Good News In Washington's Congressional Races

My first reaction after the election results came out last Tuesday was disappointment because I was greedy and wanted it ALL!! Now that a week has gone by and I have a little more perspective, I’m beginning to see the glass half full and not half empty. Even though Burner, Goldmark, and Wright didn’t make it to the House; we set up these three candidates to be formidable competitors in two years. Plus when I really analyzed the results, there’s more good news in the vote counts.

Each of the Republican members of Congress re-elected in 2006, won by a narrower margin than they did in 2004 – a SIGNIFICANTLY narrower margin. Doc Hastings in the 4th Congressional District won by a margin of 25% of the vote in 2004 and was only able to squeak out a win by 16% in 2006. McMorris, in the 5th, won by 19% in 2004 and only 9% this year. Reichert won by 5% in 2004 and it’s so close that they’re still counting the votes in the 8th this year.

Every Democratic Congressional candidate won by a SIGNIFICANTLY wider margin in 2006 when compared to 2006. Even someone like McDermott who won by 61% in 2004 gathered a larger margin in 2006 – 64%! Brian Baird won by a margin of 24% in 2004 and despite the high population growth and changing demographics in his district, he won by a margin of 30% this year! Likewise Adam Smith won by 29% in 2004 and 32% in 2006.

We Dems pulled a larger percent of the vote in EVERY Congressional race this year. WOW! I think that’s very good news!