Washington Governor Christine Gregoire recently said she has received death threats as a result of talk radio–an allegation that some of Daily Kos’s readers find plausible.

Gregoire was apparently referring to a threat against her and her family made by a mentally ill man in Yakima County, Wash. But as former KVI talk show host Brian Maloney notes, there’s a problem with the Gregoire/Kos storyline:

Twice a year, Arbitron releases ratings for the greater Yakima radio market, and tonight the latest figures arrived.

Sure enough, no Seattle or Spokane talk radio station even registered in the ratings, meaning there is no measurable audience in Yakima County for any of the stations featuring local talk show hosts from those cities, if and when their signals are available to hear.

The two talk stations that did make the ratings are based in Yakima and almost entirely made up of syndicated national talkers: KBBO-AM 980 (known as KUSA 980), and KIT-AM 1280.

These national shows have spent relatively little, if any, time talking about the disputed Washington State gubernatorial election.

Maloney asks, “Isn’t it time to challenge Gregoire to either back up her statement with evidence, or repudiate it?”