I didn’t follow the Peter Goldmark campaign as close as I did other races, but it surprises me that he faired worse than the “no” campaigns on two right wing ballot initiatives in the 5th Congressional District.
Both No on 920 and No on 933 had better returns in the several east side counties that make up the WA 5 than Peter Goldmark. While Goldmark failed to win a single county, No on 933 won in four counties, while no on 920 won in every single county in Goldmark’s district.
Actually, if Goldmark had been either of these campaigns, he would be the congressman-elect.
I did up a quick and dirty spreed sheet comparing the votes that Goldmark got county by county, and the votes No on 933 got county by county, and estimated how Goldmark would have done. He would have won with 54 percent of the vote.
Voters in eastern Washington apparently liked the idea of keeping the state estate tax and defending growth management laws than electing a congressman who would fight for similar values in DC.
You ought to send your analysis to Goldmark’s campaign, as well as to Bradblog and Votersunite.org – this might be a case of voter suppression or electronic voting fraud.
Or, it could be that they had more reason to vote against 933 than they did to vote for Goldmark. It probably wasn’t voter suppression since each county had an approximate equal number of votes in the 933 race and the Goldmark/McMorris race.
Electronic voter fraud? I think more likely Goldmark didn’t make his case.