With the clock ticking toward first returns, the crowd of about 100 supporters at Susan Hutchison's party at the Bellevue Hyatt Regency exploded in applause as she entered.

Instead of sequestering herself before the returns, she mingled with supporters outside the entrance to the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, holding a dozen coral roses. Dressed in an immaculate white suit, a triple strand of pearls, and red high heels, she looked the winner of a beauty contest.

Hutchison said she didn't expect there would be a definitive answer tonight in her race for King County executive.

"It's been a volatile week with things hitting voters, the Boeing announcement and the increasing attack ads on me.
"I just think with the number of votes out it will be too close to call."

Asked about the campaign, she said "never expected the intensity" of the campaign. "It's much more like a (U.S.) Senate race. And the issues Dow (Constantine) brought up had nothing to do with being King County executive. I think in the mind of his party, they were thinking of a Senate race. It was a big surprise to me he didn't stick with the issues of the county ... he brought up the abortion issue over and over. He needed it to be partisan."

She said there were some things she would have "tweaked" in how she ran the campaign, as a first time candidate. "I had a gigantic learning curve, I've never run a campaign before. Those who have been through this before would have had a better instinct, especially at the beginning."

But she said she had no regrets. "I had several people tell me we ran a good and honorable campaign, and I believe we did."

Asked if she would run again if she lost, she answered, "I know the people of this county have been filled with hope by my candidacy. They yearn for a new direction. They want things to change, that is so satisfying, as a candidate, to know you inspired hope."