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Seattle's Morning News host Tom Tangney says he thought if any Republican could win governor in Washington it would be Rob McKenna, but Inslee leads in early returns. (Image courtesy Rob McKenna)

Is Washington too blue to elect a Republican governor?

BY Jamie Skorheim  on November 7, 2012 @ 7:50 am (Updated: 9:48 am - 11/7/12 )

Washington state's race for governor hung on late ballots Wednesday, with election officials estimating hundreds of thousands of votes were left to count.

Democrat Jay Inslee holds a promising lead after nearly 2 million votes were counted Tuesday. Republican Rob McKenna was struggling in King County, which also held many of the votes still left to count.

Still, McKenna remains optimistic he could become the first GOP governor in about three decades, telling supporters Tuesday they would have to wait a few more days as mail ballots continued to arrive at county offices.

"This year, it will be worth the wait," McKenna said Tuesday night.

McKenna was meant to be a Republican triumph, as he had been steadily building his political reputation for years and developing a deep grasp of the issues facing state government.

"McKenna seemed like the ideal breakthrough candidate for the Republican Party because he wasn't an extreme social conservative," says KIRO Radio Seattle's Morning News host Tom Tangney.

Republicans last won a governor's race in the state in 1980, when John Spellman was elected. Voters ousted Spellman at the end of his first term, around the time McKenna was student body president at the University of Washington.

"In this state we have the longest string of Democratic governors in the country," says Tangney. "For 30 years now. I know we're a blue state of late, but we're not the bluest of blue states. I find that remarkable."

Seattle's Morning News co-host John Curley says as soon as Washington residents see an "R" by someone's name they just vote the other way.

The GOP has come close in some elections, most notably the 2004 race in which Dino Rossi lost to current Gov. Christine Gregoire by 133 votes.

Republicans had been cultivating McKenna as a potential gubernatorial candidate as he worked his way from the King County Council to attorney general. In that seat, he won 59 percent of the vote in 2008.

There are still many ballots to count, but right now, Democrat Jay Inslee is leading slightly with 51.3 percent of the vote over Republican Rob McKenna's 48.7 percent.

"I thought if any Republican was going to win the governorship, it would be Rob McKenna," says Tangney. "He still might, but that's really stunning if even a guy like Rob McKenna can't get elected in this state."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jamie Skorheim, MyNorthwest.com Editor
Whether it's floating on Green Lake, eating shrimp tacos at Agua Verde, or taking weekend drives out to the Cascades, she loves to enjoy the Pacific Northwest lifestyle as much as humanly possible.
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Comments (54)


  • Add A Comment

  • William Lawn wrote...
    If McKenna loses
    November 7, 2012 12:50 pm
    I've voted for Rob every time he ran for AG. Then came 2008 and he wrote an incredibly stupid piece in the Seattle Times defending the terrible 2008 Rossi campaign for Governor.

    THAT was the single worse campaign I have witnessed, ever.

    Then he flirted with the Tea Party, then he signed on to repeal the ACA.

    Then I held my nose and voted for Jay.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Sir wrote...
    to be fair to McKenna
    November 7, 2012 4:28 pm
    The ACA was not constitutional in the sense that we were being told by the other Washington. It was only held as constitutional under the taxing authority of congress which did need to be said outright. also, the ACA sucks. yes, its nice that the 5% of the population who couldn't get healthcare before, can now, but it does nothing to limit profiteering in the medical field. Either A) we need insurance companies to raise their deductibles to "catastrophic injury" levels, B) we need to limit the amount of profit that insurance companies, hospitals and doctors can make in the same way that gas stations are prohibited from making money on gas, or C)we need a nationwide public option which has the authority to set prices and can compete with private insurance. Maybe it doesn't need to be repealed, but it certainly needs to be supplemented.
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  • grow up/get real wrote...
    The voters deserve EXACTLY who they elected:
    November 7, 2012 1:10 pm
    You made your bed--now sleep in it for the next four years and NO complaining when gas is $6 a gallon, you can't find a job, the state is broke and more taxes are on the way. Good bye Washington. Good bye America.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Largent804 wrote...
    Voting in General
    November 7, 2012 1:18 pm
    What I find is that I studied both candiates and found that the best person for the job was McKenna. This was based on his plans for the future and how he would help our job growth. What I think happens in King County is the voters vote on whether you have an "D" or an "R" by your name not on whether the person is best for the job. I agree with Rick when he said that "We will rival California for how Broke we will be." My sister lives there and she says they are really going bankrupt. The unwillingness to cut spending is costing them more than they can afford. The entitlement programs are finishing them off.
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  • Ted Bundi wrote...
    @Largent804 "The entitlement programs are finishing them off"
    November 7, 2012 7:00 pm
    Please list for me the entitlement programs. Lets start voting for reps who will cut those.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cresswell wrote...
    Hypocirites
    November 7, 2012 1:41 pm
    For years liberals were saying McKenna was the one "good" Republican; smart and thoughtful - the type who should run for governor. Then he does, against a guy who has one platform - green jobs (as in, forcing the hand of the economy). And McKenna isn't elected. I voted for Democrats this year who I disagreed with somewhat in philosophy, but who I though were good, smart, capable people. Too bad liberals can't do that. You missed out.
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  • William Lawn wrote...
    Too bad he decided to join the suit to overturn the ACA
    November 7, 2012 2:07 pm
    Too bad he started flirting with the Tea Party to get the nomination.

    Too bad.

    It might have cost him the election.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Stevebo wrote...
    McKenna is pretty moderate...
    November 7, 2012 2:08 pm
    ... and it's looking doubtful he's going to win.

    So yes Tom, I'm thinking Washington will likely never again see a Republican Governor.

    King County has the vast majority of the population and that county is about as blue of a county as you can get.

    I actually think that Gregoire was fiscally irresponsible and I don't hold Inslee as being better.

    As a general rule, I tend to vote Democrat in most situations, but in this case I voted for McKenna.

    But again, It's doubtful he's going to win at this point.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Saltchucker wrote...
    Don't get too fond of Inslee.
    November 7, 2012 3:29 pm
    He's a grass is always greener kinda guy. A quitter. As soon as Obama offers him a job in DC he will bail on us....just like he did after he lost to Doc Hastings, and just like he did to us in the old 1st district last summer.
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  • MittensRomney wrote...
    Yes, too blue!
    November 7, 2012 5:35 pm
    Thanks for asking, and how are you, today? hmmm? Seen any action on the forefront lately? Anyway, not surprised in the least bit. Sorry, I have to go now-It was certainly good talking ...with you, all..Mam! where did everybody go? I guess I can take my seventeen kids on vacation to whistling oaks fun derby.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • blowchowski wrote...
    STUPID
    November 7, 2012 6:23 pm
    Washington too STUPID to elect a Republican governor!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    So many comments
    November 7, 2012 6:52 pm
    So little sense. The American people are waking up to the fact that, yes, the Democrats are right, the fundamental Christian, homophobic, racist, right wing idiots have screwed up the country enough, it's time for a change.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Fuego wrote...
    Longway...
    November 7, 2012 7:21 pm
    nothing's changed. Bo is the pres, the house is in rep control, the senate is in the dems control. I think the phrase "same chit, different day" pretty much sums it up.
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  • longwayhome wrote...
    Same chit
    November 7, 2012 7:37 pm
    I hope not. I think the republicans have got to show some co-operation this term. They did not during the first term of Obama because they thought (according to mitch mcconell) that Obama would only serve one term. Well, that has changed. If the republican dunderheads don't come to the middle it will be very obvious, very soon. Can't blame Obama for trying and not getting co-operation from the Darkside. boner and mitch mcconell and harry reid need to go on a boatride some dark and stormy night.
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  • Realitycheck wrote...
    longway
    November 7, 2012 8:23 pm
    Only democrats with rose-colored glasses would believe it is the Republicans fault we can't get stuff done. Look at the bills, if they include raising the debt I fully support to shut them down. Can Obama do anything without borrowing more money..... anything? That he got re-elected eclipses the re-election of Bush by far. Bush had way more going for him then Obama but he still didn't deserve a second term, but apparently people like myself who can see failure regardless what party is doing it are very rare. If we keep re-electing lying politicians that is all we ever gonna get, is that really so hard to understand?
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