November 2, 2010 in News

Candidates make one last push

Ballots due by 8 p.m.

Jim Camden The Spokesman-Review

Tags:2010 electionsDino RossiElection DayPatty Murrayvoter turnout

Strong turnout predicted for Washington election

If predictions hold, Washington may have its strongest turnout for a midterm election in 40 years.

Secretary of state’s office spokesman David Ammons says the secretary of state’s office estimates that two-thirds of 3.6 million register voters will have their say in the ballot counting that starts Tuesday.

About 98 percent of registered voters are casting ballots by mail — only Pierce County has a small number of polling places. That could mean long delays in determining winners of close races.

Ammons says the red-hot U.S. Senate race, nine ballot issues and at least four close contests for U.S. House seats all have captured voter interest. He says the last time interest was this high for a midterm vote was in 1970, when abortion rights and a proposed state income tax were on the ballot.

Associated Press

Candidates for Washington’s top electoral prize, a U.S. Senate seat that could determine which party controls that chamber of Congress for the next two years, started their full final day of the campaign at dawn, on opposite sides of the state.

Republican challenger Dino Rossi had breakfast at a downtown diner, greeting the morning crowd at the counter and telling eight longtime supporters “We’re getting there.” Rossi said he tries to stop at Frank’s Diner just south of the Maple Street Bridge whenever he’s in town. After fueling up with a full breakfast, Rossi caught a plane to the Tri-Cities, where he’ll be waving signs in Kennewick mid-morning then attending a lunchtime “meet and greet” in Everett before attending the vote-watch party in Bellevue this evening.

Democratic incumbent Patty Murray was on “dawn patrol”, greeting ferry commuters at the Seattle docks at 6:30 a.m. She’s scheduled to meet volunteers in Everett mid-morning, in Tacoma at 11:15 a.m. and attend the election night party at the Westin Hotel in Seattle.

Around Spokane, morning commuters passed candidates and their supporters waving signs at intersections in a last attempt to drum up extra votes. Washington state election officials estimate that more than half the voters who are going to vote have already sent in their ballots, but that still leaves a large bloc of voters who still have ballots that were mailed to them sitting around the home somewhere.

Idaho voters go to the polls, which are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and under a new law must show ID when getting their ballot. Residents who have not registered, but who have lived in the state for at least 30 days and are American citizens, can register and vote by bringing a government-issued photo identification and proof of residency to their local polling place.

Washington state elections officials are estimating that two out of three registered voters will send in ballots — or in the case of Pierce County, which still has poll site voting, go to the polls.

Turnout in Spokane County hit 44 percent Monday, or about 117,000 votes, with ballots brought in by mail or deposited in drop boxes. In King County, where about one out of every three voters in Washington state lives, elections officials had received about 36 percent, or 400,000 ballots, by Monday and projected a turnout of about 68 percent when all ballots come in.

First tallies from around the state are expected shortly after 8 p.m. tonight, but close races might not be decided for days, or even weeks, as ballots continue to arrive by mail. Unlike most states, Washington only requires ballots be postmarked by Election Day, not in election officials’ hands. In 2004, the race for governor between Rossi and Christine Gregoire wasn’t decided until after two recounts — Rossi finished on top in the first tally and first recount, Gregoire won the second recount — and was not really final until after Republicans lost a legal challenge.

If the Rossi-Murray numbers are close tonight, both parties will have extra volunteers watching vote-counting around the state, and likely lawyers available to challenge any questionable ballot.

42 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

hawken on November 02 at 9:43 a.m.
Game on!
maria on November 02 at 10:27 a.m.
how sophomoric of you, hawken. It isn’t a game. That’s what’s wrong with your types…you just want to win. You have no idea what you’re really playing for, however. As long as you win.
misjustice on November 02 at 10:33 a.m.
And even when “they” win, “they” still aren’t happy. Talk about sore winners!
; )
misjustice on November 02 at 10:35 a.m.
Le bebe homme pleurant
http://www.puppetgov.com/wp-content/u…
notaSmartBombsFan on November 02 at 10:38 a.m.
Voted Rossi!
MrNatural on November 02 at 10:48 a.m.
I prefer…fils de pute moralisateur!
…What ever the end tally…let us hope it results in a better future for all
zelda on November 02 at 10:53 a.m.
Interesting to see Cathy McMorris Rodgers on NBC Nightly News on Saturday doing her usual thing — standing stock still, frozen smile, blinking eyeballs — behind John Boehner on the podium as he campaigned in Ohio.
She can barely bring herself to talk to anyone in her home district, but there she was campaigning in Ohio the weekend before the election.
In theater there is a name for people like Cathy. They’re called “sticks.” They’re cast in small, undemanding parts where all you need is somebody who can recite a few lines and can walk reliably across a stage. They are only slightly more important than a stage prop.
Scoutster on November 02 at 10:55 a.m.
Lighten up, everybody…
For progressives this will just be a two year speed bump.
If the GOP wins they will fail all on their own with no help from anyone. Then, if there are any moderate Reps left in 2012, they can join independents and Dems in moving us forward again.
Conservatism always loses. Eventually.
maria on November 02 at 10:56 a.m.
misjustice: Lol. It got 404’d
Let me help:
http://www.puppetgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/glenn-beck-crying.jpg
misjustice on November 02 at 10:59 a.m.
Mr. Natch; Don’t you love the French language?
I think that fils de pute moralisateur is also appropriate. However, it doesn’t quite fit as the caption for the photo [link] that I posted for le bebe homme pleurant.
C’est la vie.
Vive la différence.
misjustice on November 02 at 11:00 a.m.
Oops! Thanks Maria! We can always count on you!
; )
spokanecougar on November 02 at 11:02 a.m.
Zelda - Cathy does what the Republicans want all woman to do, stand behind them, not talk, not do anything and try to look pretty.
She is the worst congresswoman ever, still shocked that local republicans like her when she hasn’t done anything to even help them locally….oh well…..at least she looks good standing behind the Tan Man in Ohio, and really thats all republican men want from their women, right?
MrNatural on November 02 at 11:05 a.m.
I see the same thing ZK in not-so-chatty-plastic Cathy but I also think she seems more like a shill. She tows the party line but her expression(s) seem very pensive and distracted as if she agrees unwillingly. It will be interesting to see what she does when she actually starts to flex her muscles. Speaking of which I’m hard pressed to know what she has done on her own politically speaking.
misjustice on November 02 at 11:14 a.m.
Mr. Natch; she did go against the party lines and voted for SCHIP, the children’s health care bill.
MrNatural on November 02 at 11:21 a.m.
Avec tendresse vers vous mj
I do enjoy “Parler français si peu” but I confess I was referring to hawken
I do hope you (and a few other progressives) are faring well with Election Day anxieties…I’m mentally preparing myself for when the olive branch gets shoved
Shadedmuse on November 02 at 11:39 a.m.
A republicant tea-bag victory in the senate will be gone for years, of obstruction and do nothing we saw this for 12 years, because remember senator terms are six years not two not 4. so Voting Democratic for senate is number one prority because the majority are republicant are crazy tea-baggers who will tea-bag the nation for 6 to 12 years or more. Dino on the other hand is not a tea-bagger but a Bush-CHeney -Rove Neo Con what would explain all of roves negative ads and Robo calls, so lets send a message to Karl Rove, Washington state is not for sale, so you and your boy Dino the Rossi Whine can Go Awya.
Vote Murray your future depends on it.
greenlibertarian on November 02 at 12:03 p.m.
Don’t waste your vote on a neocon!
VOTE CLINT DIDIER!
Diana on November 02 at 12:06 p.m.
I took Hawken’s paternalistic advice from yesterday because I’m stupid and I couldn’t figure out who to vote for. I voted for Dino Rossi.
Not really!
I’m kidding!
eagleproducer on November 02 at 12:16 p.m.
misj: Here is one of my favorites for today:
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.
Hawken: So now it’s a “game” and not a “battle” for the “soul” of the nation.
Please. If you really belive anything will be substantially different come January or Wednesday you are more delusional than the average conservative.
MrNatural on November 02 at 12:17 p.m.
Boy O boy Diana…he sure was hanging those posts on every pole wasn’t he…
• If you don’t want to turn into a liberal pile of decayed manure…Vote Rossi!
• If you believe that liberal reprobates infected your mother…Vote Rossi
• If you don’t want your children to be abducted by liberal pedophiles…Vote Rossi
• If you believe that vile liberal policies will surrender your dog to the terrorists…Vote Rossi
…boy I had to go home and take a shower
eagleproducer on November 02 at 12:18 p.m.
Mr. Natch: McMorris-Rogers has not drafted one piece of legislation that has been enacted into law.
Scoutster on November 02 at 12:30 p.m.
Here is why progressives need not worry for the long run….
A piece from Slate gathered from Yahoo!:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_exclusive/20101102/pl_yblog_exclusive/analysis-will-a-republican-congress-follow-tea-party-ideas-or-move-to-the-center
(an excerpt)
In the likely event that Republicans capture control of one or both houses of Congress next week, the new leaders will face a strategic question. Should they pursue the agenda of the Tea Party movement that brought them to power? Or should they try to mollify their party’s base with gestures and symbols, without taking its radical ideology too seriously? While they’ll never discuss this problem honestly, indications point in the latter direction. That is, the GOP’s congressional leadership will feint right while legislating closer to the center.
The choice is between a Ronald Reagan strategy and a Newt Gingrich strategy. Reagan, who first rode a new conservative movement to the presidency in 1980, was a master of the right fake. After one brief and disastrous attempt to reduce Social Security spending in 1981, Reagan never seriously challenged federal spending again. But Reagan sounded so convincing in his rhetorical flights that most conservatives and liberals walk around today thinking that he cut government. Reagan was just as slippery with the religious right, embracing them while wasting little political capital on issues like abortion or school prayer. President George W. Bush followed this same model, humoring the base while letting government expand.
Scoutster on November 02 at 12:32 p.m.
Mr. Natural..
nice.
He said somewhere else he was going to stop posting after the campaign. Ahhhhhhhh.
It’s the only campaign promise I hope a conservative keeps.
greenlibertarian on November 02 at 1:17 p.m.
The 2012 campaign begins tomorrow.
GO Sarah Palin!
GO Willard Romney!
GO ALAN KEYES!
maria on November 02 at 1:36 p.m.
Go Away Sarah Palin!
spokanecougar on November 02 at 1:42 p.m.
I actually hope Sarah Palin is the republican nominee, that way Obama pretty much wouldn’t have to campaign or spend a dollar to beat her since she is so unqualified and so hated and disliked by such a large percentage of the country she would allow him to just walk back into the White House.
Please stupid tea baggers and crazy conservatives make sure she is the GOP candidate.
Dazzeetrader11 on November 02 at 1:52 p.m.
Boy..the libs are getting mugged right now…
I like Keyes and Palin..level headed both…but I cannot stand her voice!
More Pubs will transition to the libertarians…It’s nice because never before has there been a serious slot for them.
But for now…GO Conservatives! Rossi!! Baumgartner! French!! NO on everyone else! lol
MrNatural on November 02 at 1:59 p.m.
Be careful what you wish for Coug
“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof was to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.” Douglas Adams
If Palin gets nominated I predict she could win because:
“As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” H.L. Mencken
…and after all we already had a two term moron.
jddavis on November 02 at 2:10 p.m.
Mr Natural…although I didn’t much care for President Clinton, I don’t support you calling him a “moron.”
spokanecougar on November 02 at 2:11 p.m.
If Palin ever got elected she would quit halfway through because she realizes she cannot make $10+ million a year as president.
Of course if she ever got elected then hell probably froze over, in which case we are all screwed.
Shadedmuse on November 02 at 2:12 p.m.
I hope former Muff Romeny is the republicant nominee and the quitter twitter Sara Palin is a third party candiate, because it will be four more years baby.
bdr on November 02 at 2:24 p.m.
Im voting (Indian) for “congress”
how did we white people ever think we could improve on Indians way of life?
Hunt and fish all day, and bring it home to a warm tee-pee with a wife happy as can be. And Pocahontas all night.
MrNatural on November 02 at 2:28 p.m.
My apologies jd
And oh how I long for the daze of the “fortunate son”…
misjustice on November 02 at 2:31 p.m.
Mitt Money and the Quitter on Twitter in 2012!
misjustice on November 02 at 2:48 p.m.
Ahh, yes. CCR! Classic!
; )
Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
ooh, they’re red, white and blue.
And when the band plays “Hail To The Chief”,
oh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no senator’s son,
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no fortunate one, no,
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves? oh.
But when the taxman come to the door,
Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes,
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no, no.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no fortunate one, no.
Yeh, some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give,
oh, they only answer, more, more, more, yoh,
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no military son, SON, NO
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no fortunate one, NO NO
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no fortunate one, no no no,
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no fortunate son, son son son
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/FORTUNATE-SON-lyrics-Creedence-Clearwater-Revival/EB5CA92F255D29B648256AAB0030D12A
MrNatural on November 02 at 3:16 p.m.
Hey Cool mj :)
Isn’t it funny that the more things are supposed to change the more they sometimes stay the same…
I sent a Hendrix CD to a friend in stuck in Afghanistan. Apparently there is a slight resurgence in late 60’s early 70’s “war” music going on…go figger.
misjustice on November 02 at 3:26 p.m.
http://www.spokanecounty.org/elections/ballotstatus.aspx
Hey, kids! The above link allows you to track your ballot. It’s cool! All the popular kids are doing it! Check it out! Have fun, it’s Election Eve!
; )
MrNatural on November 02 at 3:31 p.m.
My signature has been accepted…Whew!
Diana on November 02 at 6:06 p.m.
George Orwell predicted the Palin phenomenon in his book, 1984:
“She had not a thought in her head that was not a slogan, and there was no imbecility, absolutely none, that she was not capable of swallowing if the Party handed it out to her’.
Shadedmuse on November 02 at 6:23 p.m.
The Quitter twitter and Cathy do nothing Career politican Mcmorris must of been seperated at birth.
schleufer on November 02 at 7:49 p.m.
i voted for daryl….
Scoutster on November 02 at 10:37 p.m.
Cathy needs to pay attention. A 20 point win on a night like this for a Rep “leader” can’t be considered a “safe” victory anymore.
Cathy come home!