Clouds cleared and outcomes emerged Wednesday in some hard-fought election battles.
State Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, won re-election, but Island County Commissioner John Dean did not.
And Republican John Koster phoned U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., on Wednesday morning to congratulate his fellow Arlington native on winning their latest duel for a seat in Congress.
Larsen sealed the victory Monday but Koster was not ready to exit the race as his campaign team scrutinized vote tallies in the six counties that make up the 2nd District. On Wednesday, Larsen had 51 percent of the 292,000 votes cast.
Koster, after contacting Larsen, issued a statement Wednesday.
“While being on the losing end of a hard fought battle is tough and certainly not where I wanted to be, it was a truly amazing and exhilarating campaign,” he said.
“The fact that we were able to win the hearts of so many people on the real issues of the campaign and to compete with and nearly defeat a well financed and entrenched incumbent (in one of the toughest media climates for conservatives in the nation) is a major accomplishment in itself — and something we can and should build on as we prepare for 2012,” the statement read.
In the state Senate race, Hobbs celebrated victory when Republican Dave Schmidt conceded following release of results Wednesday.
Those numbers showed Hobbs with 50.7 percent of the votes to Schmidt’s 49.3 percent.
He earns a second four-year term in the 44th District that covers Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Mill Creek and parts of Everett and Marysville.
To win, Hobbs overcame a Democratic challenger in the primary and, in the general election, a relentless pounding from both the Republican establishment and left-wing allies of his party.
“The last four years I’ve done my best to reach out to the community and listen to their concerns and that took me over the top,” he said. “In the end, in this election, the people have spoken and we were able to beat back the special interests of the far left and the far right.”
Hobbs became a target of public employee unions, environmentalists and progressives when he helped create a coalition of moderate Democratic lawmakers known as the Roadkill Caucus.
Those lawmakers frustrated the political left for voting against taxes and unionizing of child care center workers while supporting education reforms, fought by teachers, and the privatization of the sale of hard liquor.
Labor and progressives funded an independent campaign against Hobbs. So too did the political arm of the Senate Republican Caucus. By the election’s end, they spent nearly $133,000 against Hobbs.
For Schmidt, it’s a tough loss. He was serving in the state Senate in 2006 when Hobbs beat him to take over the seat. Schmidt hoped this year’s Republican wave would wash him back in.
“I have no regrets. We worked extremely hard in this campaign,” he said. “He did too. He earned it.”
Schmidt, who won the primary, grabbed a lead on the first tally of ballots Nov. 2. But with every ensuing count he lost ground – something the former state lawmaker hadn’t experienced in any of his previous nine campaigns.
“What it came down to is the Democrats and the (Patty) Murray campaign ran a very good and aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign,” he said.
In Island County, a woman who emerged from the ranks of tea party activists won election by defeating the incumbent Dean.
Wednesday’s results show Republican Kelly Emerson with a 275-vote lead and only 50 ballots left to be counted. Emerson has picked up 50.4 percent of the vote to Dean’s 49.6 percent. If the margin was less than a half-percent, a recount would be required.
“My opponent conceded,” Emerson said about the close race. “A tea party organizer (now) has a seat at the table in Island County.”
In his concession statement, Dean said he respected that the majority of voters had spoken.
“It has been an honor to serve,” Dean said. “I hope everyone will join me in continuing to participate in local government, not as angry critics, protesters and adversaries, but as respected partners with different points of view. There is a seat at the table for everyone to engage in civil discourse. I urge Commissioner-elect Kelly Emerson to offer it, and I urge everyone to take it.”
She will represent the 3rd District seat that includes Camano Island and north Whidbey Island.
In another close race, Democrat Luis Moscoso seems certain to be the winner in his contest with Republican Heidi Munson in the 1st Legislative District.
Results posted Wednesday gave him an 863-vote lead with most ballots counted. He has received 50.9 percent of the vote to her 49.1.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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