Published: Thursday, September 23, 2004

Independents, women leaning toward Gregoire

But Rossi has a slight edge in Snohomish County in the race for the governor's office, a poll conducted for The Herald finds.

By Jerry Cornfield
Herald Writer

The state's gubernatorial battle may hinge on where voters live, their independent streaks and, most of all, their gender.

Democratic Attorney General Christine Gregoire is leading Republican former state Sen. Dino Rossi 49 percent to 43 percent among voters who have picked a favorite, according to a statewide poll conducted for The Herald.

Gregoire's edge stems from her support among self-described independents and women.

They include people such as Lillian Henriksen, 72, of Everett.

"To me, Rossi is an unknown," said Henriksen, one of those polled who leans toward Gregoire.

"I know her record," she said. "There are things she's done that I've thoroughly disagreed with, but I do think she's a good person at heart and has the interests of Washington at heart."

That's a fucking resounding statement of suppport indeed. Typical dummycrat?

Ron Cavalier, 41, of Marysville, another of those surveyed, voted for Rossi in the primary and will do so again in November.

"My whole feel with Christine Gregoire is she's headstrong and bent on doing what she thinks the people want," he said.

Ipsos-Public Affairs of Washington, D.C., conducted the poll for The Herald and three other newspapers in the state. The poll involved telephoning 406 registered voters statewide Sept. 17-20. The margin of error is plus or minus 5 percent.

Gregoire has been considered the favorite to succeed Democratic Gov. Gary Locke since she entered the race in 2003. Her lopsided win over King County Executive Ron Sims in the primary punctuated the view that she is a popular elected official with statewide appeal.

Rossi is widely considered the Republican Party's best hope in years to win the state's top job and end a 20-year streak of Democratic governors.

Tonight in Blaine, the two will face off for the first time at a debate sponsored by the Association of Washington Business.

They are focusing their campaigns on blocs of voters they hope can carry them to victory. One of those blocs is independents, who made up the largest group in the poll. Independents preferred Gregoire to Rossi 42 percent to 36 percent. The rest were undecided.

Not surprisingly, those polled who said they were Democrats overwhelmingly backed Gregoire, while Republicans lined up behind Rossi.

A second key bloc is where voters live.

Gregoire led Rossi by a margin of more than 2-to-1 in King County, the largest and the most liberal county in the state. Rossi held a slight edge in other Western Washington counties, including Snohomish County.

Both candidates were statistically even in Eastern Washington.

WTF, EVEN??? EASTERN WASHINGTON???

The most decisive factor may wind up being the difference between men and women.

In the poll, men under age 50 strongly supported Rossi, but those over 50 sided with Gregoire.

What the fuck, men over 50 in this state don't have a set of balls?

She enjoyed support from men and women with college degrees, and had a double-digit advantage among all women.

That's significant because women are reliable voters and, in Washington, tend to be loyal to Democrats, especially in presidential election years.

Four years ago, women made up 53 percent of all voters in the state, said Ramona Oliver of Emily's List, a national organization that is working to elect Gregoire.

"I strongly support Gregoire," said one of those polled, Anne Walton, of Lynnwood. The 27-year-old mother of two, who supported Howard Dean for president, said she's "never voted for a Republican in my life."

But there are men and women who are exceptions to the poll trends.

David Greve, of Everett, 47, voted for Rossi in the primary but may switch in November. "(Gregoire's) talking about health care, and I don't know what Rossi is doing about it," said the disabled former truck driver.

Connie Gronning, 59, of Marysville, is a solid Rossi backer.

"I don't think Gregoire's done anything wrong," she said. "But the powers that be haven't accomplished anything. It's time for one of those who is not one of the insiders. It's time for a change."

FINALLY, someone gets it!

The poll was commissioned by The Herald, the News Tribune of Tacoma, the Spokesman-Review of Spokane, The Columbian of Vancouver and The Associated Press.

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/04/09/23/loc_governor001.cfm

1) Dont believe anything the media says.

Dont forget Gregoire was with Locke. More than enough reason not to vote for her. When trying to convice liberals, tell them she helped Gary Locke get Concealed Carry Reciprocity with other states, so now visitor strangers can carry evil guns in our state.


DO NOT tell them Dino Rossi is pro gun 110%, "No restrictions" as per his campaign manager I met.

(And dont forget I have an audience with im if he wins, unless R-32 wants to fuck that up too! )

Women win statewide offices in this state whenever they run the last few election cycles.  Look at the record of women judges/WSSC judges especially.

The less that's known about the candidates the more people vote on basic instincts/predjudices.

I knew a guy in school who partied hard with her daughter.