OLYMPIA — The races for chairmen of the state Democratic and Republican parties are infused with talk of the disputed governor's election as party leaders get ready to vote Saturday.

Incumbents in both parties say with an unprecedented legal battle raging it is not the time to change leadership, while challengers say their parties' candidates should never have found themselves in the position of still fighting over the office nearly three months after the election.

The legal and political fallout from the Nov. 2 election has given Republican Chris Vance and Democrat Paul Berendt unusually high public profiles for party chairmen in Washington. They have maintained a constant presence on TV, radio and in newspapers — often facing off against each other — as they make the case for either Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire or Republican Dino Rossi.

It's a coincidence that both are up for re-election on the same day. But the challenges they face hold a lot of similarities.

Vance and Berendt each have three opponents, and both men are backed by their party's gubernatorial candidates.

They have opponents whose campaigns focus on party-backing of the grassroots.

Both campaign amidst the aftermath of the closest governor's race in state history.

And both predict easy victories.

"We are in the middle of a big conflict right now," Vance said. "A change in leadership at this moment would not be advantageous to anyone.

"That is one reason the Rossi campaign wants me to be re-elected."

Vance originally had said he wouldn't run for re-election but changed his mind at Rossi's urging. Vance has been chairman since 2001. He is a former King County councilman and a former state legislator.

The Republican State Committee meets Saturday in Tukwila. The Democratic Central Committee meets in Olympia.

"I am absolutely certain that if anyone were chair other than myself, Christine would not be governor today because we chased the ballots, we fought the battle in the courts, we fought the PR battle," Berendt said.

"Most state chairs would have thrown in the towel at some point, and that was something that we never thought of doing, ever."

Berendt has been Democratic chairman since 1995, taking the reins after the party's disastrous showing in the 1994 elections.

King County Democratic Party Chairman Greg Rodriguez, who is running against Berendt, said some Berendt backers "give him full credit for getting Christine elected."

"Paul's staunchest supporters use this as an excuse to keep him," Rodriguez said. "But what I hear more is that it should never have been this close."

And that gets to what Rodriguez wants to campaign on. He says Berendt has not done enough to build the party east of the Cascades and in the rural Westside.

Rodriguez said he has talked to Republicans about the downside of having incumbent chairmen so closely identified with the nasty fight over the governor's race.

"If Paul and Chris are re-elected, every time they are seen or their name is mentioned, what are people going to think about? The recount," Rodriguez said.

"Maybe this is an appropriate time for change. That we put a new face on this; we get off the governor's race."

Also running against Berendt are Bill Phillips, a Snohomish County party official, and Kat Overman, former Snohomish County party chairwoman.

Overman said she doesn't hear much about the governor's race. Phillips said it does come up, most often when Berendt backers claim Gregoire's victory shows Berendt was effective in the post-election wrangling.

"My counter to that is this is a race that should not have been as close as it was," Phillips said. "We have let Republicans build a red wall around two-thirds of the state of Washington."

Vance is being challenged by Rose Strong, Sharon Bumala and Mark Hulst, all veteran Republican activists.

Hulst, the former long-time chairman of the Skagit County Republican Party, said he hears little about the governor's race. He says he's running because the party has failed to present a cogent message to voters.

Bumala, who was close to former U.S. Rep. Linda Smith, said she decided to run when Vance earlier said he wouldn't. She said there is no disagreement in the party about Vance's stewardship of the aggressive effort backing Rossi's court challenge.

Strong agreed. But she said Vance should have done more before the election to make sure invalid voters were purged from registration lists.

"Things that happened in this election can be laid to the feet of Chris Vance," said Strong, who tried to defeat Vance two years ago. "We were outsmarted."

Strong, mother of Seattle Seahawk Mack Strong, said she worked hard to help raise money from professional football players for Rossi and coordinated support for him among black voters.

She said she was surprised Rossi has backed Vance.

David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com