Sound Politics: Darcy Burner Wins! (but only the affection of the Seattle nutroots)

September 20, 2006

Darcy Burner Wins! (but only the affection of the Seattle nutroots)

The innumerate Seattle nutroots are declaring victory for Darcy Burner today. Why? Because partial results show that (1) the blank slate Democrat received 2% more votes in King County in her primary "contest" than Congressman Dave Reichert received; and (2) Reichert received "only" 4% more votes than Burner in Pierce County. These unopposed primary numbers are probably meaningless, but if anything, better news for Reichert.. In the 2004 8th district primary, Democrats outpolled Republicans by an even larger margin overall, and Dave Ross trounced Dave Reichert. Guess who won the general?

In King County, Democrat turnout in the 2004 8th District primary was 16% higher than Republican turnout and Ross received 31% more votes than Reichert did. In Pierce County, total Republican turnout was also 4% higher than Democrat turnout and Ross received 8% more votes than Reichert did. Complete numbers follow:

	King	Pierce	Total
All Democrats	68,176	13,194	81,370
Dave Ross	32,400	6,947	39,347
All Republicans	58,524	13,754	72,278
Dave Reichert	24,661	6,427	31,088

I called the House of Representatives to ask Congressman Dave Ross for comment, but I was unable to get through.

Goldstein's other coup this week was to predicted that Doc Hastings would be defeated in the primary. (He won 77% to 23%). Keep up the good work, David. At this rate, soon you'll be making Joni Balter look good!

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at September 20, 2006 01:08 PM | Email This

Comments

1. Goldstein does make Joni Balter look good. At least Balter doesn't use profanity as a crutch for her inferior talent.

Posted by: Jeff B. on September 20, 2006 01:29 PM

2. Quoth Goldstein: "...and some Republican insiders are even predicting an Oliver upset in tomorrow's GOP primary. Quite frankly, I find this hard to believe..."

That's a far cry from predicting a Hastings victory.

Posted by: Jim Anderson on September 20, 2006 01:47 PM

3. Well, if you go over to Goldy's place, the general consensus over there is that all Dems running in WA this election are gonna win. Guess we'll have to wait & see how right their predictions were on November 8th.

Posted by: Libertarian on September 20, 2006 02:19 PM

4. Stefan,

You provide solid information about the 8th district primary as to why Burner didn't "win" last night. Good job on that.

Then you take a mojor step backward in comments about Doc Hastings race. Jim Anderson already quoted the lines from Goldstein that I was going to use. I sure didn't see the great prediction you mentioned. Just that he would be surprised if some speculation about that contest was true. Turns out the speculation about Hastings was not true, so no surprise.

Posted by: Scott on September 20, 2006 02:49 PM

5. The 2004 race is irrelevant for comparison. An open seat with a contested primary and a well-known candidate, vs. this year's unopposed candidate who has generated excitement among the base but is gradually gaining recognition among those who don't read the papers. Yet she still, at last count, has more votes than the Sheriff.

And on the Hastings race, seriously Stefan, you need either some shame or some reading glasses.

Posted by: Ben Diamond on September 20, 2006 03:22 PM

6. wha??? I voted in Piece County last night (Tacoma) and did not see Burner or Reichart even listed on my ballot. They gave me one of those "one size fits all" ballots which I marked with my appropriate batter.

what gives?

Posted by: Andrew on September 20, 2006 03:38 PM

7. oops. I have baseball on the brain. Instead of batter, I meant "candidate"

Posted by: batter?? on September 20, 2006 03:39 PM

8. Andrew/batter -- Only part of Pierce County is in Reichert's district. Tacoma is split between the 6th (Norm Dicks) and 9th (Adam Smith)

Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on September 20, 2006 03:42 PM

9. I think Stefan had a poor choice of words in saying that Goldstein predicted Doc Hasting's defeat. However what others are not acknowledging here is that Goldstein was certainly entertaining the possibility along with an extended fantasy explanation and outcome.

Posted by: Jeff B. on September 20, 2006 03:49 PM

10. Based on these numbers and what I also remember from 2004, I'd say that Burner will lose bigger than (not)-congressman Dave Ross did.

Dave Reichert will be sent back to WA DC for another term.

Posted by: Michele on September 20, 2006 05:52 PM

11. Andrew, its not too late to find a mail facility in the 8th district to register at.

Posted by: Michael on September 20, 2006 05:57 PM

12. Hey, Goldy, I'll bet you dinner that Rep Reichert is re-elected.

If he is, my choice of restaurant is Canlis. Yours?

Posted by: Obi-Wan on September 20, 2006 08:18 PM

13. Burner will lose by at least as much as Ross lost to Reichert. Face it, Ross was and still is a more formidable candidate.

The momentum appears to have shifted more toward Republicans nationwide and even at least a little bit locally in this Socialist Utopia.

Posted by: KS on September 20, 2006 08:29 PM

14. The best part of the Dem's premature victory dance is that it will fire up the Repub base to go out and vote.

Posted by: Hindu on September 20, 2006 08:45 PM

15. There wasn't any particular reason for a Republican to vote the Rep. slate, so a lot of people declared themselves Democrats and played in their park. Don't tell.

Posted by: Ann in Issaquah on September 20, 2006 09:01 PM

16. So....That's why it's taken King County so long to manipulate the vote count this time!

They must have worked all night trying to change ballots from Reichert to Burner....That would have been a HUGE job considering no one knows who in the heck "Darcy Burner" is.....(hint...think of the saying "lipstick on a pig"..) ;)

Posted by: Deborah on September 20, 2006 10:03 PM

17. " Hey, Goldy, I'll bet you dinner that Rep Reichert is re-elected.
If he is, my choice of restaurant is Canlis. Yours?
Posted by Obi-Wan at September 20, 2006 08:18 PM"

My guess is that Goldy really would like a Rump Roast at Ron Sims abode!

Posted by: Mr. Cynical on September 20, 2006 10:03 PM

18. Hey Stefan,

Thanks for the clarification.

signed,

Sheepish in Tacoma

Posted by: Andrew on September 20, 2006 10:43 PM

19. Rump Roast? More likely a horse steak.

Posted by: platypus on September 20, 2006 11:14 PM

20. Hello.
On a slight bit of off-topic, I found a surefire way to quiet the posters at Goldy's site. Just ask them what they think of Tim Sheldon's winning the primary.

Do I hear crickets?

Posted by: Left Behind by the New Democratic Party on September 20, 2006 11:51 PM

21. Headline from the King County Journal this morning.... "Reichert trails in total votes: Congressman faced similar post-primary deficit in 2004 race"

What a joke. Who cares? Were they not both unopposed? I am sure some people don't even waste the ink on filling out the circle for unopposed candidates!

Further, the primaries are meaningless as a head to head vote - because they are not! All they are is a method to select candidates for a party. If we had the old system in place, I would put more stock in the results.

I say it is time for the primaries to die. Let the parties spend their own money to choose their candidates for the general election.

Posted by: eric on September 21, 2006 09:16 AM

22. Snarky;
Do you ever get tired of being caught constantly lying to you Minions?

I read the post. Perhaps you missed the statement that said " I find it hard to believe"

You are full of Sh*T....

Here it is from the post you link to....

I haven?t spent much time following the race in Washington?s 4th Congressional District where Democrat Richard Wright is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. ?Do Nuthin? Doc? Hastings, but sources plugged into the district tell me I may have to rewrite this lede come Tuesday night. It turns out that Hastings is facing a surprisingly tough challenge from Benton County Commissioner Claude Oliver, and some Republican insiders are even predicting an Oliver upset in tomorrow?s GOP primary.

Quite frankly, I find this hard to believe, but if Oliver even comes close to Hastings tomorrow it will speak volumes about the degree to which even the Republican base is just plain sick and tired of corruption, incompetence and intransigence from their own national leaders. And if a potential primary upset really is brewing in the 4th CD, with nary a peep from the local media, it will also speak volumes about the failure of our traditional press to connect to voters and report on what?s really happening on the ground instead of just what the political establishment tells them is happening.

Posted by: danw on September 22, 2006 12:09 PM