State By State: Western States

ALASKA

Bush 60% Gore 27%

With 52% of the vote counted

Early returns showed George W. Bush with a commanding lead in the presidential race in this traditionally Republican state.

ARIZONA

Bush 51% Gore 45%

With 83% of the vote counted

Republican Jon Kyl easily won re-election, while Arizona voters approved an initiative to eliminate bilingual education.

In a race that was closer than expected, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore for the state’s eight electoral votes.

CALIFORNIA

Bush 44% Gore 51%

With 51% of the vote counted

Democrat Dianne Feinstein won re-election to her second full term in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, easily turning back a challenge by maverick Republican Tom Campbell, who gave up his San Jose congressional seat to run against her.

Feinstein said a major goal for her new term would be setting up a schedule for paying down the national debt. She said her other priorities include protecting Social Security and Medicare, passing a managed care patients’ bill of rights, developing a program to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors and providing incentives for states to build smaller schools and establish smaller class sizes.

Rep. Jim Rogan fought to hold his southern California seat in the costliest House race in history. Rogan was a leader in the House impeachment effort.

Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti fell behind challenger Steve Cooley in early returns Tuesday as the career prosecutor sought to capitalize on the two-term incumbent’s losing record in big cases and failure to aggressively investigate public corruption.

COLORADO

Bush 51% Gore 42%

With 91% of the vote counted

Colorado voters, still shaken by high school shooting rampages, cracked down on gun show patrons, approving background checks on all buyers.

The Colorado measure was a reaction to the massacre last year at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., where students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people and themselves. A gun show furnished part of their arsenal. It passed with 70 percent of the vote, with 35 percent of precincts reporting.

Also, it will soon be legal for some chronically ill people to possess and use marijuana in Colorado.

However, it still will be illegal for them to get it.

Backers of Amendment 20, the medical marijuana initiative which passed Tuesday, say they will rely on the governor and Legislature, among the strongest opponents of the measure, to find a way to get the illegal substance into legal hands.

George W. Bush led throughout the night in the presidential race.

HAWAII

Bush 35% Gore 60% Z

With 18% of the vote counted

Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka easily won re-election.

In one on the nation’s most staunchly Democratic states, Vice President Al Gore easily captured Hawaii’s four electoral votes.

IDAHO

Bush 70% Gore 26%

With 58% of the vote counted

Fourth-term GOP Lt. Gov. Butch Otter easily defeated Democrat Linda Pall and two third-party candidates to succeed retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage in northern and western Idaho’s 1st District.

Freshman Republican Congressman Michael Simpson had only token opposition from Democratic novice Craig Williams and Libertarian Donovan Bramwell in the eastern and southern 2nd District.

But even with those contests in hand and only a few dozen really competitive state legislative and local races, turnout appeared to be running ahead of the dismal 52 percent that election officials had feared.

A vaunted statewide Republican organization delivered the state to Texas Gov. George Bush to launch what the party hoped would be an overwhelming victory capping a decade of GOP dominance.

“The Republican Party accurately reflects the values and the ideals of the citizens of Idaho,” Gov. Dirk Kempthorne told cheering loyalists at a downtown Boise hotel victory party. “As long as we continue to listen, as long as we continue to perform, the Republican Party in Idaho will remain the majority party.”

MONTANA

Bush 58% Gore 34%

With 59% of the vote counted

Two-term incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns survived a close race against wealthy farmer Brian Schweitzer.

Bucking an early trend Republican Judy Martz defeated Democrat Mark O’Keefe continuing the GOP’s 12-year hold on the governor’s office and becoming the state’s first woman governor.

Republican Dennis Rehberg was projected to capture Montana’s lone U.S. House seat Tuesday in a tight struggle with Democrat Nancy Keenan.

Early results had Rehberg pulling ahead with 84,523 votes, or 50 percent to Keenan’s 80,423, or 48 percent apiece, with 35 percent of precincts reporting.

George W. Bush won Montana’s three electoral votes in a state that has gone with a Republican in all but two presidential races in 50 years.

NEVADA

Bush 49% Gore 46%

With 95% of the vote counted

Former Republican Rep. John Ensign nabbed the Nevada Senate seat vacated by the retirement of Democratic Sen. Richard Bryan. Ensign, who narrowly lost a 1998 Senate bid, easily defeated Democrat Ed Bernstein.

Nevada voters approved measures to define marriage for men and women only, aiming to fend off same-sex civil unions approved this year in Vermont.

With 24 percent of Nevada precincts reporting, the man-woman marriage proposal had 69 percent support. The vote in Nebraska was 70 percent in favor, with 46 percent of precincts reporting.

George W. Bush won the state’s four electoral votes in a race that was closer than expected.

NEW MEXICO

Bush 47% Gore 48%

With 84% of the vote counted

Bad weather threatened turnout in some states, including New Mexico, where up to a foot of snow prevented poll workers from getting to their posts and snowplows were sent out to deliver ballots. Some New Mexico precincts had no electricity though voting machines had backup batteries. But poll workers and voters were forced to use lighters to see.

Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman in New Mexico won re-election.

In the presidential race, New Mexico bucked a trend in the Intermountain West, as Vice President Al Gore won the state’s five electoral votes.

OREGON

Bush 49% Gore 46%

With 59% of the vote counted

A similar gun show measure was passing in Oregon with 61 percent support, with 19 percent of the vote tallied. In 1998, a disturbed 15-year-old named Kip Kinkel killed his parents and two students with guns obtained from his father.

An Oregon measure that sought to forbid public school teachers from encouraging, promoting or sanctioning homosexuality was failing in early returns, 51 percent to 49 percent, with 19 percent of the vote in.

George W. Bush held a narrow lead in a state that was going down to the wire in the presidentiial race.

UTAH

Bush 69% Gore 25%

With 52% of the vote counted

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch won an unprecedented fifth term against overmatched and underfunded Democrat Scott Howell.

Hatch, one of the most established political veterans in Utah history, was leading with 68 percent to 28 percent for Howell.

“I feel really humble,” Hatch said. “After serving four terms, they’re willing to let me serve another. Folks in Utah understand these next eight years are very critical. They know we need the very strongest and best back there to represent us.”

Gov. Mike Leavitt shrugged off allegations of campaign finance improprieties and involvement in the Olympic scandal to become only the second Utah governor to win three terms.

George W. Bush captured his biggest margin in the country, winning almost three-quarters of the vote in a traditionally Republican stronghold.

WASHINGTON

Bush 44% Gore 51%

With 52% of the vote counted

Gov. Gary Locke, who focuses more on consistency than charisma, won a second term Tuesday over Republican challenger John Carlson.

The Democrat said Washington voters appreciate his grasp of complex issues and his ability to make consistent improvements in education, economic development, welfare reform and other areas.

In the race for the U.S. Senate, Democratic challengeer Maria Cantwell led two-term incumbent Slade Gorton by one percentage point.

With more than 70 percent of preceincts reporting, Locke led 57 percent to 42 percent, with Libertarian Steve LePage of West Richland trailing at 2 percent.

Carlson, a former radio talk show host, had stepped out from behind the microphone to take on the governor because he said the state needs a stronger leader. He had no immediate comment.

In the 5th Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt broke his term limits pledge by seeking a fourth term. With 14 percent of the precincts reporting, Nethercutt led challenger Tom Keefe, 57 percent to 40 percent. Keefe was flogged as a carpetbagger in a $1 million barrage of commercials on Spokane television stations.

The state’s seven other members of Congress were expected to win re-election.

In the 1st District, Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee led Republican Dan McDonald, a state legislator, with 54 percent to 44 percent.

In the 3rd District, Democratic Rep. Brian Baird defeated Republican Trent R. Matson, 58 percent to 39 percent.

In central Washington’s 4th District, Republican Rep. Doc Hastings won another term, beating Democrat Jim Davis 62 percent to 36 percent.

WYOMING

Bush 67% Gore 30%

With 80% of the vote counted

Republican Sen. Craig Thomas easily won re-election.

In a traditionally Republican state, George W. Bush easily captured the state’s three electoral votes.