As the ballots in Tuesday’s election continue to be counted, some clear winners and losers can be determined.  There are still almost 600,000 ballots still to be counted, with just over 200,000 of those in King County.

The McKenna campaign continues to hold out hope that the votes will break their way but since the original count Tuesday night, Jay Inslee as maintained a steady lead of about 50,000 votes.  Considering the high level of Democratic voting patterns in King County, McKenna would need a very large percentage of the non-King County votes to close the gap.  That is unlikely.

The one statewide race that is still too close to call is the open seat for Secretary of State.  Republican Kim Wyman holds a slim lead of 32,000 votes as of this writing.  This race could have a recount if Democrat Kathleen Drew gets within one percent.

The other statewide races have Democrats with commanding leads and picking up the Attorney General’s office as Bob Ferguson defeated Reagan Dunn.

In the races for U.S. Senator and U.S. House, there were no close races and incumbents cruised to victory.  Democrats captured the three open seats; the 1st District (Jay Inslee‘s former seat) won by former Microsoft executive and Dept. of Revenue director Suzan DelBene, the 6th District seat vacated by retiring Norm Dicks, captured by state Senator Derek Kilmer and the newly created 10th District, taken by Denny Heck.  Maria Cantwell easily won over state Sen. Michael Baumgartner for a third term in the U.S. Senate.

As was true at the national level, Republicans held out reasonable hopes in Washington state that gaining a majority in the state Senate was possible. State Senate Republicans did pick up two seats in the 10th and 25th districts–both of which had been held by Democrats for many years.  But they lost a seat in the 5th legislative district.  The race in the 17th district is still too close to call as Sen. Don Benton just took a 62 vote lead in the latest count after being down to Rep. Tim Probst on election night.  If the trend holds, Sen. Benton will keep the seat.  This puts the state Senate at 26 Democrats to 23 Republicans.

In the state House, Democrats will maintain a comfortable majority, albeit slightly smaller.  House Republicans could pick up one to three seats but two House races are still too close to call–the aforementioned 17th District in SW Washington and the 47th district covering the Covington/Kent areas.

The really interesting action was with the various initiatives.  Washington made national news for approving same sex marriage and legalization of marijuana.  Charter schools initiative, I-1240, is clinging to a 45,000 vote lead.  What has been overlooked in the election reporting is that Tim Eyman‘s initiative, I-1185, passed by a huge margin of 64%-36%, easily outpolling the other initiatives and referenda.  This is the fifth time the electorate has told elected officials–in no uncertain terms–that the people want a say in raising their own taxes or it will take a 2/3 vote in the legislature.

Following are this scribe’s views on the winners and losers in this election.Winners:

Democrats in general.  Washington stayed “blue” by re-electing Maria Cantwell, apparently electing Jay Inslee for Governor, electing Democrats to the open Congressional seats and keeping the majorities in the state House and Senate.

State Senator Ed Murray.  Sen. Murray has championed same sex marriage for years, achieving some victories along the way, such as domestic partnerships.  His dogged persistence along with changing attitudes toward same sex marriage and a strong campaign put this issue over the line.  Washington was among three states to legalize same sex marriage through a vote of the people.  All previous attempts in states have failed to do this.

House Speaker Frank Chopp.  Speaker Chopp’s excellent organizing and campaign skills, candidate recruitment and fund raising resulted in a solid majority, even as House Republicans fielded solid candidates and ran solid races in many districts.

The moderate/conservative Senate Democrats.  The group of Senate Democrats that sided with the Senate Republicans on the state budget in the last session keep the balance of power in their hands.  The 3-5 Democrat Senators will still be able to influence how the state operating budget will look.  They showed last session that they need to be reckoned with and know the situation will be the same as the legislature will have to struggle with high spending demands and a state economy that is growing ever so slowly.

Tim Eyman.  Love him or hate him, he continues to demonstrate he has the zeitgeist of the electorate on tax issues.  His ability to tweak the liberal establishment in Seattle through his initiative victories makes him a darling of many–including many other Democrats.  The irony is that the voting public continues to elect Democratic majorities, then hampers them with the 2/3 requirement for raising taxes.

The anti-prohibition crowd.  The fairly resounding victory of I-502 legalizing marijuana is a huge victory for those who have given up on the war on drugs.  The high profile law enforcement support for 502 really moved the needle on the issue.  The tightly crafted initiative that gave the proverbial “soccer moms” more comfort to vote for legalization helped tip the balance, combined with a strong vote from more liberal and libertarian voters put 502 over the top.  It was a defeat for the “pro pot” contingency that did not want to see as much regulation or the “DUI” component of I-502.

Losers:

Republicans in general.  The Republicans nationally saw their presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, fall short in the popular vote by a narrow margin but solidly defeated in the electoral vote.  The campaign picked up momentum too late and were not able to overcome voter unease with Romney.  Republicans snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the U.S. Senate when a couple of their candidates inserted feet into mouth over hot button social issues.  These gaffes, the inability to recover, and Democrats pinning these candidates to Romney led to the Democrats retaining control of the U.S. Senate.  At the beginning of 2012, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the Republicans would win the Senate back.

At the state level, the inability to capture the Governor’s office with a very solid candidate is depressing to state Republicans.  This is not to say the electorate isn’t sympathetic to Republican/conservative issues, but it is clear they need better messaging and more effective messengers.

If you would like to see the state election result go to the Secretary of State’s website here: http://vote.wa.gov/results/current/default.htm

If you’d like to check the new Congressional and legislative district map, go here: http://www.redistricting.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/