Say Anything Blog

Republican governor candidate Dino Rossi is calling for a recount in the Washington election.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Republican Dino Rossi on Wednesday urged his Democratic rival in the closest governor's race in state history to join him in calling for a revote.

"The uncertainty surrounding this election process isn't just bad for you and me --� it is bad for the entire state," Rossi said, reading from a letter he said he sent to Democrat Christine Gregoire. "People need to know for sure that the next governor actually won the election."

Regardless of where you stand on the subject of having a new vote, you have to admit that Rossi is going about the process the right way.

While noting that he could contest the election, Rossi said Wednesday that a legal challenge could drag on for months. The better way to clear up the mess, he said, would be to ask lawmakers to pass a bill calling for a special election as soon as the Democrat-controlled state Legislature convenes in early January for the 2005 session.

Exactly.

Of course, the Democrats don't want a recount. They only want those sort of things when they're behind in the voting.

The Gregoire camp immediately dismissed the notion that a revote might be feasible. She is scheduled to be certified as Washington's governor-elect Thursday, by a scant 129 votes out of more than 2.8 million cast.

"It's irresponsible to spend $4 million in taxpayer money on a new election just because you don't like losing this one," Gregoire's spokesman Morton Brilliant said.

In an election where the winner was determined by hundreds of votes that were coincidentally "found" during a recount (and then counted in suspicious circumstances) I think its clear that the outcome of that election is in doubt. If four million dollars is what it takes to have an election that will prove to the citizens of Washington that the correct candidate was chosen then so be it.

Update:

Republicans were calling for a new vote even before Gregoire got the lead.

Seattle Times - Former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, a key supporter of Republican Dino Rossi during the contentious recounts in Washington's race for governor, says it may be time to toss out all of the votes and do the election over.

Munro, who oversaw the state's elections system for 20 years before retiring in 2000, said a new vote is probably the only way to restore voter confidence and get a clear winner.

His comments came as the state Republican Party prepared to file a lawsuit against King County seeking to stop the county's recount, and votes reported from Snohomish County further tightened the race between Rossi and Democrat Christine Gregoire.

"This thing could just degenerate and spiral downward," Munro said yesterday. "Whoever eventually becomes governor is going to have a very hard time governing, and we're going to go through four years of flopping around."

He suggested allowing new voter registrations for a few weeks, then holding a new election in February.

Democrats scoffed at the proposal, saying Republicans were raising it only because Rossi's whisker-thin lead appears in jeopardy.

"Last week the Republicans were saying we need to resolve this as quickly as possible," Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Brost said. "This week they're saying we need another election."