Dem Leads in Wash. Senate Race
By David Ammons
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2000; 8:44 p.m. EST
OLYMPIA, Wash. –– Democrat Maria Cantwell took her first lead over Republican incumbent Slade Gorton on Tuesday as the nation's last unsettled Senate race appeared headed toward an automatic recount next week.
Cantwell, a 42-year-old dot-com millionaire, took over on the strength of returns from King County, which includes heavily Democratic Seattle.
With 99 percent of the vote counted, she had 1,180,762 votes to 1,178,824 for Gorton – a difference of 1,938 votes out of more than 2.4 million cast.
Gorton, 72, remained optimistic that votes from outlying counties would restore his lead and send him back to Washington for a fourth term overall and third in a row. He was first elected to public office in 1958, the year Cantwell was born.
Gorton held an edge in populous Pierce County, home to Tacoma. He also expected to pick up more votes from Spokane County in eastern Washington and to stay close in Cantwell's home county of Snohomish, north of Seattle.
The deadline for counties to complete their counts and certify the results is Wednesday. A recount is automatic whenever the margin is less than 0.5 percent, or about 12,000 votes in the case of this year's Senate election. A recount is expected to be called Monday.
David Brine, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said a recount "can take as long as it takes," but most counties would likely finish their work in a few days.
The election is not certified until Dec. 7.
The late count is so large because many Washington voters vote by mail. State law doesn't require that ballots be in the courthouse by election day, only that they be postmarked on that date.
A victory by Gorton would preserve the Republican majority in the Senate, regardless of the outcome of the presidential election and the political fate of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
A new term for Gorton would assure Republicans of 51 votes in the new Senate, while Democrats have 49.
A victory by Cantwell would create an unusual 50-50 tie in the Senate between the two parties, pending the outcome of the presidential election. If Lieberman becomes vice president, Connecticut Gov. John Rowland would appoint a Republican to fill the vacated seat, leaving the GOP with a narrow 51-49 majority.
If Texas Gov. George W. Bush wins the White House and Dick Cheney becomes vice president, Republicans would still maintain nominal control of the Senate. But a protracted negotiation would likely ensue before the two parties came to terms on the allocation of committee seats as well as staff funding. |
