We knew Gregoire had won last night, but Dino Rossi, in his characteristically arrogant and slimy way, refused to do the gracious thing and acknowledge the inevitable.
Well, he's finally conceded:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/...
Gov. Chris Gregoire won her re-election bid Tuesday night with solid support from Democratic voters who turned out in droves to support President-elect Barack Obama.
In a televised speech, her GOP opponent Dino Rossi conceded Wednesday morning.
With only a few exceptions, Gregoire was leading in Western Washington counties including King County, Pierce County, Snohomish County and Kitsap County. In Eastern Washington, she was also slightly ahead in Spokane County.
This ends a brutal campaign where Rossi received boatloads of IE support from the Republican Governor's Association and the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). The BIAW's humiliation is especially sweet, because they were drooling at the possibility of dismantling basically everything that makes this state a great place to live. Goldy called them "batshit crazy" here: http://www.horsesass.org/...
Defeating Rossi was important in a national context. If he had won, the Republicans would have trotted him out along with Bobby Jindal as some sort of new fresh faces of the Republican party. Meanwhile, Rossi would have tried to pull the state rightward. One likely casualty would have been the state's participation in the Western Climate Initiative, where Gregoire's leadership has been outstanding.
Congrats to the Gregoire campaign on the winning effort. Her campaign staff was among the most skilled and effective I've ever seen in this state; and more importantly, thousands of volunteers made calls, knocked on doors, and generally kicked some serious wingnut butt. I'm proud to live in a state that rejected Dino Rossi and his rightwing friends.
Now, win Darcy!