Democrat Widens Lead in Washington

Democrat Christine Gregoire expanded her lead over Republican Dino Rossi to 130 votes to possibly win the race for Washington state governor in a recount seven weeks after the election, officials said Thursday.

King County, which encompasses Seattle, finished counting most of its previously uncounted votes Thursday, boosting Gregoire’s lead over Rossi from 10 votes to 130 votes.

“We’re thrilled,” said Kirstin Brost, Gregoire’s spokeswoman, “This has been a long time coming and it was absolutely well worth the effort.”

The results have not yet been certified. Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed is expected to certify the results Dec. 30.

Gregoire, the state attorney general, had fallen behind Rossi in the first two machine recounts since the Nov. 2 election. But after an unprecedented hand recount paid for by the Democratic Party, Gregoire took a 10-vote lead over Rossi earlier this week.

After an order by the state Supreme Court, the Democratic stronghold of King County tallied previously uncounted ballots, giving Gregoire a wider lead over Rossi.

The final result is expected to be challenged in court by the Republican Party, which had argued that any previously uncounted votes should not have been included in the final tally.

In the first two machine recounts, Rossi, a real estate agent, led the governor’s race, although the second machine recount narrowed his lead over Gregoire from 261 votes to 42 out of a total nearly 2.9 million votes cast.

Officials from Rossi’s campaign were not immediately available for comment.

Chris Vance, chairman of Washington state’s Republican Party, said earlier that the party would fight to include hundreds of votes that were wrongly rejected in other counties.

Neither side has conceded and an extended court battle over the election could mean the issue of who won will remain unresolved even after the January inauguration. Democratic Gov. Gary Locke, who decided not to run for reelection, would remain in office.

The final tally showed 1,373,362 for Gregoire and 1,373,232 for Rossi. Libertarian Party candidate Ruth Bennett got 63,465 votes.