2004 Washington gubernatorial election

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The 2004 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2004. The race gained national attention for its legal twists and extremely close finish, among the closest political races in United States election history. Republican Dino Rossi was declared the winner of the initial count and again of the automated recount, but after a second recount done by hand, Democrat Christine Gregoire took the lead by a margin of 129 votes.

Although Gregoire was sworn in as governor of Washington on January 12, 2005, Rossi did not formally concede and called for a re-vote over concerns about the integrity of the election. The Republican Party filed a lawsuit in Chelan County Superior Court contesting the election, but the trial judge ruled against it, citing lack of evidence of deliberate electoral sabotage. Rossi chose not to appeal to the Washington State Supreme Court, formally conceding the election on June 6, 2005. Gregoire was re-elected in 2008 in a rematch with Rossi.

Primary elections

The 2004 election cycle was the first in Washington to use a party-line ballot system of holding primary elections. The state had a long tradition of using blanket primaries, where the candidates of all political parties appear together on the same ballot for all voters. In this system, the leading vote-getter from each party advances to the general election. Washington's voters are not registered by party affiliation and a voter could participate in selecting candidates for more than one party, although the voter could only choose one candidate (of whatever party) for each office.

In February 2004 the United States Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision striking down the blanket primary as unconstitutional, based on it violating the rights of the parties to freedom of association under the First Amendment. Washington was thus forced to devise a new primary election system. The state legislature passed a bill providing that the top two vote-getters for each office in the primary would advance to the general election, regardless of which political party they belonged to. Voters would still be allowed to vote for any candidate as before. However, this measure was vetoed by Governor Gary Locke in favor of a Montana-style system that requires voters to choose a ballot for one specific party and vote only on that party's candidates in the primary.

The primary election in 2004 was held using the new system, but a campaign to replace it was already underway. The Washington State Grange, which had helped institute the blanket primary in 1935, filed Initiative 872 to implement the "top-two" primary instead, which would once again allow voters to cross party lines in the primary election but now send the top two vote-getters to the general election. In districts dominated by one party, the top-two system could result in Democrat- or Republican-only general election races. Supporters claimed it would bring back voter choice across party lines and allow independent voters to participate in the primary; opponents said it would exclude third parties and independent candidates from general election ballots, and would in fact reduce general election voter choice. The initiative was put to a public vote in November 2004, and passed with 60% of the vote. The state Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties sued, however, and a federal district court judge ruled in 2005 that the measure was unconstitutional because it too infringed the parties' First Amendment right to select their own candidates. Washington continued with the party-line primary system while appealing the case.

Democratic primary

In July 2003, incumbent Governor Gary Locke indicated that he would not seek a third term, opening up the Democratic primary to alternate candidates. Former Washington State Supreme Court justice Phil Talmadge was the first candidate to enter the race for the Democratic primary, challenging Gary Locke before he announced his retirement, but Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire quickly became the frontrunner, leading in fundraising and endorsements. King County Executive Ron Sims also announced his candidacy. According to a March 2004, Mellman Group poll, Gregoire would beat both Sims and Talmadge 36% to 11% and four percent in an open primary, and would beat Sims 55% to 17% in a closed primary.<!---no longer active and not archived---> On April 29, 2004, Talmadge announced he was withdrawing from the race following the discovery of a benign kidney tumor, citing the likely need for surgery and associated recovery time.

{| class="wikitable" border=" 1px solid #00F" style="background: #EEF; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right"

|- style="text-align: center; background: #eee"

!Candidate

!Home city

!Total votes

!Percentage

|-

| align="left" | Christine Gregoire

| align="left" | Auburn

| 504,018

| 65.62%

|-

| align="left" | Ron Sims

| align="left" | Seattle

| 228,306

| 29.72%

|-

| align="left" | Mike The Mover

| align="left" | Lynnwood

| 15,118

| 1.96%

|-

| align="left" | Don Hansler

| align="left" | Spanaway

| 8,636

| 1.12%

|-

| align="left" | Scott Headland

| align="left" | Tacoma

| 6,983

| 0.90%

|-

| align="left" | Eugen Buculei

| align="left" | Bellevue

| 5,005

| 0.65%

|-

|}

Republican primary

The Washington State Republican Party struggled to find a candidate through most of 2003 when presumed candidate Bob Herbold, a former Executive Vice President and COO of Microsoft, declined to run. They finally recruited Dino Rossi, a relatively obscure political figure who left the state senate to pursue a gubernatorial run due to state elected officials being prohibited from raising money while the legislature is in session.

{| class="wikitable" border=" 1px solid #F00" style="background: #FEE; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right"

|- style="text-align: center; background: #eee"

!Candidate

!Home city

!Total votes

!Percentage

|-

| align="left" | Dino Rossi

| align="left" | Sammamish

| 444,337

| 85.14%

|-

| align="left" | Bill Meyer

| align="left" | Bellingham

| 44,448

| 8.51%

|-

| align="left" | John W. Aiken Jr.

| align="left" | Medical Lake

| 33,104

| 6.34%

|-

|}

Libertarian primary

The Libertarian Party of Washington State race was between Ruth Bennett, former state chair of the party in Washington and Colorado, and Michael Nelson.

{| class="wikitable" border=" 1px solid #008000" style="background: #fff6d5; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right"

|- style="text-align: center; background: #eee"

!Candidate

!Home city

!Total votes

!Percentage

|-

| align="left" | Ruth Bennett

| align="left" | Seattle

| 7,382

| 56.48%

|-

| align="left" | Michael Nelson

| align="left" | Seattle

|5,687

|43.51%

|-

|}

General election

Campaign

Both Gregoire and Rossi ran as centrists and promised to change the political landscape in Washington, and both made job and economic growth the centerpiece of their campaigns.

The Rossi campaign presented its own job growth plan, and stated that 20 years of Democratic governors were to blame for the economic troubles in the state. However, during the general election he was criticized for a strongly conservative voting record that was at odds with his moderate campaign posture. Rossi was also criticized for his long-time professional association with a real estate broker convicted of fraud, and for alleged résumé embellishments. Rossi had worked against Roe v. Wade, attacked opponents for supporting gay rights, and proclaimed that creationism should be taught in public schools. Rossi campaigned on being anti-abortion and in favor of state and federal Constitutional Amendments that would ban certain benefits for gay couples. He downplayed his long history of conservative comments and claimed to be a "fiscal moderate with a social conscience." Rossi would not publicly state his opinion over stem cell research.

The Gregoire campaign promised to boost job growth in the state which had slowed greatly after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, to improve education, and to increase access to health care. It also focused on Gregoire's record of challenging big tobacco and pharmaceutical companies in her tenure as state attorney general. Gregoire also proposed a major state-led initiative in life sciences, especially stem cell research, where she proposed investing US$500 million of a tobacco settlement the state hoped to receive in 2008. Her economic plan for the state focused on improving state infrastructure and improving the quality of education in the state, which she claimed would attract investors. Gregoire also stated that she believed Washington residents should be allowed to buy prescription medicine from Canada, while Rossi said that he needed to be convinced it "was safe". Gregoire was criticized for being a part of the state government establishment, but tried to counter Rossi's "time for a change" message by saying that she would "blow past the bureaucracy" and bring change herself. This language surprised and disappointed many of her colleagues and supporters, who saw it as a failure to give mention or credit to the efforts and achievements of past Democratic governors.

Gregoire was also strongly criticized in many attack ads for an incident which occurred in 2000, when Gregoire's office failed to file documents on time to appeal a record $17.8 million personal-injury verdict against Washington. Documents from an independent investigation conducted at the time of the incident show that Gregoire's deputies attempted to influence who was listed as responsible for the missed deadline. A further case Gregoire was strongly criticized for occurred in 2002 during a wrongful death lawsuit when Gregoire's office did not detect an error in jury instructions. The state was forced to pay $22.4 million to the plaintiff. While Gregoire was not directly responsible for these offenses, the Rossi campaign claimed that she had already cost Washington taxpayers millions of dollars and was negligent.

Rossi won the endorsement of the Republican Party, the National Rifle Association of America, The Seattle Times, several business and medical associations, and former governor Dan Evans. Gregoire received the endorsement of the Democratic Party, GLAAD, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, abortion rights organizations, and all the previous Democratic governors of the state. However, the Republican Party decided not to fund ads for Rossi in the state as polls leading up to the election date showed Gregoire with a clear lead. Almost all of Rossi's ads were paid for and created by outside sources, although as Gregoire's lead narrowed closer to the election date, the Republican Party ultimately decided to launch a series of advertisements for Rossi.

Ruth Bennett's campaign focused on permitting same-sex marriage in the state and economic liberalization in line with the political philosophy of libertarianism. She also recommended equally dividing the state budget among the counties and allowing the counties to establish tax systems on a county-by-county basis, ultimately leading to a diminished role of Washington's Department of Revenue.

Gregoire led in almost all polls conducted leading up to the election, but Rossi was able to close in on her late in the race and won considerable support from Eastern Washington. He also ran much stronger than expected in Snohomish and Pierce Counties. Gregoire received strong support (nearly a three-to-two margin) from the largest county in the state, King County, which includes heavily Democratic Seattle. During the initial ballot count, the lead changed hands several times.

[[Image:Washington 2004 gubernatorial election results by county.PNG|thumb|right|400px|2004 gubernatorial election county map of Washington. Map does not show population or percentile.

]]

Predictions

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! Source

! Ranking

! As of

|-

| align=left | Sabato's Crystal Ball

|

| November 1, 2004

|}

Endorsements

Polling

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"

|- valign=bottom

! Pollster

! Date(s)<br />administered

! Sample<br />size

! Margin<br>

! style="width:100px;"| Christine<br />Gregoire (D)

! style="width:100px;"| Dino<br />Rossi (R)

! Other /<br>Undecided

!Reference

|-

| SurveyUSA

| align=center| October 29–31, 2004

| align=center| 620 (LV)

| align=center| ± 4.0%

| align=center| 45%

| align=center| 51%

| align=center| 4%

|

|-

|Strategic Vision

| align="center" |October 24–27, 2004

| align="center" |801 (LV)

| align="center" |± 3.0%

| align="center" |47%

| align="center" |42%

| align="center" |11%

|

|-

| Mason-Dixon

| align="center" | October 25–26, 2004

| align="center" | 800 (RV)

| align="center" | ± 3.5%

| align="center" | 48%

| align="center" | 43%

| align="center" | 9%

|

Manual recount

After Rossi was certified as the victor on November 29, the Washington State Secretary of State said that "a manual recount was almost a certainty." This view was shared by the Gregoire campaign, with campaign spokesman Morton Brilliant saying that "if all the ballots aren't counted, we will go through the next four years with one candidate's supporters not believing the winner was legitimately elected." and that it was "worth taking three weeks to have four years of legitimacy, and that's what is at stake."

In Washington, a candidate may request one hand count or machine count, provided that they pay for the estimated cost of the recount up front. The Secretary of State issued the order for a recount on Monday, December 6. The next day, attorneys for the Democratic Party and the Secretary of State argued before the Washington State Supreme Court over terms for the recount.

Discovered ballots

<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: thumb|right|250px|A [[King County, Washington|King County election worker looks through ballots that were uncounted in the first election results due to signature problems.]] -->

King County Council Chairman Larry Phillips was at a Democratic Party office in Seattle on Sunday December 12, reviewing a list of voters whose absentee votes had been rejected due to signature problems, when to his surprise he found his own name listed. Phillips said he was certain he had filled out and signed his ballot correctly, and asked the county election officials to investigate the discrepancy. They discovered that Phillips' signature had somehow failed to be scanned into the election computer system after he submitted his request for an absentee ballot. Election workers claimed that they had received Phillips' absentee ballot in the mail, but they could not find his signature in the computer system to compare to the one on the ballot envelope, so they mistakenly rejected the ballot instead of following the standard procedure of checking it against the signature of Phillips' physical voter registration card that was on file. The discovery prompted King County Director of Elections Dean Logan to order his staff to search the computers to see if any other ballots had been incorrectly rejected.

Logan announced on December 13 that 561 absentee ballots in the county had been wrongly rejected due to an administrative error. The next day, workers retrieving voting machines from precinct storage found an additional 12 ballots, bringing the total to 573 newly discovered ballots. Logan admitted the lost ballots were an oversight on the part of his department, and insisted that the found ballots be counted. On December 15, the King County Canvassing Board voted 2–1 in favor of counting the discovered ballots.

Upon examination of the discovered ballots, it was further discovered that, with the exception of two ballots, none of the ballots had been cast by voters whose surnames began with the letters A, B, or C. All together, 735 uncounted or improperly rejected ballots were discovered in King County during the manual hand recount.

Chairman of the Washington State Republican Party Chris Vance stated that he was "absolutely convinced that King County is trying to steal this election." The National Rifle Association, which had endorsed Rossi, sent a mass e-mail on December 14 to its members asking for volunteers to go to King County in order to sit in on the county elections office and observe the recount.

The Washington State Republican Party filed a restraining order in Pierce County District Court, requesting an injunction against King County to block the tabulation of the uncounted ballots. The request was granted on December 17, but Democrats appealed to the Supreme Court. On December 22, the court ruled against the Republican Party and overturned the restraining order, allowing King County to count all ballots.

After all other counties submitted their recount votes, it was revealed on December 20 that at least five other counties besides King County had included ballots that had been discovered after the initial count. For example, Snohomish County included 224 missed ballots that had been discovered underneath mail trays. The outcome of the State Supreme Court hearing regarding King County's votes could have potentially affected those counties' counts as well.

Final results

The state Democratic party claimed on December 21 that the result of the manual recount, including King County's votes, placed Gregoire ahead by eight votes across the state. Later, on December 22, the preliminary recount results put Gregoire at a ten-vote lead.

Washington state law allows for election officials to evaluate voter intent and correct ballots so that the machines can properly read them. For example, on a Scantron or other optical ballot, an election official might fill in a circle that was not properly marked so that the machine may record the vote. Republicans filed a federal lawsuit to stop the visual examination of ballots, claiming that it is not allowed under federal law (Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment). The Republican Party was contending that the method King County was using was different from that of other counties, therefore treating voters in King County differently from those in others. However, the court ruled that this was not the case, as King County was counting their ballots in a manner similar to that of other counties.

A Pierce County Superior Court judge ruled that ballots should not be counted, but on December 22, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that counties explicitly have the ability to correct ballot consideration errors made during earlier counts. Of those 732 ballots, 566 were accepted as having valid signatures and were added to the existing total on December 23. The final results of the hand count, as of December 23, had Christine Gregoire ahead by 130 votes, which was later revised to 129 when it was discovered that Thurston County had added a vote after certification had been completed. Since the recount results were in favor of the party requesting the recount, the Democrats were reimbursed the recount costs they had advanced to the state.

The Republicans were already preparing for further legal action before the final tally was announced by canvassing Republican voters whose ballots had been rejected. On December 29, Rossi called for a re-vote, saying that "this election has been a total mess" and that a "revote would be the best solution for the people of our state and would give us a legitimate governorship". This solution had been rejected by the Democrats and Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed because Washington's election law contains no re-vote provision, which left a lawsuit the only other option. Reed officially certified the results of the manual recount on December 30, declaring Gregoire the governor-elect.

Results of recount

By county

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! rowspan="2" |County King County's election department (the greater Seattle area) was also targeted for how they handled the ballots, including untracked use of a "ballot-on-demand" printing machine. Also, ballots in six counties were discovered after the initial count and included in the recounts, the most being from King County. The judge hearing the lawsuit ruled that the Party did not provide enough evidence that the disputed votes were ineligible votes, or for whom they were cast, to enable the court to overturn the election.

Controversy over the election's outcome continued after the certification of the hand recount results. The Washington State Republican Party called into question the discrepancy between the list of voters casting ballots in King County (895,660) and the number of ballots reported in the final hand recount (899,199). They claimed that hundreds of votes, including votes by felons, deceased voters, and double voters, The PI uncovered eight cases of votes attributed to dead people; these included one administrative error, two ballots cast by the spouses of recently deceased voters (one who voted against Gregoire), one case of a husband apparently voting his dead wife's ballot instead of his own, and a man who legally voted his absentee ballot and then died before election day. One dead woman was marked as having voted in person at the polls.

Neither suit asked for Gregoire's inauguration to be delayed, allowing governor Gary Locke to leave his post as scheduled. However, in the same ruling, he also rejected the Democrats' argument that only the state legislature, which then had a Democratic majority, and not the court, had the sole authority to decide whether an election was invalid, thereby indicating that he intended to proceed to trial. Conservative columnists suggested that felons were more likely to vote for Gregoire. Most of the felon-voters resided in counties won by Rossi.

As a solution to the problem of the illegal voters, the Republicans proposed a solution of "proportional reduction". Republicans claimed that it should be assumed that illegal votes were cast in the same percentages as other votes in the same precinct. For example, in a precinct where Gregoire won 60% of the vote, it would have been assumed that she received 60% of the illegal vote as well, and those votes would be subtracted from her total for the precinct. The Democrats countered that the Republicans' proposal was statistically invalid, an example of the ecological fallacy, and the best solution would be to call each of the felons into court and ask them to swear under oath which political candidate they voted for, after which time their vote would be removed from the total.

The trial began on May 23, with both sides presenting their evidence of manipulation. On June 6, 2005, Judge John E. Bridges ruled that the Republican party did not provide enough evidence that the disputed votes were ineligible—or for whom they were cast—to overturn the election. Judge Bridges noted that there was evidence that 1,678 votes had been illegally cast throughout the state, but found that the only evidence submitted to show how those votes had been cast were sworn statements from four felons that they had voted for Rossi. Nullifying the election, Bridges said, would be "the ultimate act of judicial egotism and judicial activism." No evidence was brought before the court of any of the illegal votes benefitted Gregoire. Rossi did not appeal to the state Supreme Court and the Washington State Republican party settled the case after paying $15,000 in court costs to the Democrats.

Judge Bridges' ruling was seen as a comprehensive defeat for Rossi. The judge admitted nearly every piece of evidence the Republican Party offered and then wrote a thorough, tough opinion rejecting the Republicans' claims (while criticizing the administration of the election, particularly in King County); Rossi was left with very little legal ground for a successful appeal. After receiving such a negative verdict, Rossi declined to appeal to the State Supreme Court, claiming that the political makeup of the Court would make it impossible for him to win, thereby ending all legal challenges to the election of Gregoire as the Governor of Washington.

See also

• List of close election results
• 2004 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
• 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington
• 2004 United States Senate election in Washington

Notes

References

External links

• Recount status from the Secretary of State's website. Accessed January 20, 2005.
• The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Elections
• The Seattle Times: Politics
• Tacoma News-Tribune: Election 2004

Candidates' websites (Archived)

• Christine Gregoire
• Dino Rossi
• Ruth Bennett

Washington government

• Washington Secretary of State
• Chelan County Superior Court