Washington Governor’s Race Remains Undecided

Three days after election day, Democrat Christine Gregoire clung to a narrow lead Friday in the nation’s last undecided race for governor -- a cliffhanger contest that could drag on for weeks while votes are counted.

Gregoire, Washington’s attorney general, led former Republican state Sen. Dino Rossi by about 18,000 votes out of nearly 2.2 million counted. Election officials figured more than 600,000 absentee and provisional ballots remained to be counted before a Nov. 17 deadline.

A Gregoire victory would mean Democrats would preserve their 22 governorships nationwide. Republicans already are assured of at least maintaining their 28.

Gregoire and Rossi have kept a low profile since election day while they awaited the verdict.

“We are definitely optimistic that as more of the later absentees come in, we will continue to trend upward,” said Rossi spokeswoman Mary Lane.

Gregoire campaign advisor Christian Sinderman said: “We remain cautiously optimistic. The investment in turning out Democratic absentee voters seems to be paying off in the late ballot count.”

Rossi and GOP groups hit Gregoire hard over a costly mistake in the attorney general’s office that resulted in the state having to pay a multimillion-dollar judgment.

Gregoire, 57, played up her experience in serving three terms as attorney general and her role in securing a settlement of more than $200 billion from Big Tobacco to compensate states for healthcare costs.

She is seeking to become the second woman governor in state history.

Rossi, 45, a real estate agent and self-made millionaire, was known for crafting a no-new-taxes state budget during a deep recession.

A third candidate, Libertarian Ruth Bennett, has played a potential spoiler role. The Seattle businesswoman ran as an “out” lesbian who advocated gay marriage, tailoring her message to Seattle liberals who otherwise would have voted for Gregoire.

The ballot count in Washington state is complicated by the fact that most residents cast absentee ballots through the mail.

A recount is automatic if the race ends up within one-half of 1 percentage point apart and within 2,000 votes.

That could cause the count to last for weeks longer.

Democrats have held the Washington governor’s mansion for the last 20 years. Gov. Gary Locke, the country’s first Chinese American governor, did not seek a third term.

The contest is reminiscent of a cliffhanger after the 2000 Senate race.

It took almost a month for Democrat Maria Cantwell to learn that she had defeated Republican Sen. Slade Gorton by about 2,200 votes.