Welcome to the Finish Line

Last minute phone calls being made on behalf of the candidates

It appears that Patty Murray has won the 2010 Washington Senate race, but there are still hundreds of thousands of ballots that must be counted. "It’s still close, she’s still ahead and both campaigns still claim victory will be theirs." (heraldnet.com) As of Wednesday night, Murray was ahead with 50.8 percent of the votes while Rossi held 49.2 percent.

Though Rossi leads in 30 of the 39 counties, Murray is clearly winning in King County where most of the democratic votes will come from and Snohomish County. Murray holds "a 27,000-vote advantage out of 1.62 million counted statewide as of 8 p.m. Wednesday." (heraldnet.com)

This election would be Murray' fourth term in the Senate or would make Rossi the first Republican to represent Washington in decades. Much was resting on this campaign which contributed to the large amount of spending from both parties. They raised nearly $23 million collectively and were ranked third in the nation for outside groups contributing money.

Though both candidates have not spoken to people in Washington, their campaign managers sent out a plan of how they would win. Because there are so many ballots not counted yet, Rossi's managers believe he has a fighting chance, however, representatives for Murray pointed out that the majority of uncounted ballots are from counties where either Murray has already clearly won or she is definitely favored. Through predictions of the uncounted ballots, it is reported that Murray will win by 1.5 percent. Rossi's representatives fired back with the fact that this race is too close to call just yet. Pat Shortridge said "that Republican candidates improve their percentages in counts of later-arriving ballots." (heraldnet.com)

As the ballots continue to come in and the votes continue to be counted, will it be enough to put Rossi in the lead or will Murray take her place back in Congress? “'Their theories are plausible,'” said David Ammons, spokesman for Secretary of State Sam Reed’s. “'We think with the gap at 1 percent, we’re willing to sit and watch some more votes to be counted before we think it’s a done deal.'” (heraldnet.com)

Spending...and time is almost up

Are you ready to vote? Do you know who you are voting for? Its getting down to the wire, and the insults and accusations are flying but so are the explanations and arguments.

Image from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39880367

“Murray said she listens every day to the concerns of ordinary Washingtonians and uses her clout to solve their problems in the Capitol. Washington State is my family, and my family is hurting," she said. She blamed the economic morass facing families on "mistakes and greed on Wall Street" and said she'd "take on even the most powerful to make sure you have a voice at the table" as decisions on getting the country back to work are made.”

“But Rossi, the former state senator and two-time GOP contender for governor, accused Murray of being part of an entrenched power structure in Washington, D.C. He said Murray had been changed by her years in office and questioned which Washington she now represents.

"You have a senator who says one thing in Washington state and does another in Washington, D.C.," Rossi said, citing her votes on the health-care and financial overhauls and other measures he said are jacking up the federal debt.”

(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013165261_debate15m.html)

Its difficult to look at this information and see the truth, you have one candidate saying she is doing everything for the people in Washington and that no matter what she is trying to help Washington. While the other is saying that she may have started out as wanting to help but now she isn’t.

No matter what the candidates think of each other and their politics, there is one thing that seems to be agreed upon and that’s the spending involved in this election.

“Independent groups have poured more money into the race between Sen. Patty Murray and Dino Rossi than in all but two Senate contests, a flood of spending that reflects both a tight battle and the role of large — and secretive — donors in this year's elections. Independent groups have paid for more than $12 million in advertising on behalf of either Murray or Rossi, according to the latest tally from the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit government watchdog group.”

(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013257531_outsidemoney26m.html)

They both may have money storming in but their supporters couldn’t by more different.

“Sen. Patty Murray and her Republican challenger, Dino Rossi, disagree on virtually every major issue. And many of their campaign donors don't seem to have much in common, either. Murray's latest fundraising report shows that some of her heaviest support has come from lawyers, government employees and executives at nonprofit groups, health-care companies and biotechnology firms. That's in contrast to Rossi, who counts real-estate developers, venture capitalists, Wall Street executives and auto dealers among his biggest donors.” (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013228071_murray22m.html)

And finally with everything coming to an end, the big question is who is in the lead?

“Murray was ahead 49-48 in the poll taken Tuesday through Thursday, a difference within the poll’s margin of error.”
(http://www.theolympian.com/2010/10/30/1420879/murray-holds-slim-lead-over-rossi.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter)