The judge has ruled. Let the speculation begin.

Having failed to overturn last fall's election for governor, will Republican Dino Rossi run for the U.S. Senate in 2006 or wait for another try at governor in 2008? Has his six-month court challenge hurt him politically or strengthened his standing as his party's best hope?

And now that Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire's victory has been affirmed, will she be an emboldened chief executive? Will the clouds surrounding her election finally lift, or will they linger through her term?

The answer to all those questions: It depends whom you ask.

Political futures

Republicans and Democrats had entirely different opinions on what yesterday's ruling by Judge John Bridges will mean for the political futures of both Rossi and Gregoire.

"While Christine Gregoire gets to keep her job, Dino comes out of the trial strengthened politically because it has exposed an election fraught with even more problems than anyone realized," said KVI talk-radio host John Carlson, the Republican nominee for governor in 2000.

Christian Sinderman, a Democratic consultant who worked on Gregoire's campaign, said: "Obviously I'm biased, but I think [Rossi] has seriously damaged his credibility. He's proven himself a sore loser. He let this case go on for six months knowing there was no proof."

Reactions to ruling

"I'm personally relieved. God bless my family. God bless those who in the days leading up to this sent me their prayers and wishes. I am happy for myself. I'm happy for the state of Washington that we can finally move on here."
Gov. Christine Gregoire

Because the "political makeup of the Washington Supreme Court" makes it "almost impossible to overturn this ruling, I am ending this election contest. I don't make this decision lightly, but I don't make it ... with bitterness or hard feelings."
Dino Rossi, Republican candidate

"We disagree with the judge both in terms of the facts and the law. We believe he has established a bar so high, it's virtually impossible to contest an election in this state."
Chris Vance, State Republican Party chairman

"I think it was a resounding rejection of every one of the Republican claims. There is no corner for them to run to in that decision."
Jenny Durkan, Democratic attorney

"For me there's no sense of celebration in this. It has been and continues to be a very daunting and challenging task to address the issues that need to be addressed with regards to elections administration."
Dean Logan, King County elections director

"Dino has done a great job. Not sure what the future holds. Obviously, he'll have to make some decisions. This is a man with great potential."
Vice President Dick Cheney, in Seattle yesterday at a fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn

"Once again, we see that our judicial system is a law unto itself, completely insulated from reality; one would have to have a political agenda to come up with the same conclusion as [Judge John] Bridges."
Diane Berkey, Richland, a Seattle Times reader

"I accept the court's decision completely. Now, let's fix the problems in the voting system. Pronto!"
Judy Rieke of Seattle, a Seattle Times reader

"Why did they only pick five? Because they were people who cooperated? That seems screwed up."
Arthur "Pat" Welsh of Seattle, a Rossi voter and one of the five felons found by Bridges to have voted illegally in the governor's race. Out of hundreds of alleged felon voters cited by both sides in the case, he and four others were singled out because they responded to a Democratic subpoena and testified to their vote.

"When all is said and done and people sort out all the issues ... there will be a lot more people that know the right person is in the governor's office."
Paul Berendt, State Democratic Party chairman

As for Gregoire, one Republican said he's worried the ruling will free her and the Democrats to pursue a more aggressive agenda. But Democrats say the governor is unlikely to change the way she does business, and that she was certainly no wallflower in her first legislative session.

After announcing yesterday that he would not appeal Bridges' ruling, Rossi took no questions from reporters and gave no hints about his plans.

When campaign started

When he entered the race for governor in late 2003, a lot of people didn't give him much chance of winning. After all, no Republican had been elected governor in more than two decades and he was just a little-known state senator from Sammamish.

Gregoire, on the other hand, was Washington's nationally known three-term attorney general. She was widely viewed by Democrats as the obvious heir to the state's highest office.

But Rossi proved far more formidable than many pundits imagined.

David Olson, a political-science professor at the University of Washington, said Rossi's decision to challenge the election cut both ways for him.

Voters have grown weary of the election mess, Olson said, and many probably blame Rossi for keeping it stirred up. On the other hand, he added, Rossi has kept his base of supporters energized and much of his campaign organization intact.

Damage control

Ron Dotzauer, a former Democratic campaign consultant who now runs a public-relations firm in Seattle, said Rossi did not do any major damage to himself by pushing the election challenge this far. But if he had decided to appeal, there was "nowhere to go but down," Dotzauer said.

Carlson said Rossi is "without question the most formidable Republican candidate for either the U.S. Senate or for governor."

In recent months, Rossi has been mentioned repeatedly as a possible challenger next year to freshman U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.

The Republicans have even started polling on the match-up.

Other Republican names have surfaced, including state GOP Chairman Chris Vance, former U.S. Rep. Rick White and Safeco chief executive Mike McGavick. But with Rossi's election challenge pending, none made any moves.

Rossi has said repeatedly that he is not interested in running for U.S. Senate. He says he wants to tackle the state's problems and doesn't view federal office as the place to do that.

But Vance said yesterday it is inevitable that Republicans in high places, including the White House, will try to recruit Rossi.

Some of Rossi's biggest supporters, however, think he should remain focused on a rematch with Gregoire.

"I think the governor's the right spot for him," said Tom McCabe, head of the Building Industry Association of Washington.

Others have cautioned that Rossi might find running for U.S. Senate much different from running for governor.

Dotzauer pointed out that Rossi — an anti-abortion Catholic in one of the nation's most pro-choice states — was able to largely sidestep the abortion issue last year.

"He could not get away with that in a U.S. Senate race," Dotzauer said.

"No check and balance"

Observers on both sides saw the ruling yesterday as a clear-cut victory for Gregoire — but they had different takes on what that means.

House Minority Leader Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, said he's worried the ruling will free Gregoire to pursue a more aggressive agenda next session.

The prospect of a special election with Rossi served as a modest check on Democrats during the past legislative session, DeBolt said.

"There is no check and balance now," he said. "They won't be looking over their shoulder but will be looking ahead at their agenda."

Democrats, however, say Gregoire is unlikely to change the way she does business.

"I don't think she could be more assertive than she was in her first session," said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam.

"She certainly went out on a limb on a couple of issues and seemed to show she was willing to do the best job she could and not worry so much about the political winds."

Backing tax package

The biggest example of that, she said, was Gregoire's support for an $8.5 billion transportation-tax package that will increase the state gas tax by 9.5 cents over the next four years.

At the time, many Democrats considered it a gutsy move on Gregoire's part with the prospect of a new election looming.

Don Brunell, president of the Association of Washington Business, says he thinks Gregoire learned a lesson from President Bush when he edged out Al Gore to win the presidency in 2000.

"When Bush won in Florida, he basically said, 'This is my agenda and I'm moving forward with it. I am the president.' I think she looked at the governorship the same way," Brunell said.

Yesterday's end to the election contest should prove a big relief to Gregoire, said former Democratic Gov. Booth Gardner, a friend and mentor.

"There's no way it could not have been a distraction," he said. "It would tire you. The tension of that, plus having to deal with the Legislature and getting her legislation passed."

Gregoire seemed to confirm that yesterday when she emerged from her office in a jubilant mood after the ruling. After hugging her husband and two daughters, Gregoire patted her dog on the head and said, "You're still the first dog."

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