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Ballot Counting Continues As Wash. Governor’s Race Remains Undecided

Washington’s race for governor still hasn’t been called. Hundreds of thousands of ballots remain uncounted. A disproportionate number of those votes are in heavily Democratic King County, with nearly a third of the state’s electorate.

That would seem to bode well for Democrat Jay Inslee. Inslee retains a narrow lead over Republican Rob McKenna.

The conventional wisdom and the statistical analysis would seem to suggest that while the race may tighten that Jay Inslee will be the next governor of Washington but nobody’s conceding and nobody’s declaring victory just yet.

In order to win, the McKenna campaign would need to gain a significant advantage among last minute voters. Since election night McKenna has improved his performance in King County, but not dramatically.

Still it’s possible the outcome of this race will remain unclear into early next week.

On the Web:

Latest election tally (Washington Sec. of State)

Democrat Jay Inslee retains a narrow lead over Republican Rob McKenna in the Washington governor's race. Photo by Deborah Wang
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Democrat Jay Inslee retains a narrow lead over Republican Rob McKenna in the Washington governor's race. Photo by Deborah Wang

Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network

Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."