Pierce County posted more results at 7:20 p.m. Here's a look at notable races:

Congress
8th District
Dave Reichert, R 85,852 51%
Darcy Burner, D 83,985 49%

Governor
Christine Gregoire, D 989,804 54%
Dino Rossi, R 857,314 46%

State superintendent of public instruction
Teresa Bergeson 774,993 49%
Randy Dorn 809,179 51%

State lands commissioner
Doug Sutherland, R 859,736 49%
Peter Goldmark, D 880,274 51%

State treasurer
Allan Martin, R 833,319 48%
Jim McIntire, D 896,215 52%

Sound Transit
Prop. 1 - mass transit expansion
Approved 337,957 58%
Rejected 242,577 42%

City of Lakewood
Prop. 1 - casino ban
Yes 3,838 38%
No 6,184 62%

City of Tacoma
Prop. No. 1 - term limits
Yes 16,224 50%
No 15,987 50%

Pierce County Council
District 3
Bruce Lachney, D 11,154 49%
Roger Bush, R 11,596 51%

Legislature
2nd Legislative District, Senate
Marilyn Rasmussen, D 16,090 50%
Randi Becker, R 16,215 50%

25th District, House position 1
Bruce Dammeier, R 13,345 51%
Rob Cerqui, D 12,582 49%

26th District, House position 1
Jan Angel, R 18,657 52%
Kim Abel, D 17,382 48%

They would have put on an inaugural ball whether Dino Rossi won the governor's race or Chris Gregoire won the governor's race. Still, it seemed kind of sudden to get the press release about the Jan. 14 bash in the Legislative Building just a few hours after Rossi conceded and Gregoire, again, claimed victory.

In case you want to go to the black-tie, $100-per-person evening of eating, drinking and dancing, here is the contact information.

To order tickets, email admin@wastategovball.org, call 360-427-6875 or send your
payment to:
The Inaugural Ball Committee
PO Box 1283
Shelton, WA 98584
Web site: wastategovball.org
A will call station will be near the southeast portico entrance to the Legislative building.
Tickets may also be purchased at:
Capital Lakefair
218 Franklin St. SE
Olympia, WA 98501
Phone: 360-943-3119
FAX: 360-943-7344

And if you are thinking of coming armed, think again. The press release notes that, "Please note that this is a private party and weapons will not be allowed on site."

About lunchtime, incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert was leading Democratic challenger Darcy Burner by 1,446 votes. At 2:41 p.m., his lead had dwindled to 614 votes in the 8th District race.

2:41 p.m.
Reichert: 83,271 votes, 50.18%
Burner: 82,657 votes, 49.82%

A total of 165,928 votes have been counted so far.

How many ballots still need to be counted? In 2006, 251,383 people voted in the 8th District race. That's 85,455 more votes than have been counted so far.

Based on those numbers, at least a third of ballots have yet to be counted. But with this year's massive voter turnout, the number of ballots remaining could be higher.

In remarks to supports of Initiative 1000, the death with dignity measure, former Gov. Booth Gardner confirmed that the effort would be his farewell campaign.

Gardner, who is battling Parkinson's Disease, made the campaign a personal effort.

"Thanks to all of you for being here this evening," he said. "This is a very special day for me. And, it is a very special day for all of us. This is a day that will be remembered by history. It is a day that you will all reflect upon, and over time, say to your children and grandchildren “I remember the election of 2008.”

Here are the rest of his remarks:

There are many in this room that I could single out for special thanks.

The results this evening are the consequence of the work of so many people eager to make a difference. The staff was untiring in its commitment and devotion to our task. The volunteer effort was unparalleled. From signature gathering to working the phones late this afternoon to get out the vote, volunteers have been the engine which drove this campaign.

My feelings this evening about our campaign are bittersweet. This has been called “My Final Campaign.” I have been an active participant in politics and the political process for most of my adult life. I don’t believe politicians can ever truly retire. The political itch simply runs too deep. At the same time, I have come to recognize the limitations that Parkinson’s disease places upon me.

=> Read more!

With 140,424 votes counted so far in the race for Washington's 8th Congressional District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert is maintaining a slight lead over Democrat Darcy Burner.

Reichert: 70,935 votes, 50.51 %
Burner: 69,489 votes, 49.49 %

During a press conference at noon, Gov. Chris Gregoire was asked if she would entertain an offer from President-Elect Obama to join his cabinet. Gregoire was an early endorser of Obama and joined him when he last campaigned in the state in February.

"Do you have any idea how hard I've run to be governor?" she joked. "I want to be the governor of the great state of Washington."

Gregoire also said she is preparing a state economic stimulus package to go along with whatever might come out of Washington, D.C. She said both should emphasize "ready to go" public works projects such as road and water projects.

"We don't need a stimulus package with one, $300 check," Gregoire said. "We need a stimulus package that puts people to work."

I suppose getting 70 percent of the vote in your own legislative race will put you in a good mood, too.

This is such a historic moment in our history. I was inspired to write down some thoughts and share them. Feel free to read them, respond to them, delete them, or add your own thoughts and pass them on.
Debbie Regala

I am so excited and moved this morning!
I grew up believing in the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the promises of the Constitution that I was taught in school. That the government flowed from the will of the people and that anyone could have the opportunity to represent the people in making the laws that would govern our country for the common good. But I was acutely aware that that promise was not the reality for many in our country. I knew if you were born part of the 'minority', the potential for you to have this privilege was limited. I confess I initially did not support Barack Obama because I did not have enough faith in the citizens to look beyond the color of his skin and judge him by the content of his character and the qualities of his mind and heart. But his Audacity of Hope convinced me this was the moment in history to strive for that American Dream.

=> Read more!

In an earlier post, I noted that state Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, has a 555-vote lead over Republican challenger Randi Becker and appears to be surviving.

But upon further review, Rasmussen is actually losing in Pierce County by 10 votes. Becker has 9,959; Rasmussen has 9,949. It's Thurston County that's pulling it out for Marilyn so far. She leads in that portion of the 2nd District by 4,618 to 4,053.

At a press conference this morning, GOP candidate for governor Dino Rossi conceded that he won't catch up to Gov. Chris Gregoire and conceded the race to her.

While he complimented his campaign and the efforts of thousands of voters, "it wasn't enough in the end.

"It looks like we're not going to be able to make up that gap, even though it will tighten up in the end," he said.

The former state senator said he thinks the campaign will have an effect on Olympia, mentioning Gregoire's pledge not to raise taxes to solve the state's expected budget shortfall.

"I think voters have a right to hold her to that promise," Rossi said.

What next for Rossi? He said he had no intention of running for office again and expected to return to the business world, perhaps in commercial real estate where he worked before running for governor in 2004.

He also said he would get to spend more time with his family.

"I'm going to be home for dinner tonight," he said. "I'm going to be home for dinner tomorrow night too."

And then he said he'll have to start in on "honey-do list as long as your arm.

"I have to get the garage cleaned up first, I know that."

Instead, professional initiative promoter Tim Eyman is reminding his supporters of a more successful venture -- last year's passage of Initiative 960. That's the one that basically puts a Scarlett Letter on the forehead of any legislator who sponsors a tax or fee increase bill.

That one passed. The traffic congestion measure, Initiative 985, is going down in flames.

But, Eyman and the Fagans, calling themselves "the last line of defense" are still trying to get their payday out of it.

And if their chump-change donors don't come up with enough money to provide a living wage to the trio, there's always Woodinville millionaire Mike Dunmire, Eyman's campaign sugar daddy. He's usually good for $250,000, or so.

If you'll remember from earlier postings, Eyman already is working on another ballot measure for next year, one that deals with property taxes.

=> Read more!

That's how it's shaping up this morning.

The rest of the targeted races seem to be favoring the incumbents, which means Democrats would keep their 32-17 majority over Republicans in the Washington Senate.

But incumbent state Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, could end up being collateral damage in the effort by Democrats to finally pick up the House seat in the 17th District that once belonged to Jim Dunn.

Benton is 147 votes behind Democratic challenger David Carrier. That's 22,356 to 22,209. I suspect there are about 10,000 more ballots to be counted in that race, and later ballots tend to favor Republicans.

We'll see.

Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, has a 555-vote lead over Republican challenger Randi Becker in the 2nd Legislative District.

Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, has about a 1,200 vote lead over Democratic challenger Debi Srail in the 28th District.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, was targeted for defeat by Republicans but she has a commanding lead over challenger Linda Haddon. Her lead is more than 4,000 votes.

Now starts the political parlor game of speculating which politicians will be asked to join Barack Obama's cabinet and which politicians will seek appointment to replace the politicians who are asked to join Barack Obama's cabinet.

This story on Politico.com includes U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, a Democrat from Bainbridge Island, on the list of potential Interior secretaries. It puts him up against Robert Kennedy, Jr.

House Speaker Frank Chopp's Democrats outnumber Minority Leader Richard DeBolt's Republicans by a 63-35 margin, thanks to the late 2007 defection of former Republican Rep. Fred Jarrett.

There are a handful of races that could change those numbers, but not greatly.

"Worst case scenario, we lose one; best case, we're +1," said Kevin Carns, executive director of H-ROC, the House Republican Organization Committee. "In a year like this when they're killing Republicans in the street, we're happy with that."

Although he was trailing on election night, Republican Bruce Dammeier pulled ahead of Democrat Rob Cerqui in the race to replace Rep. Joyce McDonald in the 25th District, which encompasses the Puyallup Valley. Dammeier's lead is now 227 votes, or 10,988 to 10,761. So that would be a "hold" for House Republicans.

=> Read more!

As News Tribune journalists stagger in after a historic election night, many pressing questions remain: What are the political ramifications of ranked choice voting? Who will represent the 8th in Congress? What was up with Michelle Obama's dress last night?

The water cooler talk among the high-minded journalists around here is fixated on the fashion question. (Hey, we don't have answers to the serious questions yet.)

The fashionistas on the East Coast declared the red-and-black Narciso Rodriguez outfit "striking." Reporter Mike Archbold had a different take. "I thought she picked up one of those exploding dye packs."

And Mike's review is tame compared to some of the sniping over at TMZ.

OK, back to real work.

Dino Rossi has scheduled a press conference at his Redmond headquarters at 11:30. The Associated Press is reporting that he expected to concede the governor's race to Chris Gregoire.

@Text:

BC-WA—Governor,0124

URGENT

Source: Rossi to concede Wash. governor’s race

Eds: APNewsNow. Will be updated.

By RACHEL LA CORTE

Associated Press Writer

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A source close to Republican Dino Rossi’s campaign says he will concede his hotly contested rematch against Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire.
Rossi was scheduled to speak in Redmond at an 11:30 a.m. news conference.
Gregoire declared victory Tuesday night after early returns had her ahead, but Rossi initially said he wanted to see later returns.
Wednesday morning, with about 55 percent of the expected ballots counted, Gregoire had about 54 percent of the vote compared to Rossi’s 47 percent.
Gregoire won their 2004 contest by the closest percentage margin of any governor’s race in U.S. history — just 133 votes out of about 2.8 million cast, after two recounts and an unsuccessful Republican court challenge.

As of 9:54 a.m., Republican Dave Reichert is leading Democrat Darcy Burner by 1,149 votes statewide in the U.S. Congressional District 8 race.

Reichert has 70,232 votes while Burner has 69,083.

As of 6:15 a.m., the initiative to ban minicasinos in Lakewood was failing by a wide margin.

More than 60 percent of the votes counted so far were cast against the measure, which would close the city's four minicasinos and keep others from opening.

In Tacoma, the measure to repeal term limits for City Council members was narrowly failing.

No votes tallied 13,237. Yes votes were at 13,031.

The measure would repeal the current law, which limits City Council members to two four-year terms or a total of 10 years if the member was appointed to fill out another member's term.

Bunney	McCarthy

Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy leads in the race to become the county's next executive, according to the latest unofficial results posted this morning.

McCarthy, a Democrat, was ahead of Republican Shawn Bunney in the race to replace John Ladenburg as the head of county government.

Democrat Calvin Goings and Independent Mike Lonergan had been eliminated from the race under the current count. But all that could change as thousands more ranked-choice ballots are tabulated. Another tabulation is expected Friday, according to the Pierce County election's department Web site.

Bunney led in the early tallies but had slipped to second by the third round of tabulations, which takes into account each candidate's first-, second- and third-place vote totals.

During the campaign, McCarthy stressed her years of administrative experience as county auditor and said she would improve customer service if elected.

Bunney, a six-year member of the County Council, campaigned on a platform of creating jobs and cutting county regulations.

In other county ranked choice voting races that had been tabulated as of this morning (again, these are unofficial and subject to change):

• Republican Joyce McDonald was leading Democrat Al Rose in the race for the District 2 seat on the County Council. Carolyn Merrival was elimated.
• Barbara Gelman leads the race for assessor-treasurer over Dale Washam. Four other candidates for the job were eliminated.

Gregoire	Rossi

Incumbent Gov. Chris Gregoire has received more than 54 percent of the votes counted so far in Pierce County, according to the latest election results, and continued to lead Republican challenger Dino Rossi statewide.

As of 3 a.m., Gregoire, a Democrat, had received about 53.5 percent of the vote counted statewide, the Washington Secretary of State's Office reported. Rossi had about 44.5 percent of the statewide vote.

Several media outlets have called the race for Gregoire, but there still were several hundred thousand votes to be counted across the state.

UDPATED NUMBERS: As of 6:26 a.m., Gregoire had 53.5 percent of the statewide vote to Rossi's 46.5 percent.

In Pierce County, it was 53.65 percent to Gregiore and 45.94 percent to Rossi. PC voters cast 494 votes for write-in candidates.

UPDATED NUMBERS (9:54 a.m.): According to Secretary of State's Web site, Gregoire now has 53.51 percent of the votes count to Rossi's 46.49 percent.

In Pierce County, it's 53.51 for Gregoire and 46.08 for Rossi.

As of 6:26 a.m., Sound Transit's Proposition 1 had received more than 58.5 percent of the votes tallied in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

In Pierce County, the measure – which would expand transit options – had received about 51 percent of the votes tallied so far.

Here's the latest AP story on the measure:

SEATTLE (AP) — A regional transit proposal that would extend light rail service from downtown Seattle into the surrounding suburbs was headed for passage behind solid support in King County.

Proposition 1 would impose a sales tax increase of .5 percent, a nickel per $10, to pay for a plan Sound Transit estimates at $22.8 billion. It would expand light rail to Bellevue, Lynnwood and Federal Way.

As of early Wednesday, the measure was drawing 58.6 percent support in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, including 61.9 percent in King County. The weakest support was 51 percent in Pierce County, where counting was delayed by a ranked choice voting system for local offices.

Sound Transit’s taxing jurisdiction in the three counties covers roughly half of Washington state’s population. The proposition would add 34 new miles of light rail and expand commuter train and bus service.

A scrappy assortment of opponents from across the political spectrum, organized as NoToProp1.org, contended that taxpayers could wind up on the hook for more than $107 billion over 45 years, although a King County Superior Court judge rejected that estimate as unrealistic in a dispute over the ballot language.

Polls taken earlier this year indicated more than 60 percent support for the proposal. But last year, voters soundly rejected a more sweeping plan that also included road improvements and new park-and-ride lots. That measure also led in pre-election polls.

“There’s a sense of the new reality ... that the age when we can get around exclusively by car is over, and we need to catch up,” Mike O’Brien of the Sierra Club told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The environmental group opposed the more ambitious plan in 2007, saying it relied too much on highways, but supported Proposition 1 this year.

In the hotly contested race for the District 8 congressional seat, incumbent Republican Dave Reichert holds a slim lead over Democrat challenger Darcy Burner, according to the latest results.

Reichert had 376 more votes as of 3 a.m.

NEW RESULTS: Reichert had upped his lead to 881 votes as of the latest tally released by the Secretary of State's Office at 6:26 a.m.

In Pierce County, he'd received about 54 percent of the vote counted as of 6:15 a.m.

UPDATED RESULTS (9:54 a.m.): District-wide, Reichert now has 50.41 percent of the vote to Burner's 49.59 percent, a separation of 1,149 votes, according to Secretary of State's Office.

In Pierce County, he's now leading 54.24 percent to 45.36 percent.

From The Associated Press:

Democrat Peter Goldmark has taken a slim lead in the race for Washington state lands commissioner.

The Okanogan rancher and molecular biologist is trying to unseat two-term incumbent Doug Sutherland, a Republican. Goldmark was up 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent early Wednesday, thanks to an extremely strong showing in King County.

During the campaign, Goldmark painted Sutherland as too cozy with the timber and mining industries. Sutherland played up his administrative credentials, saying he balanced industry and environmental interests while cutting the Department of Natural Resources by more than 300 employees, to fewer than 1,400.

The lands commissioner manages 5.6 million acres of state lands, with income generated by harvesting timber or leasing land to farmers being used to pay for construction of schools and other state expenses.

President-elect Barack Obama has received nearly 58 percent of the presidential vote counted so far in Pierce County, according to the latest results.

John McCain has received less than 40 percent.

Statewide, Obama has received about 57.48 percent of the votes counted to McCain's 40.83 percent, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

UPDATED NUMBERS: As of 6:26 a.m., Obama had 57.46 percent statewide to McCain's 40.85 percent.

In Pierce County, Obama had 57.50 percent to McCain's 40.37 percent.

Write-in candidates got 618 votes in PC.

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert has taken the lead against Democratic challenger Darcy Burner for the first time since returns began pouring in Tuesday night.

Now the difference is about 375 votes in Reichert's favor.

Burner: 68,165 votes, 49.86 %
Reichert: 68,541 votes, 50.14 %

Reichert has been leading all night in Pierce County, where he's ahead right now by 1,750 votes.

PIERCE COUNTY
Reichert: 13,721 votes, 53.19%
Burner: 11,971 votes, 46.40%

It's about 50-50 now between Democrat Darcy Burner and Republican Rep. Dave Reichert. A total of 134,484 votes have been counted, and the difference between the candidates is 60 votes. See the precise numbers below.

Burner: 67,272 votes, 49.98 %

Reichert: 67,212 votes, 50.02 %

Dino Rossi is not conceding the gubernatorial race tonight, but Gov. Chris Gregoire began her speech to supporters earlier this evening by noting the national media outlets that have declared her the winner.

"Yes!" she said before a cheering crowd at Seattle's Westin Hotel.

Gregoire also noted Sen. Barack Obama's historic win in the presidential election, and asked her supporters to imagine what she and Washington's congressional delegation will be able to accomplish with a friend in the White House.

"I feel I am probably one of the most blessed people in the world," Gregoire said.

She called on Washington to come together as one state to address the challenges that lie ahead.

"I think the message tonight is that when Barack Obama can get elected president, and when the kid of a single mom and short-order cook can get elected governor, every one of our children can do anything and everything they want to do," Gregoire said.

That's my math. Assuming Secretary of State Sam Reed is correct in his prediction for an 83 percent turnout.

I tallied the number of votes cast in the presidential race. That's 459,497 votes. An 83 percent turnout in those three counties would put the total turnout at 1,567,886 ballots.

(Reed's office says the three counties have a total of 1,889,019 registered voters.)

So that's 29.3 percent of the presidential ballots counted. There will be a falloff down the ballot.

I'm mystified by some of the returns. For instance, there are only 11,000 to 13,000 ballots counted in some of the King county legislative races, and you must know the total is going to be close to 50,000 for many of those districts.

Earlier, in her speech to supporters in Seattle, Gov. Chris Gregoire sounded pretty confident. Now, in a press release, she is claiming victory.

While there are still votes to be counted across the state, early totals show Gov. Gregoire winning with an expanding lead. National and local news organizations have called the race for Gov. Gregoire.

“Tonight the voters in Washington sent a message that they want a governor who shares their values of providing children healthcare, protecting the environment and creating jobs,” said Gov. Gregoire. “We have run a “One Washington” campaign and tonight we are seeing the results across the state. I’m honored to be re-elected.”

Gov. Gregoire is leading early in counties across the state, from Spokane to Grays Harbor and from Whatcom to Clark. She has also increased her margins from the 2004 election.