In Washington, my old home state, some delightfully surprising results:

- Republican Dino Rossi, a solid conservative legislator from Issaquah, is currently 1,000 votes ahead of litigation-happy Democrat Christine Gregoire in the race for Governor. Gregoire’s management abilities (or lack thereof) were demonstrated in this incident. This race is too close to call.

- King County Republican councilman Rob McKenna, another solid conservative, easily defeated the execrable Deborah Senn, Democrat, in the race for Attorney General.

- Initiative guru Tim Eyman’s pro-gambling ballot initiative, I-892, crashed and burned. Apparently Washington voters are not keen on turning their state into another Nevada.

- Republican Dave Reichert beat liberal KIRO talk show host Dave Ross in the eighth district. Ross goes back on the air tomorrow to be an “independent voice.”

On the down side:

- Congressional districts 1, 2, 3, and 9–considered battleground districts when I lived in Seattle in the mid-1990s–were all won by incumbent Democrats by huge margins.

- Democrat Patty Murray, the clueless “mom in tennis shoes”-turned-apologist for Osama bin Laden, easily beat George Nethercutt, the Republican who beat Tom Foley in 1994 then broke his term limits pledge.

Much more detailed coverage at Sound Politics.

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