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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Democrats Give Locke Nomination Craswell And Foreman In Dead Heat For Gop Spot

Lynda V. Mapes Staff writer

Democrat Gary Locke held a comfortable lead in the race for his party’s nomination for governor Tuesday night, while Republicans Dale Foreman and Ellen Craswell were locked in a contest so close the winner may not be known for days.

Seattle Mayor Norm Rice took to the airwaves late last night, saying he doubted he could overcome Locke’s lead. He stopped short of an outright concession speech.

At Locke’s campaign party at a trendy bar in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square, hundreds of ebullient supporters cheered while campaign staff predicted victory.

Sheryl Hutchison, Locke’s press secretary, said the campaign deliberately targeted absentee voters, sending brochures to 150,000 households that requested mail-in ballots.

Apparently a smart strategy in a race in which huge numbers were expected to cast their votes absentee, delaying results in close races, maybe for days.

Locke also reached out early to Eastern Washington, running his first TV ads there in an attempt to build a base that could add to his command of the vote in King County.

Locke stayed away from the booming party in his honor, spending the evening with his family. He promised to talk to supporters once election results became known.

At Rice’s headquarters, a utilitarian, fluorescent-lit campaign office downtown, supporters nibbled fresh fruit dipped in chocolate, nervously watching early returns on TV.

At press time last night Foreman was barely leading Craswell statewide, with all other GOP hopefuls straggling far behind them.

Craswell said she would begin campaigning for the November election immediately, regardless of when a winner is announced. “You can’t afford to sit still,” she said.

But candidates can’t raise money until a winner is announced, so the delay hurts them.

Elegantly turned out in a black suit with her silver hair upswept, she walked into a room of cheering supporters waving and grinning.

Craswell put together an army of volunteers across the state, and rejected the typical weapons of statewide campaigns. She spent no money on TV or political polls.

Kids in stars-and-stripes vests, Uncle Sam hats, and rooms festooned with red-white-and-blue balloons echoed her campaign’s patriotic theme.

Craswell promised to return Washington to the principles of the founding fathers and run state government according to “God’s plan.”

Craswell also vowed to chop state spending by a whopping 30 percent, eliminate the Growth Management Act, and ax government red tape.

“People are ready for her message,” said Chad Minnick, deputy campaign manager. “They feel the state has been porking out on taxes and all they have to show for it is more regulation.”

Paul Middleton, state chairman of the Christian Coalition, predicted a Craswell victory based on the strength of her grass-roots support.

But if Craswell’s team looked homespun, the crowd at Foreman’s Bellevue victory party reflected his ties as majority leader to the Olympia power structure.

House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-Wenatchee, delivered election results, while top business lobbyists and committee chairmen worked the room. It was an insider’s crowd.

It’s been an uphill race for Foreman from the first day. His campaign was dogged by allegations of illegal fund-raising that hung a cloud over his head until the final weeks of the campaign, when the state Public Disclosure Commission cleared him of all charges.

Last-minute money from the developer lobby and about $200,000 of Foreman’s own money helped him build the state’s biggest campaign war chest.

To beat Locke, both Foreman and Craswell will need to prove they aren’t arch conservatives out to shred education spending and key services.

Locke has to prove he’s not a big-spending Democrat, interested only in the concerns of Seattle liberals.

No matter which GOP opponent Locke faces, voters will have a very clear choice in November. They can vote Republican and continue down the conservative path chosen in 1994, when a GOP tide captured seats in the state Legislature and Congress.

Or they can vote for Locke, and keep a liberal Democrat in the governor’s mansion.

, DataTimes