Dems take House; Cantwell re-elected

On an Election Day that saw Democrats making huge gains nationwide, the party also has plenty to celebrate here.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell — once considered the Senate's most vulnerable Democratic incumbent —overwhelmingly defeated Republican challenger Mike McGavick.

Meanwhile, Democrats appeared poised to build their strongest majorities in the state Legislature in more than a decade. And Democrats appeared to be getting their way on several major ballot measures, as well as in a key state Supreme Court race.

Democrats were giddy.

"We got our country back tonight," U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said at a Democratic election party in Bellevue.

Republicans were hoping for brighter news in two closely watched congressional races.

Rep. Dave Reichert, in early returns, held a slim lead over Democratic challenger Darcy Burner in the state's 8th Congressional District, an Eastside suburban seat long coveted by Democrats.

In the state's only other hotly contested congressional race, Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris was easily fending off challenger Peter Goldmark in the 5th District in Eastern Washington.

Former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton — the Republican stalwart whom Cantwell defeated six years ago — said it was clear what was behind the GOP's dismal Election Day nationwide.

"You can put it in shorthand by saying the conduct of the war has a lot to do with it," said Gorton, who was watching election results at a Republican gathering in Bellevue.

Here in Washington, up and down the ballot, early returns seemed to be going mostly the Democrats' way.

"The Democratic agenda has been reinforced by voters," Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire said.

Gregoire last week predicted it would be "1994 in reverse," referring to the nationwide Republican tidal wave 12 years ago that swept numerous Washington state Democrats — including then-U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley — out of office.

Democrats were leading in several key legislative races, making it likely the party would add several seats to its 56-42 majority in the House and 26-23 edge in the Senate.

In the hardest-fought state Supreme Court race, incumbent Justice Susan Owens — backed heavily by Democrats, labor unions and other liberal groups — was cruising to an easy win over Republican state Sen. Steve Johnson.

Owens' victory means the makeup of the court will remain unchanged. Two other incumbents — Chief Justice Gerry Alexander and Justice Tom Chambers —defeated conservative property-rights advocates during the September primary election.

It also appeared voters were rejecting two statewide ballot initiatives that were backed by conservatives and opposed by liberals.

Initiative 933, which would require governments to compensate property owners for land-use restrictions, and Initiative 920, which would repeal Washington's estate tax, were both trailing by wide margins.

Meanwhile, voters were narrowly approving I-937, a so-called clean-energy measure that would require power utilities to start relying more heavily on renewable resources such as wind and solar.

Heading into the 2006 election cycle, Republicans pegged Cantwell as a key target. Republicans were eager to avenge her razor-thin victory over Gorton.

McGavick, a former top aide to Gorton, quit his job as CEO at Safeco to take on Cantwell.

Last spring, Cantwell faced a mini-uprising among Democratic anti-war activists who were angry over her refusal to denounce her vote for the Iraq war. But as was the case with Democrats nationwide, Cantwell worked hard to turn the election into a referendum on President Bush and a scandal-plagued Republican Congress. Bush's approval rating here hasn't topped 40 percent in more than a year.

Cantwell spent the final days of her campaign on a 27-stop "Checklist for Change" tour of the state. Cantwell raised more than $18 million in campaign donations, nearly twice McGavick's total.

In the 8th District, the Democrats, echoing their national strategy, painted Reichert as a rubber stamp for the Bush administration. Reichert, in turn, characterized Burner as inexperienced and warned that she would vote to raise taxes.

The Burner-Reichert race attracted lots of national attention and money. Total spending on the race — by the candidates and outside groups — topped $10.3 million.

In spite of the record-setting rain, poll workers in many places reported heavy voter turnout, though it's unclear whether this year's turnout would reach the 67 percent mark state officials predicted. If it does, it would be the largest in decades for a non-presidential election.

The heavy flooding did cause headaches for election officials. King County was forced to shut down two polling places in Snoqualmie and North Bend and directed voters to alternate locations, and Carnation police were securing ballots overnight that couldn't be delivered to the election office.

Many local races, such as legislative contests, remained undecided late Tuesday. That's because the vast majority of voters statewide cast their ballots by mail and there are hundreds of thousands of ballots yet to be counted.

King County is one of just five counties statewide that do not vote entirely by mail.

Voters in Seattle and King County faced a daunting number of ballot choices. In fact, there were so many local races and measures, this year's mail-in ballots required extra postage.

In Seattle, it appeared voters were rejecting a roads and bridges improvement package that would impose the largest property-tax increase in city history. The so-called "Bridging the Gap" measure, backed by Mayor Greg Nickels, would also include increased funding for bike lanes, sidewalks, traffic lights and buses.

But voters were favoring King County's Proposition 2, which would increase local sales taxes slightly to pay for additional bus service.

Seattle voters sent a message to the new owners of the Seattle Sonics and Storm, who have indicated they will move the basketball teams unless they get a new arena. Initiative 91, which was passing by a wide margin, would restrict taxpayer subsidies for professional sports teams.

Meanwhile, voters also appeared to be overturning Seattle's recently adopted strip-club rules, which required that dancers remain a minimum of 4 feet away from customers, banned dances in private rooms and called for brighter lighting inside clubs.

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

Staff reporters David Postman, Susan Gilmore, Tan Vinh and Manuel Valdes contributed to this report.