The winner gets to take on incumbent state Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw.

Sharon Hanek has 2,001 votes. She's 78 votes behind Josh Hulburt. They're both Republicans.

This is likely to go down to the wire.

Just look at the returns. Democrat Rob Cerqui has a 25-vote lead over Republican Bruce Dammeier in the race to replace Rep. Joyce McDonald, R-Puyallup, in the House.

It's 5,995 to 5,970.

Now, that is a swing district. And that is where the political parties and caucuses tend to pour money. It's anybody's ball game and neither side wants to think what would have happened if they'd spent just a little more money on their respective candidate.

Ain't nothin' closer than a tie. Debi Srail, Democrat, must be feeling pretty good tonight. After the first returns were posted, she trailed by only 5 votes.

When Auditor Pat McCarthy posted the second batch a little after 10:40 p.m., Srail picked up those five votes.

Incumbent Sen. Mike Carell, R-Lakewood, might be feeling a little tight around the collar about now.

1. Randy Dorn succeeded in keeping incumbent schools chief Terry Bergeson under 50 percent. That means that this non-partisan race will continue until November. But predictions of a Dorn victory were unfounded. In fact, they were dead wrong.

Expect "WASL" to rival "change" as the most spoken word in the coming election.

2. Despite all the spin about which party and which candidate would benefit from the primary electorate, the results are what was predicted by opinion polls. Chris Gregoire has a slight lead over Dino Rossi - three points - but was held below 50 percent. That's what most of the polls had shown leading up to the primary.

3. All the hype about the top two primary was fun while it lasted. In the end, very few races in November will see two Democrats or two Republicans and most of those are in districts where only one party filed candidates or where one party is dominant.

He decided the 2004 race between Dino Rossi and Chris Gregoire. And while they continue to wage that battle, and will through the November election, he'll not have to worry about those results.

Chelan County Judge John E. Bridges, who ruled in favor of Gregoire after a week-long trial in Wenatchee in 2005, ran unopposed for reelection.

Two takes on the early 8th Congressional District results:

• Amanda Halligan, Rep. Dave Reichert’s communication director, said his camp is “pleased with what we’re seeing so far.”

Early results show Republican incumbent Reichert leading Democrat Darcy Burner by a few percentage points. Four other candidates trail by a wide margin.

“There’s no question for us that we would wind up in the top two, which in the end is what matters,” Halligan said.

• Not surprisingly, Burner sees it differently. She noted that Reichert has failed so far to top 50 percent of the vote.

“I’m really happy with the results,” Burner said. “The majority of voters in this district made it clear they want a change in this country.”

It counts for nothing but bragging rights, but Kitsap County Commissioner Jan Angel, a Republican, was leading Democrat Kim Abel in early returns from Kitsap County on Tuesday night as both Port Orchard women are trying to replace Rep. Pat Lantz in the 26th Legislative District.

Lantz, D-Gig Harbor, is not seeking reelection.

The significance of a good showing by Angel is that Republicans tend not to fare so well in the Kitsap portion of the 26th District, yet she was doing just that because Abel wasn’t doing well up north. Angel also was outpolling Abel in the Pierce County portion of the district, where Republicans are expected to do well.

Angel and Abel are the only two candidates in that particular race, so they will face off again in the November general election.

(Here's the rest of the story that will appear in tomorrow's print edition:)

=> Read more!

Washington Transportation Commissioner Carol Moser has 40 percent of the vote in her race for a House seat in District 8 in Benton County. She's the only Democrat.

Problem is, the four Republican candidates have 60 percent of the vote. And you know what that means in November, dontcha?

I know Rep. Mike Armstrong is the incumbent, but even as a write-in candidate, I expected Courtney Cox to make a better showing than the less than 5 percent of the vote she's getting right now.

Maybe they don't show "Friends" reruns on the east side of the Cascade Mountains.

State Rep. Jim McCune, R-Graham, said he fully expected to be facing JeanMarie Christenson in the November general election because she appeared to be the only Democrat who was actively campaigning.

She was leading fellow Democrats Chuck Collins and Ray Harper in both Pierce and Thurston counties.

She had 25.5 percent of the vote. Collins had 13.5 percent. Harper had only 9 percent.

McCune had 52 percent of the overall vote. A glimpse of things to come?

This in from The Associated Press:

Two Washington state Supreme Court justices have essentially clinched re-election.

Justices Mary Fairhurst and Charles Johnson each got more than the 50 percent margin needed in Tuesday’s primary to move unopposed to November’s general election.

With about 30 percent of the expected vote counted, Johnson has 58 percent. His closest opponent, James Beecher, has 30 percent.

Fairhurst has nabbed 61 percent in early returns. Her lone opponent, Michael Bond, has 38 percent.

Okay, argue all you want over whether the primary electorate is an accurate sampling of state voter sentiment. But so far the results in the governor's race are tracking most of the professional opinion polls done before the election.

Gregoire, 48.3 percent; Rossi, 45.8 percent.

It would appear so.

Early returns from Clark County show state Rep. Jim Dunn, R-Vancouver, running a distant third in the Top Two primary.

Democrat Tim Probst is leading with 49.5 percent of the vote. Republican Joseph James has 32 percent. Dunn has only 18.5 percent.

If this holds up, there will be no more "97 to Dunn" votes in the House.

Dunn was censored by his own party after some embarrassing remarks to a woman in a bar. But this past session, he ignored all the insults and regularly spoke on the floor of the House. And often, he was the only dissenting vote on bills passed by his colleagues.

This could mean Democrats pick up still another seat and pad their 63-35 majority in the House.

Dino Rossi's campaign just put out this statement:

“We had a strong showing in the primary tonight. Current returns show we have received over 45 percent of the vote. To put these results into perspective, during the 2004 campaign I received just 34 percent of the vote in the primary and the General Election turned out to be significantly closer.

“Fewer than half of the voters who will vote in November cast their ballots in this primary. Independent polls of all voters show this race is a statistical dead heat and I feel confident going into the General Election. I’m happier having 45 percent tonight than the 34 percent we got in the 2004 primary.

=> Read more!

Opponents of the Top Two primary predicted all sorts of funny business if a system was created that let two candidates from the same party to advance to the general election.

But the only race in the state where something out of the ordinary is taking place is in Tacoma's 27th. Incumbent Dennis Flannigan is expected to win re-election and had he faced off against Republican Dale Woodard, Flannigan's chances would improve.

Hey, nothing against Woodard but it's a Democratic district that hasn't elected a Republican since 1962.

However, if a moderate Democrat was sent to the runoff with Flannigan, that candidate might be able to build a coalition of moderates, independents and Republicans.

So Jessica Smeall filed as a Democrat and her fiance-roommate Brent Wiley filed as a Republican. Wiley told me in June that he urged Woodard to drop out and when he didn,t filed against him to dilute the Republican vote. That would enhance Smeall's changes of advancing.

Wiley, despite taking a Democratic ballot in this year's presidential primary, touted himself in the voters pamphlet as a conservative who opposed state money for stem cell research.

"If you are retired you should vote for me because McCain and Wiley will take care of the aging! Thank God for your right to vote."

Early results have Flannigan finishing first, Smeall second, Woodard third and Wiley fourth. If all of Wiley's votes went to Woodard, he'd still be trailing Smeall, but it would be a lot closer.

Republican Allan Martin and Democrat Jim McIntire are leading right now.

In honor of this evening's classic attempts by the candidates for governor to pre-spin the results of the governor's race, I recount this from the 2000 primary.

Republican Chris Vance was challenging incumbent Adam Smith in the 9th congressional district. Vance knew he would do poorly in the primary, given that another Republican was in the race.

So he set his expectations low, allowing his campaign to assert that if Vance didn't get 31 percent of the primary vote he should pack it in. At the same time Vance's campaign said that if Smith received 50 percent or less, it was a horse race.

Vance totaled 28 percent; Smith 61 percent.

The Secretary of State's Web site is reporting some numbers from most -- but not all -- counties now.

They're updating pretty frequently, so remember to refresh your browser.

Gregoire now has a slim lead over Rossi. Bergeson is still ahead of Dorn. And Brad Owen still is cruising.

The first results from Pierce County show Superior Court Judge Sergio Armijo trailing challenger Michael Hecht:

Superior Court Judge Department 9
Michael Hecht 29,215 52.32%
Sergio Armijo 26,402 47.28%

Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg is trailing incumbent Attorney General Rob McKenna. Here are some numbers the Secretary of State is reporting now:

Candidate Vote Vote %
John Ladenburg 171,922 41.88 %
Rob McKenna 238,589 58.12 %

Ladenburg is leading McKenna in Jefferson, Pacific and San Juan counties.

UPDATE: Ladenburg is slightly trailing McKenna in the first report from his home county. From the Pierce County Auditor:

John Ladenburg

31,313
49.68%

Rob McKenna

31,557
50.07%

Write-In
156
0.25%

From the Secretary of State:

Boleslaw (John) Orlinski
No Party Preference
461 1.05 %
Richard Todd
No Party Preference
634 1.44 %
James E. Vaughn
Democrat
1,629 3.71 %
Dave Reichert
Republican Party
20,356 46.40 %
Keith Arnold
Democrat
655 1.49 %
Darcy Burner
Democrat
20,140 45.90 %

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith has a sizable lead over James Postma in early returns. Both will advance to the general election.

Here are the numbers from the Secretary of State:

Adam Smith
Democrat
11,169 66.38 %
James Postma
Republican
5,658 33.62 %

A few early numbers are available, but the only big county with any numbers is Spokane.

Check out the state-wide "executive" races here.

Of course, it's impossible to make any conclusions yet. But if you're curious, Republican gubernatorial challenger Dino Rossi is a few thousand votes ahead of incumbent Chris Gregoire.

Terry Bergeson is leading challenger Randy Dorn in what could be a competitive race for superintendent of public instruction.

And Brad Owen has a comfortable lead in his bid for another term as lieutenant governor.

From the Secretary of State's office:

Brian Baird
Democrat
14,421 53.68 %
Cheryl Crist
Democrat
3,232 12.03 %
Michael Delavar
Republican
5,019 18.68 %
Christine Webb
Republican
4,195 15.61 %

The first results are coming in from the Secretary of State's office. Here's what I have on the 6th Congressional District:

Doug Cloud
Republican
8,030 votes 27.48 %
Norm Dicks
Democrat
17,220 votes 58.93 %
Paul Richmond
Democrat
2,950 votes 10.09 %
Gary Murrell
Green Party
1,023 votes 3.50 %

1. Will Randy Dorn pull off a tremendous upset and win election as state schools chief. Dorn is challenging three-term incumbent Terry Bergeson and is running heavily on unhappiness with the WASL test. All he needs to do is finish in the top two and keep Bergeson from winning 50 percent plus one. That would force the race into a November runoff.

But there seems now to be a chance that it is Dorn, not Bergeson who will flirt with 50 percent. And if he wins a majority tonight, he'll essentially be elected. I say essentially because the candidate who gets more than 50 percent in the primary appears on the November ballot alone.

2. Which candidate for governor will get bragging rights - and perhaps a fund raising boost - from tonight's results. Both Dino Rossi and Chris Gregoire - and their surrogates - have been poor-mouthing their chances (see post below). But one of them is going to do better than the other and will certainly proclaim that it has great meaning.

3. What effect will the new Top Two primary have? Most likely, the answer is very little as only a handful of races will end up with either two Democrats or two Republicans in the general election. But still, the existence of real races in otherwise safe districts might increase attention and at least give everyone something to talk about.

Those districts are the 7th in Northeast Washington, the 8th in the Tri-Cities, the 22nd in Olympia, the 27th in Tacoma and the 11th, 36th and 46th in the Seattle area.

Because I’m on election duty today, I had to skip today’s Pierce County Council meeting. So I’ll pass along the news that the council approved a budget-cutting proposal sponsored by Democrats Calvin Goings and Tim Farrell. It would ban out-of-state travel and freeze some county hiring.

Here’s the press release:

Council approves cost-cutting plan

A set of initiatives the Pierce County Council approved today (Aug. 19) should reduce unnecessary county expenses, Councilmembers Calvin Goings and Tim Farrell said. The government cost-cutting measures take aim at Pierce County's slowing job market and declining tax receipts.

"Our budget situation demands attention now," Goings (District 2) said. "Just like our county's families, our county government needs to live within its means and use its money as wisely as possible."

The initiatives approved today include:
-banning all out-of-state travel by county employees; and
-freezing all hiring in county general-fund departments, excluding public safety and criminal justice.

"Pierce County needs to focus on core services such as economic development and public safety," Farrell (District 4) said. "When it comes to reductions in other areas, every penny counts."

The legislation (ordinance 2008-35s) amends the county's 2008 budget. It takes effect 10 days after being signed by the county executive.

CONTACTS: Councilmember Calvin Goings, 253-798-6694; or Councilmember Tim Farrell, 253-798-7590

What does an anti-war voter from Federal Way do when she is upset with U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Tacoma)?

Write-in Dennis Kucinich's name, of course.

At least a couple voters in Smith's 9th Congressional District say they're writing in the name of the Ohio congressman and failed presidential hopeful to protest Smith's alleged failure to rein in Bush and Cheney.

Click ahead to read the letters that two of them sent Smith -- and forwarded to News Tribune columnist Peter Callaghan.

=> Read more!

The opinion makers at The Oregonian offered their take on our gubernatorial race.

They think it's got "sizzle" and a "ton of beneath-the-surface drama" thanks to the top-two format.

And they think Dino Rossi has to win or come close.

In other words, it's a telling preview of the Nov. 4 election, since both are certain to be on that ballot. And it raises the stakes considerably for Rossi, who must win Tuesday or come close, because Gregoire is likely to benefit in the November election from an anticipated surge in voting for Barack Obama.

Average citizens with access to the Internet pose questions. Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi respond.

I counted five questions:

• How do you plan to close the budget deficit?
• What is your position on the Real I.D. Act?
• Are you willing to re-think transportation to help stop global warming?
• What will you to help improve the quality of patient care?
• Are there any limits to what a pharmacist can refuse to dispense?

Fun with video: It's possible -- if you're interested -- to get all three video clips rolling at the same time. (The questioner, Gregoire and Rossi.) I know because I did it by accident.

Check it out here.

Checked in with Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy a while ago. A few notes from our conversation:

• There have been some minor technical glitches – a ballot sorting machine has gone down, and four technicians are repairing it – but otherwise things are going fairly well. The office will be counting ballots through the night.

• McCarthy expects a turnout of 43 to 45 percent of registered voters, not bad for a primary, but not as much as she’d hoped. She’s hoping the polls will pick up this afternoon, and expects a big batch of mail ballots tomorrow. Ballots will trickle in through Friday.

• She hasn’t heard of any confusion about the lack of county offices on the primary ballot (all candidates for county executive, county council, sheriff and assessor-treasurer will appear on the November ballot, thanks to Pierce County’s ranked-choice voting system).

In the final days before today's primary election, both the Dino Rossi and Chris Gregoire campaigns apparently were struck with cases of modesty.

Or spin.

Or something.

The Rossi camp weighed in first, with an e-mail to reporters and others announcing that they do not expect to win tonight's primary.

It's not a problem, though, because they don't expect the primary to be a good indicator of the November general election.

A few days later, the Gregoire campaign fired back with its own analysis of the primary. They think the demographics of a primary favor Rossi.

Click ahead for the full text of both e-mails.

And then click the comment button and share your own analysis.

But do it quick. It won't matter in a few hours.

=> Read more!

Want to know what’s at stake in tonight’s 8th District congressional race? Listen to Democratic candidate Darcey Burner in this YouTube video.

Burner, seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Dave Reichert in November, appears to be speaking to supporters. She says tonight’s results will have a “huge impact on what kind of resources go in on either side of this race. We’d really like to see … I’ll refrain myself. We would like to do really well in the primary on the 19th of August because it will have a big impact. We’ll get more resources, they’ll get fewer. We like that.”

The state Republican Party forwarded the video link to me today, suggesting they like Reichert’s chances of showing up Burner. Or maybe that’s just what they want you to think. Let the expectations game begin.

A note for readers: check back here as the evening progresses for updates on tonight’s primary election. I’ll be following the congressional races. Reporter Jason Hagey is watching statewide races, including the governor and school superintendent. Reporter Joe Turner is covering the legislative races.

Here’s a schedule for Pierce County election returns, courtesy of the auditor’s office. With due respect to the office, we wonder whether this schedule is a little optimistic. It could be pretty late before we get a second batch of returns.

TO: Media and Pierce County Jurisdictions

FROM: Pat McCarthy

DATE: August 14, 2008

RE: Primary Election Night Reporting Schedule

I’d like to take this opportunity to inform you of our reporting schedule for this 2008 Election Season.

Absentee results will be reported as usual in the 1st release at approximately 8:30 p.m. Poll site results will be released throughout the night until all poll site ballots are counted.

The implementation of Ranked Choice Voting coming this November necessitated that ballots be counted by a central count method for both the Primary and General elections. Poll site tabulators will not be used, but touch screen voting machines will be available at the polls. After the closing of the polls, polling place ballots along with the touch screen results will be securely transported to the Election Center. Ballots will be sorted and centrally counted by precinct. We will continue the tabulation throughout the night until all poll site ballots are counted and cumulative results are released.

Tentative schedule – (subject to change)
(Please note: all Election Night Results are Unofficial)

8:30 p.m. 1st Release - Absentee Ballots processed through Election Day
10:30 p.m. 2nd Release
Midnight 3rd Release
3:00 a.m. 4th Release - Final Election Night Unofficial Results
Daily results will be released Monday through Friday at approximately 5:00 p.m.

Okay, we thought we'd made this clear. But apparently, we didn't.

So here's why your primary ballot does not have Pierce County Executive, Assessor-Treasurer, Sheriff and the county council. Those county offices will be decided in November using the new instant runoff voting/ranked choice voting system approved by county voters two years ago.

There is no primary for county offices. Instead, voters will rank their top three choices. If a candidate doesn't win a majority of first-choice votes, the election computer will kick out the last-place finisher and tally the second-choice votes on those ballots.

It will be lots of fun. Really. But it won't happen until November.