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Posted: 12:39 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010
By Jamie Dupree
There were a few more conflicting election signs to chew on early this morning as the numbers came in from Washington and Wyoming, where primary elections were held on Tuesday.
While no Congressional incumbents were defeated (as expected) yesterday, we did get an update on how several of them might fare in November, especially in the Evergreen State.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) ran strongly in King County (Seattle) and Pierce County (Tacoma) to easily top the field for U.S. Senate.
Republican Dino Rossi was a strong second place finisher, but maybe not as strong as the GOP had been hoping for.
The talk was that more Republicans would get to the polls in Washington State, but Rossi wasn't mustering much more than one third of the vote overall.
Now yes, there were other Republicans in the race, most notably former NFL star Clint Didier, who received 12% of the vote. Put that together and it could be a very tight race come November.
The one good part for Murray was the good showing in the two biggest counties in the state, but this will be an expensive and hard fought campaign, which Republicans will have to win to have any chance of regaining control in the U.S. Senate.
For one other Democrat, there were also warning signs yesterday, as Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) will be on the ballot in November, but he may face a stiffer than expected challenge from John Koster, a councilman from Snohomish County.
Larsen had a 44-41% edge just after midnight - those are numbers that make you take Tums if you are an incumbent.
Another question mark was Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), who only had 52% of the vote in his primary.
But it wasn't all Democrats feeling the heat, as Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) only received 48% in his district's primary.
Once again, I will say that this year may be a bad one for weak incumbents in both parties.
Meanwhile, over in Wyoming, there was another election night loss for Sarah Palin in the Republican Governor's primary.
Palin had backed State Auditor Rita Meyer, but it was not enough to put her over the top, as former U.S. Attorney Matthew Mead led by over 700 votes for the Republican nomination.
(Palin also backed Didier in the Washington Senate race, and as reported above, he did not come close to winning one of the top two slots.)
Mead, whose grandfather was both Governor and Senator of Wyoming, will be the strong favorite to win back the job of Governor in the Cowboy State in November, as if the numbers hold, he will face Democratic state party chair Leslie Petersen.
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