WENATCHEE, Wash. - The political fate of Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire hangs in the balance this weekend while a small-town judge decides whether her paper-thin victory was valid.

During two weeks of trial, Republicans argued election errors, illegal votes and fraud stole the election from GOP candidate Dino Rossi. Democrats countered that the errors were innocent mistakes and said Republicans lacked enough evidence to justify tossing a governor out of office.

Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges will announce his decision Monday.

The stakes could not be higher for Gregoire, who has pursued her agenda in the Capitol as if she'd won by a landslide.

Rossi may be even more desperate for a resolution. Once a rising GOP star, Rossi has been in a bizarre political limbo the past seven months after winning the first two counts in the governor's election only to lose a final, hand recount by 129 votes — the smallest percentage margin of any governor's race in U.S. history.

If Rossi gets his way with Bridges and the state Supreme Court, he'll meet Gregoire in a rematch election this fall.

Throughout the trial, both sides stressed the momentous nature of Bridges' task.

"This is a historic moment," Republican attorney Dale Foreman said in his opening statement. He said the judge has "a historic opportunity to do justice and to restore the people's faith in our election system."

In her closing argument, Democratic attorney Jenny Durkan said Republicans failed to meet the "clear and convincing" standard of proof for overturning an election.

"They're asking this court to throw out legal votes by people cast in the most important election in our lifetime," Durkan said. "This court may be setting the rules and the roadmap for election contests throughout the state for the future."

Bridges allowed almost every piece of evidence both parties wanted to submit, explaining that he wanted to create the fullest possible record for the state Supreme Court. "I've enjoyed having you folks in front of me immensely," he told the 10 attorneys on the case, "but I don't want to see any of you again."

Bridges, who handles everything from divorces to murder cases, enjoys a sterling reputation in Chelan County and beyond. Both sides say he's fair, and no one has been able to guess his politics. Though he clearly took the trial seriously, Bridges frequently teased attorneys and made self-deprecating quips.

"I would run from your class like the wind," he told one expert witness after a long day of testimony on election statistics.

On Friday, he thanked his staff and the attorneys in the case. "This is pretty outstanding legal work and I congratulate counsel," Bridges said. "I say this today because I know nobody wants to listen to me on Monday morning."

The election challenge unfolded quietly in this central Washington town. Except for the first and last days, most of the seats in the auditorium-turned-courthouse went unfilled.

Rossi supporter Bill Stokes, 67, attended every day of the trial and the pretrial hearings.

"Now that I'm retired I have altogether too much time on my hands," he explained. He said the most important part of the trial was "shining a light on a bad problem" — the problem of election errors.

His focus mirrors the shift on conservative Web logs and radio shows, where election talk has drifted from the demand for a "Rossi revote" to the more complicated task of cleaning up election problems in the Democratic stronghold of King County.

Neither Gregoire nor Rossi attended any of the trial.

Gregoire said she was doing her best to run the state and ignore the trial. But her name was present every day — written in cursive script on a poster-sized copy of the election certification, displayed in a corner of the courtroom.

"This is to Certify, That in the General Election held in the State of Washington on November 2, 2004, Christine Gregoire received the highest number of votes for the office of Governor."

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050604/ap_on_el_gu/election_challenge

Trial video and audio: http://www.tvw.org

Court documents: http://www.secstate.wa.gov

Nothing is going to be settled in Wenacthee.

Whoever loses the case is going to take it to the Washington State Supreme Court.  There is no way there will be a decision in time for an election in the fall, despite what that Dino Rossi  thinks.

Nothing is going to be settled in Wenacthee.

Whoever loses the case is going to take it to the Washington State Supreme Court.  There is no way there will be a decision in time for an election in the fall, despite what that Dino Rossi  thinks.

Hey, Democrats can't just take elections that were rightfully the Republicans' to steal!  Come on!
::)

The  Republicans have no case.  They have two goals for this whole charade.

1.  Discredit Christine Gregoire as governor so she will not be able to get anything accomplished.  This is not happening because Gregiore with a Democratic controlled legislature managed to get through school funding bills, transportation funding, and increased health care for disagvantaged children.  The Republicans could not do a thing to stop any of this.

2.  Keep the court battle going, so Democrats have to spend further money in court costs.  By law, the Democrats asked, and got a third recount, which they had to pay for ($750,000).  Since the recount went in their favor, they would get the money back.  (If not, it would have gone to the state).  But since the Dems are still having to defend themselves, they have not yet got the money back.  The only good thing to come out of this is the the Republicans are bleeding themselves dry as well.

In the meantime, poor little Dino Rossi hangs in limbo.  He thinks this is all about him, but he is just a tool being used by the Republicans. 

Nothing is going to be settled in Wenacthee.

Whoever loses the case is going to take it to the Washington State Supreme Court. 


That's already been known.  This will be settled only when the Washington State Supreme Court rules on it, which could be before fall if you consider this case only took a little over two months.

Hey, Democrats can't just take elections that were rightfully the Republicans' to steal.

Is that why all of the three counties that had more votes than voters were counties that went in the majority for Christine Fraudoire?

The  Republicans have no case.

Yet the 537 vote margin that Bush won in Florida in 2000 was worthy of all the media.

Christine Gregoire won only one out of three counts, and the only one she won was the less acurate hand recount.  Funny how each time more and more votes kept suddenly appearing in the state of Washington's most liberal area: King County.

This is not happening because Gregiore

You do know Fraudiore has the lowest approval rating of any democratic governor in the country?  She doesn't have the lowest (Bob Taft who is the republican governor of Ohio does) approval rating in the country, but the lowest of any governor who is a democrat.  Wonder why.

Since I live in Washington state and voted in this election for Governor Gregoire, let's clear up some misconceptions.

1.  Gregoire won only one out of the three counts.

Sure, the  Republicans have been spinning it this way for months, but they are being disngenuious. 

WA state law is not a best two of three contest.  With an election this close, state law required an  automtic recount.  Rossi won this, but his margin of victory had dropped. Rossi had no problem with state law at this time and was declaring himself victor and telling Gregoire to conceed.

After a second recount--ACCRORDING TO STATE LAW--the party that finished second can call for a more precise, more deliberate hand recount, provided they are willing to pay the $700,000 to pay for the recount.  Upon this final tally, whoever comes up with the most votes is delclared the winner.  Repeat, the winner of the final recount is declared the winner.  Nowhere in the state constitution is the election considered a best two out of three contest.

The Democrats steped up to pay for the recount, and Gregoire won.  Sure the Republicans are squealing about misplaced ballots in King County that were found which favored Gregoire, but they do not say a word about the other misplaced ballots in the more conservative conties in WA that favored Rossi.

After a painstaking process, Gregoire rightfully and legal was sworn in as Washinton's governor.  Now all of a sudden, Rossi who claimed that the election was legitimate when he was in the lead, is now crying all the way to Wenatchee that the election is not so legitimate after all.

And what does it say about the Republicans, that instead of taking the case to trial in King County, where the ballots are in question, they had to go all the way to Wenatchee in Cental Washington, one of the most conservative regions in the state (and a county that voted for Rossi by 60%) to try and get a home court advantage?  That let's you know how serious the Republicans thought their chances were of winning.

and the last suggestion,

2) Do you know Christine Gregoire has to lowest approval ratings of any Democratic governor in the country?

Well, what do you expect?  Local, state, and Republican leaders, under the direction of Karl Rove, have spent the last seven months, trying to undermine and destroy Gregorie's governorship.  With the constant GOP barage on local right wing talk radio, blogs, and newspaper editorials, is anyone surprised that the people who only get their informantion from Rush, O'Rielly, Hanity and local right wing hotheads like John Carlson and Kirby Wilber have a low opinion of the governor?

Like I said, the Republicans know they have no case.  This court batttle is an attempt to deligitimize Governor Gregoire and to bleed the Democrats dry finacially in trying to defend themselves.  It is the Republicans at their most cynical and manipulative. 

Since I live in Washington state and voted in this election for Governor Gregoire, let's clear up some misconceptions.

1.  Gregoire won only one out of the three counts.

Sure, the  Republicans have been spinning it this way for months, but they are being disngenuious. 

WA state law is not a best two of three contest.  With an election this close, state law required an  automtic recount.  Rossi won this, but his margin of victory had dropped. Rossi had no problem with state law at this time and was declaring himself victor and telling Gregoire to conceed.

After a second recount--ACCRORDING TO STATE LAW--the party that finished second can call for a more precise, more deliberate hand recount, provided they are willing to pay the $700,000 to pay for the recount.  Upon this final tally, whoever comes up with the most votes is delclared the winner.  Repeat, the winner of the final recount is declared the winner.  Nowhere in the state constitution is the election considered a best two out of three contest.

The Democrats steped up to pay for the recount, and Gregoire won.  Sure the Republicans are squealing about misplaced ballots in King County that were found which favored Gregoire, but they do not say a word about the other misplaced ballots in the more conservative conties in WA that favored Rossi.

After a painstaking process, Gregoire rightfully and legal was sworn in as Washinton's governor.  Now all of a sudden, Rossi who claimed that the election was legitimate when he was in the lead, is now crying all the way to Wenatchee that the election is not so legitimate after all.

And what does it say about the Republicans, that instead of taking the case to trial in King County, where the ballots are in question, they had to go all the way to Wenatchee in Cental Washington, one of the most conservative regions in the state (and a county that voted for Rossi by 60%) to try and get a home court advantage?  That let's you know how serious the Republicans thought their chances were of winning.

and the last suggestion,

2) Do you know Christine Gregoire has to lowest approval ratings of any Democratic governor in the country?

Well, what do you expect?  Local, state, and Republican leaders, under the direction of Karl Rove, have spent the last seven months, trying to undermine and destroy Gregorie's governorship.  With the constant GOP barage on local right wing talk radio, blogs, and newspaper editorials, is anyone surprised that the people who only get their informantion from Rush, O'Rielly, Hanity and local right wing hotheads like John Carlson and Kirby Wilber have a low opinion of the governor?

Like I said, the Republicans know they have no case.  This court batttle is an attempt to deligitimize Governor Gregoire and to bleed the Democrats dry finacially in trying to defend themselves.  It is the Republicans at their most cynical and manipulative. 


Without knowing much about Wasington State politics, this rings true.  But, I guess our friend in Georgia, armed with Rush, O'riely, and Hanity, (those sooo insightful pundants) knows lots more than either I or, for that matter, anyone else.  Funny how these Repugs are willing to fight like he11 to overturn a Dem victory but fight like he11 to stop a recount that might favor the Dems.

Judge rules in favor of the Democrats and throws out Republicans claim of fraud.  Republican candidate for governor Dino Rossi says he will not apeal his case to the Washington Supreme Court.

The Republicans entire case was based on statistical projections of how fellons MIGHT have voted.  Judge ruled he could not overturn an election based on proportional statistical anyalysis.

So why didn't the Republicans bring into court all these felons they say illegaly voted for Gregoire and conspired to keep Rossi from becoming governor?  Yeah, right! Can you see how the Democrats lawyers would have torn apart the credibility of the Republicans witness' who are convicted felons?

Once this strategy blew up in the Republicans face, they tried to argue a broad, generalized argument of fraud.  While the judge ruled mistakes may have been made, the Republicans did not prove overall fraud worthy of throwing out the election.

The only surprise in the decision was not the verdict (it was a forgone conclusion the Republicans had no legal ground to stand on), rather that the Republicans hand picked this judge, from the most conservative part of the state, in a county that voted for Rossi by 60%, and still could not get the ruling they demanded.

The fact that Rossi and the Republicans are not going to challenge it to the Washington Supreme Court is another surprise.  It dosen't matter if the Republicans were right, you know what today's GOP is.  They are like sharks that sense blood in the water.  They keep coming and don't stop untill they have complete control of all aspects of power.

To not take this to the Supreme Court tells you that the Republicans had no case to begin with and they lost the public relations war as well.  The Republicans will always tout that they have managed to bring down Governor Gregoire's overall approval ratings, but they fail to notice that state wide polling shows that by a margin of 57-39%, voters did not want the Republicans to drag this out in the Supreme Court.

And the best news of all is that the ruling came when Rossi and other state Republicans were at a fundraiser today with Dick Cheney.  You know Uncle  Dick probably bitched out GOP leaders here for not effectively stealing an election like Bu$h Co did in Florida in 2000.

Rossi is dropping the appeal, so case closed.  Washington WILL have a Democratic governor.

Shame on you, Dino Rossi!  You are NOT following the Karl Rove/Tom DeLay playbook.  Now get back in there and kick some butt!
>:(

;D

What's the matter, Dino?  Not enough earth left to scorch?  And you call yourself a Rove/Bush Republican.

Funny how you-know-who has gone strangely silent here!

Yeah, didn't he start this thread, anyway?