Olympia, WA, United States (AHN) – Republican Dino Rossi conceded the Senate race in Washington state Thursday night to give Sen. Patty Murray, one of the most vulnerable incumbents this election, a fourth term.
More than 600,000 ballots remain to be counted and tallying continues, but the race ended when Murray opened up a lead. After leading by 27,000 votes, the Democrat pulled ahead and doubled her lead, widening it to 2.56 percent.
The latest update from the secretary of state had Murray with 51.27 percent and Rossi trailing with 48.73 percent.
“I ran for the Senate because I believe we need a basic course correction from where Washington, DC, has been taking us and to make sure this country is as free, as strong and as prosperous in the future as it has been in the past to preserve the best of America for future generations,” Rossi said in his concession speech in Bellevue.
“That was a message that found a very receptive audience all across this state, though not quite receptive enough,” added the Republican, a real estate executive who ran twice for governor. “Thank you for letting me have an honest, straightforward discussion with you about our future.”
The victory gives Democrats 53 seats in the Senate, a reduced majority that faces a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Republicans made significant gains nationwide on Tuesday and won key seats, including the former Senate seat of President Barack Obama.
It also makes Murray, the state’s first woman senator and the fifth highest ranking senator as secretary of the Democratic conference, one of comparatively few incumbents who fended off anger among voters coupled with national Tea Party activists who made this election year especially difficult for moderates and veteran lawmakers.
The Tea Party had been criticized as an out-of-state, special interest group that tried to influence elections nationwide, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday congratulated Murray for “withstanding $7 million in third party spending to win re-election.”
Only the race in Alaska, between Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Republican Joe Miller, remains undecided. Whoever wins the contest will caucus with the GOP, but the outcome will also add to the Tea Party’s mixed results in its first electoral test.
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