OLYMPIA, Wash. — Democrat Maria Cantwell, a dot-com millionaire who financed her own campaign, narrowly defeated veteran Republican Sen. Slade Gorton, results of a recount confirmed Friday. Her victory creates the possibility of a 50-50 tie in the new Senate.
Cantwell, a former one-term U.S. House member waging her first statewide campaign, ousted the 18-year incumbent by 2,229 votes, out of nearly 2.5 million cast, as the last of Washington's counties reported their recount results. The initial unofficial count had given her a margin of 1,953 votes.
It was America's last unsettled Senate race. King County, home of heavily Democratic Seattle, won the race for Cantwell, giving her a margin of more than 150,000 votes. The county was the last of the state's 39 counties to report results of the automatic recount required under state law because the race ended within one-half of 1 percentage point.
Cantwell carried only five counties, but Gorton's big lead in the less populous areas couldn't overcome his challenger's enormous advantage in Seattle.
"This has been the longest three weeks of our lives," said Cantwell's campaign manager, Ron Dotzauer.
Gorton was expected to concede later Friday. He has no immediate plans other than attending a lame-duck session of Congress next week, said spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman. Gorton has been mentioned for a Cabinet position in a Bush administration.
The loss was crushing for the senator and his small army of volunteers, Bergman said.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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