in the rows of red chairs behind the lawyers, but the room has typically been less than a quarter full.

Those who were willing to sit through the boring parts — even state Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt fell asleep at one point — said they've been rewarded with moments of real drama, such as the at-times belligerent cross-examinations of the expert witnesses called by both parties to prove who ought to have won the election.

"It's politics. It's theater. It's good stuff," said Bill Stokes, an older man who has watched the entire trial unfold. He declined to say which side he wanted to win.

The significance of the case drew observers like Donna Lee Moore, a semiretired nurse and Rossi supporter from Cashmere, Chelan County.

"The ripples from this will greatly impact the whole nation, not just this state," said Moore, who staked out a seat on the right side of the courtroom Friday.

Nearly all of the courtroom watchers here had an opinion about the case at the outset — and none said the two-week trial changed their minds. Most were Rossi supporters, not surprising in a county that handed the Republican 63 percent of the vote.

There were just two things all the casual observers seemed to agree on: Judge Bridges handled the case superbly, and King County really screwed up last November.

No one seemed sure which way Bridges will rule, but they praised his fairness, wit and his efforts to keep the case on schedule.

"He's a great judge, very punctual," said Aleda Baldridge, who quietly observed the trial from a fifth-row seat late last week. She nodded in approval.

King County, on the other hand, was the subject of frequent snickers in the courtroom as Republican lawyers pilloried elections workers for failing to count all the votes correctly.

"I don't have any confidence in the election system after seeing all the errors that have been created throughout the state, but especially King County," said Dennis Ferguson.

What was less clear was whether the Republicans convinced the courtroom watchers, much less the judge, of their most explosive claim: that there was actual ballot stuffing in King County.

"I don't really know which way it will go, but I can't see where the [Republican] petitioners have proved there is really fraud," said Brian Bonnicksen, of Wenatchee, a retired upholstery-shop owner who sat watching the trial with his arms crossed last week.

But Bonnicksen, a Rossi supporter, said he thought there should be a revote, citing the lists of felons who voted and dead people who had votes cast in their names.

Most of the diligent courtroom watchers will be back this morning. For some, watching the trial has given them a certain amount of faith in the system.

Will the Fergusons, who voted for Rossi, be angry if Bridges doesn't overturn the election?

Dennis Ferguson thought for a moment. "I will not be," he said.

Lois Ferguson disagreed: "I probably will be," she said, citing the numerous errors in King County.

"If this cannot overturn an election, what would?"

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628