Rossi's win echoes in Basin

Dems and Reps in area dissect the news from Olympia

COLUMBIA BASIN — Dino Rossi has come out ahead of the first recount of votes in the state's gubernatorial race.

The edge? 42 votes, or .0014 percent. And in the Basin, the uncertainty of such a close race showed after Republicans and Democrats heard the news about Rossi's triumph.

"He appears to have won, and the operative word is 'appears,'" said state Sen. Joyce Mulliken, R-Ephrata, who said she understood Democratic candidate Christine Gregoire's decision not to concede defeat yet.

"I wish she would lead her supporters to concede, but I understand that if the roles were reversed, we would be seeking every avenue," she said. "There is a lot at stake."

Big Bend Community College instructor Joe Rogers, a Democrat, agreed with Mulliken, saying that Republicans would have done the same thing Gregoire is doing, demanding a second recount, this time by hand.

"A tiny little mistake anywhere could swing it either way," Rogers said. "When you are only 42 votes (apart), you have to do that."

Rogers declared himself befuddled by Gregoire's showing in the Nov. 2 election, saying he expected the state's attorney general to do much better than she did.

"I am disappointed that people did not understand how hard she fought for the state and how much money she brought to the state," he said. "I don't think people really understood much about either candidate."

Conversely, Mulliken said people in the state, particularly in eastern Washington easily identified with Rossi's values and work ethic. His constant trips east of the Cascades made a difference, too, she added.

Rossi, a real-estate salesman turned state senator, educated himself on issues that were important to voters in the east side of the state, Mulliken said.

"Voters finally felt like they had a candidate and an administration they could be part of," she said. "We had never had a candidate come into where I live or to other parts of eastern Washington."

Both Rogers and Mulliken said that the time it took the state to come to this point did not worry them. The integrity of the state's elections remains intact, they concurred, and comparisons with Florida, circa 2000 are unfounded.

"I am a Democrat and many of the Democrat counties have had Rossi ahead," Rogers said. "I have not been uncomfortable with the process at all, while I am still uncomfortable with the process they used in Florida."

What does make Rogers uncomfortable is what he sees as Republicans trying to stop the count of votes in King County, long a Democratic stronghold.

"If it comes out that Rossi wins because the people voted for him, then he wins," he said. "But let the votes count."

Mulliken said the integrity of the state's ballot had not changed, but what needed to change is the way the state conducts elections, with different counties using different systems.

"It would be nice to have a consistent system," she said. "It's confusing to have multiple types of ballots." Some counties use touch screens, some others use optic tallies and some others use the punch-card method.

Mulliken suggested absentee ballots be required to be in the auditor's office by the evening of election day, instead of the current system, which allows them to be mailed in up to that day.

Because of the wait, Mulliken said she will be glad when all is said and done. Given the possibility of a second recount, she joked that no one will have a celebratory party "until (Rossi) is sworn in."

The Governor's Ball is in mid-January.

Other Republicans were a bit more boisterous in celebrating the results of the recount.

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings said in a statement that was time for the race to be over, after two consecutive counts had declared Rossi the winner.

"Trying to drag (the race) out until Christmas and hope that Santa Claus will deliver what the voters have not is not fair to the people of the state," the release read.