The end to the 2010 Washington State Senate election is drawing near. Recent polls show the race is still close, with incumbent Patty Murray falling behind to 48% to Dino Rossi's 50%. These numbers come from Public Policy Polling, a reliable polling agency. It is important to note that PPP is affiliated with the Democratic party. This is good news for Rossi. This is the first time this year that PPP has found Rossi to be leading when asking people the simple question of, "Who would you vote for?". However, this poll could be a ploy to motivate more Murray supporters to vote.
Predictions for this year's Senate election are leaning towards Rossi. PPP states, ,"Like many races across the country this year, the Washington Senate contest is shaping up for voters as a choice between two candidates they're not particularly enamored with, and, for the most part, the GOP is winning out in situations where that's the case." This seems a highly likely possibility as PPP also found Murray's disapproval rating to be 51% for registered voters. If constituents disapprove of Murray, they are likely to try another direction-Republican canidate Dino Rossi.
"Washington Senate Race Remains Close." Public Policy Polling (2010). Web. 1 Nov. 2010.
Voter Turnout:
From Olympia, Washington, our Secretary of State, Sam Reed, predicts that about sixty-six percent of Washington voters will turn out for this 2010 Senate election. This is the biggest turn-out since 1970, and includes about 2.4 million participating constituents. Many Washington voters use mail-in ballots, and these votes need to be postmarked by tomorrow.
"Voter turnout of 66 percent expected in Washington." Seattle Times (2010): n. pag. Web. 1 Nov 2010. <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013315901_apwaelectionturnout.html>.
Matchbacks for Democrats:
For this year's Senate election, Washington's Democratic Party has invested in a master voter database, where voters are scored on how likely they are to vote Democrat, called "matchbacks." They identified nearly 900,000 Democrats, 700,000 Republicans, and 220,000 independents, with about 1.4 million people unaccounted for. The party has focused primarily on constituents who show all signs of voting Democrat, but have a shaky voting history. The Democratic Party has stepped up campaign calls and door-to-door visits, visiting thousands of voters within the past few days. Democratic strategists say, "Data through Thursday showed strong turnout in deep blue King County, and well over 60 percent of voters who've cast ballots are 'matchbacks' to the Democrats' database of likely voters. In Pierce County, more than 50 percent of the ballots are Democratic 'matchbacks.'" Democrats also focus most of their efforts on King County and Western Washington, evident by only three of their fourteen offices being located in Eastern Washington.
But the race remains close as the final days close in. Early voting accounts for much of the results mentioned above, and recent polls show Dino Rossi is much closer to a win than previously thought. This race is much closer than previous Senate races for the Republicans, since Washington is a predominately Democratic state. In 2004, however, when Dino Rossi ran against Christine Gregoire for governor, he tied the race in nearly every county, with 50.8% of Pierce County, 50% of Snohomish County, but only 40% for King County. These results show that although early votes show Murray in the lead, the race is still close as final votes are turned in.
Martin, Jonathan. "Democrats say early voting "matchbacks" good for Murray." Seattle Times (2010): n. pag. Web. 1 Nov 2010. <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2013319611_democrats_say_early_voting_mat.html?syndication=rss>.
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