EVERETT – Dino Rossi writes in his book released Thursday that losing the historic 2004 election for governor was an “extremely difficult and frustrating time” for his family, but it’s behind them now.
“In the end, we all learned that even though life isn’t fair, life goes on,” he wrote in his first book.
At a book-signing party at the Everett Events Center, the Republican told supporters not to be depressed by the setback.
“The future is very bright,” he told a crowd of 100 that gathered for the release of “Dino Rossi: Lessons in Leadership, Business, Politics and Life.”
Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald
Rossi wouldn’t say whether the future includes another run for governor in 2008.
“We’ll make that decision in 2007,” he said. “My desire to fix the problems of the state of Washington has not diminished one bit.”
That prompted the audience to rise in applause.
The 196-page tome is predominantly Rossi’s biography, penned in broad strokes. There are sketches of his parents, his schooling and his business successes, from his youth when he sold candles through his rise to a millionaire real estate salesman and on to a seven-year career in state politics.
Rossi has sold his real estate holdings and is living off that income.
For the politically savvy, the book repeats anecdotes delivered by Rossi on the 2004 campaign trail. The final chapter is titled “Family, the Governor’s Race, and the Future.”
However, there are next to no details on what Rossi did and how he felt as he watched victory slip from his grasp over the course of three recounts. He spends a single paragraph on the trial that ultimately sealed his defeat.
“I didn’t want this book to be about the election contest,” he said in an interview.
Rossi lost to Democrat Christine Gregoire in a duel that set new marks for closeness – a gap of 15/10,000th of a percentage point – and for process – three different counts of votes, including the first statewide hand recount.
Thursday marked Rossi’s one-year anniversary of finishing the first vote count with a 261-vote lead. That margin was so close it triggered a state-mandated machine recount. Rossi led after that tally by 42 votes.
State law allows a hand recount of every vote cast, and the Democratic Party, on behalf of Gregoire, ordered a hand recount. Gregoire won by 129 votes.
In the book, Rossi says he didn’t believe the Democratic Party would pursue the hand recount.
After losing that tally – and the race – he said he pursued the legal fight to expose and clean up the election process in King County.
“Television’s ‘American Idol’ has better ballot security than King County,” he wrote.
As of Thursday, more than 2,200 copies of Rossi’s book had been sold.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@ heraldnet.com
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