GOP looks like it may pick up Washington Governorship

[Sam Spade]

Link to site with state numbers:

http://vote.wa.gov/general/statewide_results.aspx?o=7FR30bVZqpnn5rCqJv1pVg%3d%3d

Link to approximate ballots left:

http://vote.wa.gov/general/status.aspx

We have already had about 3,500 ballots or so today, with about 81,500 left.  Rossi gained by about 400 votes.

This afternoon we'll get reports from a number of places, including King County @ 4:00 PM which has 25,000 of those ballots out and should help clear this race further.

[Sam Spade]

Just as an observation, I've been reading that the Democrats are starting to sue over "not all the ballots being counted" and other nonsense.

Link:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA%20Election%20Lawsuit

This tells me that Gregoire thinks Rossi is going to win with the next 81,000 ballots out, and that they're getting their lawyering machinery ready.

[Sam Spade]

Roughly 14,000 more of those King County ballots have come in with nearly 20,000 more from other counties.

Results as of 6:00 PM PST right now:

Dino Rossi 1,342,230 (48.90%)
Christine Gregoire 1,341,366 (48.87%)
Ruth Bennett 60,955 (2.22%)

Rossi's lead is now down to 864 votes.

However, there are now only around 11,000 ballots left from King County out of roughly 53,123 total.

We should get reports still today from Benton, Clark, Cowlitz and Spokane Counties.

If the vote goes as before, these ballots should favor Rossi, except Cowlitz, which should be a wash.

Otherwise, we wait until Monday for more ballot results.

I am now more confident in making a prediction that Rossi will win the original count and that there will be a extremely hard fought and lawyered recount.

[Sam Spade]

I remember New Mexico in 2000 as well, with that "missing precinct" of voters that miraculously gave Gore the lead there by a few hundred votes.

Or the Tim Johnson "finding enough Indian voters" thing we saw in 2002 in South Dakota.  Fortunately, the Dems got their comeuppance on this one in 2004, when there just weren't enough "registered Indians" to make up the difference.

I might suggest Hugh Hewitt's book, for those of us who look over these things closely.

One thing's for sure, if Rossi doesn't win it, he'll make an excellent challenger to Maria Cantwell in 2006. 

[Sam Spade]

I am hearing rumors on other sites from Channel 2 News in WA that Rossi has won by 261 votes (Benton must not have been posted yet).

There be a machine recount, but no hand recount.

Maria Cantwell is breathing a sigh of relief right now.

[Sam Spade]

Got the final numbers now:

Rossi: 1,371,414 (48.87%)
Gregoire: 1,371,153 (48.86%)
Bennett: 63,346 (2.25%)

[Sam Spade]

I'm sure Senator Cantwell is breathing a sigh of relief right now. 

Of course, y'all are quite right, it ain't over yet.