Video: Gregoire vs. Rossi -- The rematch begins

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OLYMPIA, Wash. - The gloves are off. Let the fall campaigning begin in a rematch of the tightest governor's race in U.S. history.

With about 54 percent of the expected vote counted in the gubernatorial race, Gov. Chris Gregoire had 49 percent of the vote, and her Republican challenger Dino Rossi had 45 percent. Both advanced easily to the general election in November.

The two will now reprise their historically close 2004 matchup, which saw Gregoire win the governor's mansion by just 133 votes.

Seattle Time's chief political correspondent David Postman expects the gloves to really come off now.

"It's gonna only be rougher and tougher than it was four years ago," he said. "It is going to be meaner than it was up until now. I've heard people complaining about the negative ads, you ain't seen nothing yet."

Both Gregoire and Rossi were pleased with the preliminary results Tuesday night. Gregoire won King County by almost two-to-one. She outpolled Rossi in Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Whatcom and Clark counties. She also showed strength in rural parts of the state where Dino Rossi ran strong, beating Gregoire by more than two-to-one in Benton County.

Rossi scored decisive victories in Chelan, Lewis, Kittitas, Grant and Franklin counties.

Rossi won 21 counties in all to Gregoire's 18.

Wednesday morning, both candidates appeared on KING 5 Morning News to fire the first volleys of the fall campaign. Rossi repeated his charge that Gregoire plans to raise taxes.

"In 2004, she said she wasn't going to raise taxes. An hour after she's sworn in, the Seattle Times asks her are you going keep your no tax pledge. She said 'Well, I never meant no taxes' and raised our taxes by over $500 million," said Rossi.

"This is just another fear tactic on his part, as if he says something, it becomes true. I've never talked about increasing taxes. That's all his talk, not mine," said Gregoire.

KING

With about a quarter of the expected vote counted in the gubernatorial race, Gov. Chris Gregoire had about 48 percent of the vote, and Dino Rossi had nearly 46 percent.

They spoke on Tuesday about their campaign strategies going into the general election.

"I want to make Washington state the worst place in America to be a criminal, and the best place in America to start a business. I think folks at home will go, 'you know what? I think actually we could use some of that," Rossi said.

Rossi said the biggest challenge facing Washington is the budget, which currently has a $2.7 billion deficit.

"When I was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in 2003, I balanced the biggest deficit in the state's history, which was $2.8 million. I went line by line..It was thousands of decisions stacked end on end...When I have budget analysts and lawyers work for me - Gregoire has 300 working for her, I have none right now - I'm confident I can balance the budget. If I hadn't done this before, I'd be terrified. But I've done it before and I can do it again."

Democrat endorses Reichert

Following his win in the Tuesday primary, 8th District Congressman Dave Reichert picked up an endorsement from the other side of the aisle in his rematch with Democrat Darcy Burner.

Jim Vaughn, a self-described "old-school conservative Democrat," is throwing his support behind the Republican.

As of Wednesday evening, Reichert had picked up 48 percent of the vote to Burner's 45 percent. They faced each other in a hotly-contested race in 2006.

Vaughn, a military veteran, finished a distant third in Tuesday's primary with about three percent of the vote.

'Top two primary' goes smoothly

Secretary of State Sam Reed said the new "top two primary" process went smoothly across the state. Under this election system, the top two vote-getters in each race -- regardless of party -- will go on the general-election ballot.

"This new system fits our political heritage so well. It's exactly the way people want to vote - 'Vote for the person, not the party," Reed said in statement released to the press. "I predict that this wide-open and engaging manner of voting could catch on in other states."

Reed noted it would be a while until they knew the voter turnout, since so many people voted by mail.

Turnout not as high as first thought

New numbers released Wednesday indicate voter turnout was not as high as expected.

Secretary of State Reed has predicted a 46 percent turnout, and county officials surveyed by The Associated Press supported that forecast.

But on Wednesday, King County Elections updated its estimate from 45 percent to 35 percent. Other counties also lowered their numbers significantly, coming to an estimate of about 30 percent.

More results

The race for state treasurer was the only one where there was even a small bit of mystery. Treasurer Mike Murphy is stepping down after three terms, and crossed party lines to endorse Republican Alan Martin, his top deputy. Martin moved through to the general election with about 44 percent of the vote. Democratic state Rep. Jim McIntire, an economist and former House Finance Committee chairman, also advanced with about 41 percent.

Both edged out Democrat ChangMook Sohn, who was the state's chief economist for more than two decades.

-Voters also advanced Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed and Democrat Jason Osgood to the general election. Reed had nearly 58 percent of the vote in early returns; Osgood had about 34 percent.

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This was the first time since 2003 that Washington voters were able to skip back and forth along party lines to pick a favorite candidate for each office.

-Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson also moved on to the November general election, and challenger Randy Dorn was in line to advance as well.

Bergeson, running for her fourth term, faced five challengers in Tuesday's primary. Dorn, a former legislator, teacher and principal, had about 30 percent of the vote in early returns. Bergeson had 41 percent of the vote, Dorn had 31 percent.

-In the race for lieutenant governor, incumbent Democrat Brad Owen easily advanced with 53 percent of the vote. He'll face Marcia McCraw, who had 25 percent of the vote.

-State Auditor Brian Sonntag will face Dick McEntee in November. Sonntag had 60 percent of the vote, McEntee 33 percent.

-Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler also advanced to the general election, along with John Adams. Kreidler had 54 percent of the vote, Adams 36 percent.

-Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna faced Democratic challenger Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, and Republican Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland faced Democrat Peter Goldmark. All four advanced under the top two format, since there weren't any third challengers in either race.

-State Supreme Court Justices Charles Johnson and Mary Fairhurst also were top vote-getters for re-election and will be unopposed in the general election.