Although there is not yet a final result int he Washington Senate race, where incumbent Democrat Patty Murray faced a strong challenge from former state Senator and two-time gubernatorial nominee Dino Rossi, the latest numbers can probably make Democrats rest easier.
As the Seattle Times reports, additional vote totals last night from King County (Seattle) and elsewhere expanded Murray’s raw-vote lead from 14,000 up to more than 27,000.
The Republican Rossi has noted that hundreds of thousands of votes still haven’t been counted, and thus say that the race is too close to call. However, analysis at the Times appears to indicate that he would have a tough time pulling ahead:
Rossi’s vote percentage slipped from where it had been on Election Day in 18 of 22 counties that had reported new totals as of 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The most significant drop came in King County, home to nearly a third of the state’s registered voters. Rossi received about 33 percent of the King County votes counted Wednesday, down from 38 percent on Election Day.
“The King County numbers are devastating for Rossi,” said Matt Barreto, political-science professor at the University of Washington, who said he felt even more confident in his election-night analysis predicting a Murray win.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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