EVERETT – The last time Snohomish County voters backed a Republican for governor, he won.
In 1980, county residents helped John Spellman defeat Jim McDermott and assume the state’s highest office.
Results from Tuesday’s election show voters countywide favoring Republican Dino Rossi over Democrat Christine Gregoire in their battle for governor. Though Gregoire leads in the county’s most populous cities, Rossi is outpolling her in more cities and in much of the unincorporated area.
But political observers say it’s premature to predict a repeat of 1980 in the county or the state. Thousands of absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted, and those tallies could push Snohomish County back into the “D” column.
Statewide, Gregoire leads Rossi by a slim margin. Ballots counted through Thursday evening give her a lead of 1,068,314, or 49.32 percent, to 1,052,200, or 48.57 percent.
But 16,114 votes is a small lead with hundreds of thousands of ballots yet to be tabulated throughout the state. For example, Snohomish County will tally 64,000 absentee ballots today.
“It would be wrong to draw an assumption that Snohomish County is running Republican based on this one race,” said Paul Berendt, chairman of the state Democratic Party. “There are a lot of independent voters, like everywhere else.”
County voters did stay true to their Democratic leanings Tuesday by backing Sen. John Kerry for president and Sen. Patty Murray and Reps. Rick Larsen and Jay Inslee.
Gregoire led Rossi by nearly 5,000 votes when the first wave of absentee ballots was counted. But those who voted at the polls were of a different mind-set. On the strength of their votes, Rossi surged ahead by 3,240 votes. He got more votes at the polls than Gregoire in every part of the county except Brier, Edmonds, Everett, Index, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.
Rossi leads in 31 of the state’s 39 counties.
Snohomish County Auditor Bob Terwilliger couldn’t explain the Election Day swing.
“It tells me that the Rossi campaign did something to reach them,” Terwilliger said Thursday. “If there is an answer, it will come from one of the campaigns if they decide to reveal what they did in the last days.”
As of Thursday, Gregoire was leading in Everett, Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace, as well as Brier and the county’s most liberal enclave, Index.
Rossi leads in every other city, including Arlington, Bothell, Marysville, Mill Creek, Monroe, Mukilteo and Snohomish, plus the unincorporated regions in the county’s eastern and northern reaches. Rossi and Gregoire are nearly even in the unincorporated south county.
Rossi even outperformed President Bush. He gained more votes in every city and town than Bush, according to a comparative analysis of results done by The Herald. The only exception came in Darrington, where three more people voted for the president than Rossi.
The analysis also found that in Bothell, Lake Stevens, Mukilteo and Snohomish, voters backed Kerry and Rossi. No community that favored President Bush also preferred Gregoire.
Meanwhile, Snohomish County, with 352,000 registered voters, was a battleground for campaigning and a fountain of contributions. Gregoire and Rossi each visited the county several times, and their supporters spent months corralling potential voters.
Financially, Rossi raised $299,336 in the county, including $65,973 from Everett residents and $52,753 from Edmonds residents. Gregoire collected $209,502 in the county, including $65,546 from Everett donors and $36,813 from Edmonds donors.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
Countdown
The numbers as of 8 p.m. Thursday, with about 660,000 votes left to be counted in the state.
Christine Gregoire: 1,068,314 votes, 49.3 percent
Dino Rossi: 1,052,200 votes, 48.6 percent
Countdown
The statewide numbers as of Thursday, with about 660,000 votes left to be counted.
Christine Gregoire: 1,068,314 votes, 49.3 percent
Dino Rossi: 1,052,200 votes, 48.6 percent
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