Party chairs weigh in on primary returns

The state's two major party chairmen both painted a rosy picture of their respective factions' outlooks heading into the general election once all of the primary votes are counted.

Democrat Dwight Pelz felt particularly strong about the state's two most hotly contested reaces.

"I am Feeling very positive about the governor's race," he said of Gov. Chris Gregoire's showing. "She is winning in counties we lost in 2004. We think that primaries in the middle of the summer favor the Republican Party. We know that early returns tend to come from older, more conservative constituencies. We think the general election is going to be even stronger when we have younger voters out when we do our voter registrations."

"I feel good about the Burner race," he added about 8th Congressional District race between Democrat Darcy Burner and Republican Rep. Dave Reichert. "We think Obama is going to have tremendous coat tails in that district."

His positive feelings, however, stopped at the "top two" primary format.

"I just think it is silliness heaped on silliness," Pelz said after seeing the first round of voting. "It was sold to us as expanding choice and now you go to the ballot and you find only one party. In Seattle it is only the Democrats and in other parts only the Republicans. We have effectively outlawed the Libertarian, the Green and the Independent parties. Two years ago you might see five parties in the race and this time you might see one. That is a loss of choice. We see Dino Rossi is hiding behind this moniker "GOP", trying to lie about who he is and what he stands for."

His Republican counterpart, Chairman Luke Esser, was high on statewide Republican candidates across the board.

"It was an absolutely fabulous night for our statewide candidates," Esser commented. "They all outperformed what our expectations could have been, Dino first and foremost."

He was also particularly impressed with Rob McKenna's strong showing.

"Rob McKenna is just thumping up on John Ladenburg," he said, noting that he was even outpolling his Democratic opponent on his home turf of Pierce County, where he currently serves as executive.

Beyond that, Esser mentioned that Allan Martin was the top overall vote getter in the race for state treasurer and that Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland was so far leading his opponent Peter Goldmark.  

"A lot of great news for Republicans," Esser said of tonight and the prospects for the fall. "We have a tremendous chance. Obviously there is a lot of work to do. We are not taking anything for granted. The voters are ready for change and there is a stark contrast in the governor's race. Rossi is showing that we can do better."