All I can say is it could have been worse in Washington State. In fact, it was much worse back in 1994 when ultra-conservative candidates won in suburban Seattle districts that were untouchable by Republicans in 2010. And this may be as good as it gets for the Tea Party.
What is most depressing is John Koster’s small lead in the 2nd Congressional District against incumbent Rick Larsen. In the mid-90’s Koster represented one of the dirty dozen freshman state legislators who was quick to sign his name to any piece of anti-gay legislation. Most of those dozen are out of politics but Koster remains as a thorn in the side of human rights.
But what was forecasted to be a revolution turned out not so bad (but not good either) for Washington State Democrats, at least after early election returns. Let’s run down some of the races we’re watching.
In the 1st District, Democrat Luis Moscoso trails Republican Heidi Munson by a slim margin in a district that has not seen a Republican since the mid-90’s. Democrat Derek Stanford is holding a slight lead in that district of over 51%.
6th District incumbent senate Democrat Chris Marr trails by over 10% in Spokane County located outside of the downtown area. House Democrat John Driscoll has a similar gap against Republican John Ahern.
In the 14th District, Yakima, incumbent Republican Norm Johnson leads the Republican Tea Party candidate by about 3% of the vote.
In the difficult 17th District located in Clark County, Democrat Tim Probst leads with over 4% of the vote. Oddly, the other representative, Democrat Monica Stonier, trails by a similar margin.
In the 21st District, Snohomish County, openly gay representative Marko Liias is holding a nice 6% lead in his contest with a Tea Party candidate.
In the 25th District, Puyallup, right wing wacko Hans Zeigler is holding a minuscule lead of 186 votes against incumbent Democrat Dawn Morrell.
In the 27th District, Laurie Jinkins becomes the first openly lesbian state lawmaker with 54% of the vote against her Democratic opponent.
In the 28th District located in Pierce County, Democrat Troy Kelly holds a small lead and incumbent Democrat Tami Green holds a 140 vote lead.
In the 30th District, Federal Way, incumbent Democratic Senator Tracey Eide holds a surprisingly small lead of 50.86%. Conservative Democrat Mark Miloscia holds a wide lead while Republican Katrina Asay leads by 52% for the open seat that was vacated by moderate Republican Skip Priest, who ran for Federal Way mayor.
In the 31st District, Auburn, gun nut and conservative Pam Roach appears headed to another victory despite having only a Republican challenger for the senate. Incumbent state representative Democrat Chris Hurst, who touts his independence, holds a 57% lead.
In the 35th District, a swing district in past years, all three Democrats are leading, however, incumbent Kathy Haigh leads by only 50.63% of the vote.
In the East King County 41st District, sadly Republican Steve Litzow leads Democrat Randy Gordon in the senate race by 52.75% of the vote. However, both Democratic representatives are leading in their races.
In the 42nd District, Whatcom County, the surprisingly resilient Democrat Kelli Linville in trailing in her race by over 4% of the vote.
In the 44th District, it’s way to close to call with incumbent Democratic state senator Steve Hobbs in a virtual tie with former Republican state senator Dave Schmidt. Incumbent Democrat Hans Dunshee holds just a 220 vote lead in the race for the state representative position.
In the 45th District, incumbent Democratic senator Eric Oemig trails by a shocking 7% of the vote, Democratic state rep Roger Goodman trails by just over 2% but Democratic state rep Larry Springer holds a large lead.
In the 47th District, Kent, incumbent Democratic senator Claudia Kauffman and state rep Geoff Simpson both sadly trail by large margins of over 10% while Democrat Pat Sullivan leads with over 55% of the vote.
In the East King County 48th District, incumbent Democratic senator Rodney Tom and state rep Ross Hunter are in virtual ties with their Republican challengers but Democrat Deb Eddy appears headed to victory.
In the 49th District, Vancouver, Jim Moeller, the first openly gay official elected in the state of Washington, is leading with 53.77% if the vote.
What’s most troubling is early returns from East King County in Districts 41, 45 and 48. Republicans need seven senate and 13 house seats in order to grab a majority in the state legislature. We’ll have more info coming soon as votes are counted…
