Published: Wednesday, August 25, 2010
State Sen. Berkey falls below level for mandatory recount
The incumbent state senator fell 79 votes behind Rod Rieger in the race for the second ballot spot, with 111 votes left to count.
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Jean Berkey, 38th District senator
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Rod Rieger, candidate for Washington State Senate 38th District Position 1
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Nick Harper, candidate Legislative District 38th District state senator
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Dennis Richter, a candidate for state representative 21st legislative district, position no. 1. He lives in Bothell.
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Vince DeMiero, candidate for Position No. 1, 1st District state representative
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Sandy Guinn, candidate for Position No. 1, 1st District state representative
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Derek Stanford, candidate for Position No. 1, 1st District state representative
EVERETT -- State Sen. Jean Berkey, D-Everett, is on the verge of losing re-election today after the latest tally of primary ballots pushed her further behind two challengers.
Berkey trails Rod Rieger by 79 votes for the second spot on the November ballot in the battle for the 38th District Senate seat.
That is too wide a margin to trigger a recount, Snohomish County election officials said. However, 111 ballots in the district will be counted Thursday, leaving Berkey a slight chance to close the gap.
"We have to wait to see the final count but I'm not overly optimistic," Berkey said Tuesday evening.
Tuesday's updated results show Democrat Nick Harper leading the three-person race with 7,133 votes followed by Republican Rieger with 6,626 votes and Berkey with 6,547 votes.
A recount would be mandatory if the margin is less than one-half of 1 percent and also less than 2,000 votes.
Rieger, who inched ahead of Berkey on Friday, refrained from claiming success because there are more ballots to be counted.
"We'll see what happens," he said.
There was no mistaking the disappointment in the voice of Berkey, who's represented Everett, Tulalip and part of Marysville for nine years.
She won a seat in the state House of Representatives in a special election in 2001. Three years later, she was appointed to the state Senate seat vacated by Aaron Reardon when he was elected Snohomish County Executive.
Voters retained Berkey in 2004 and elected her to a full term in 2006.
A moderate Democrat, she voted this year to raise taxes and approve a cuts-filled state budget. Berkey, a former union shop steward, has said she's voted with organized labor 87 percent of the time since entering the Legislature in 2001.
But unions representing state employees, teachers and health care workers still took aim at her primarily because she opposed ending a tax break for banks that they sought.
Labor groups financed a $300,000 campaign opposing her and supporting the more liberal newcomer, Harper. Their consultant also sent mailers to voters urging support for Rieger -- though no labor union has been tied directly to the literature.
"We were outspent 5-to-1," Berkey said. "I think the wave after wave of negative mail definitely hurt. It's obvious they wanted to send a message to moderate Democrats in my caucus."
Rieger sat back and watched.
"The goal of those supporting Nick Harper was to get Jean Berkey out and it appears they did that," Rieger said Tuesday. "The fact that I placed at all with raising just $800 is pretty good."
He said he's not heard from any Republican leaders -- county, state or Senate Republican caucus -- since surging into the top two Friday.
"I think I was pretty much written off because they didn't think I had a chance," he said, adding he thinks he'll get a call from someone once all the votes are counted.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
Recount territory?
State Senate, District 38
Nick Harper 7,133 Rod Rieger 6,626 Jean Berkey 6,547
Everett School Levy
Yes 11,847 50.18% No 11,761 49.82%
1st District, Position 1
Derek Stanford 6,988 Dennis Richter 6,381 Vince DeMiero 6,200 Sandy Guinn 6,062
For the latest results, go to www.snoco.org/ elections/results/ ecurrent.htm and www.secstate.wa.gov.
Berkey trails Rod Rieger by 79 votes for the second spot on the November ballot in the battle for the 38th District Senate seat.
That is too wide a margin to trigger a recount, Snohomish County election officials said. However, 111 ballots in the district will be counted Thursday, leaving Berkey a slight chance to close the gap.
"We have to wait to see the final count but I'm not overly optimistic," Berkey said Tuesday evening.
Tuesday's updated results show Democrat Nick Harper leading the three-person race with 7,133 votes followed by Republican Rieger with 6,626 votes and Berkey with 6,547 votes.
A recount would be mandatory if the margin is less than one-half of 1 percent and also less than 2,000 votes.
Rieger, who inched ahead of Berkey on Friday, refrained from claiming success because there are more ballots to be counted.
"We'll see what happens," he said.
There was no mistaking the disappointment in the voice of Berkey, who's represented Everett, Tulalip and part of Marysville for nine years.
She won a seat in the state House of Representatives in a special election in 2001. Three years later, she was appointed to the state Senate seat vacated by Aaron Reardon when he was elected Snohomish County Executive.
Voters retained Berkey in 2004 and elected her to a full term in 2006.
A moderate Democrat, she voted this year to raise taxes and approve a cuts-filled state budget. Berkey, a former union shop steward, has said she's voted with organized labor 87 percent of the time since entering the Legislature in 2001.
But unions representing state employees, teachers and health care workers still took aim at her primarily because she opposed ending a tax break for banks that they sought.
Labor groups financed a $300,000 campaign opposing her and supporting the more liberal newcomer, Harper. Their consultant also sent mailers to voters urging support for Rieger -- though no labor union has been tied directly to the literature.
"We were outspent 5-to-1," Berkey said. "I think the wave after wave of negative mail definitely hurt. It's obvious they wanted to send a message to moderate Democrats in my caucus."
Rieger sat back and watched.
"The goal of those supporting Nick Harper was to get Jean Berkey out and it appears they did that," Rieger said Tuesday. "The fact that I placed at all with raising just $800 is pretty good."
He said he's not heard from any Republican leaders -- county, state or Senate Republican caucus -- since surging into the top two Friday.
"I think I was pretty much written off because they didn't think I had a chance," he said, adding he thinks he'll get a call from someone once all the votes are counted.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
Recount territory?
State Senate, District 38
Nick Harper 7,133 Rod Rieger 6,626 Jean Berkey 6,547
Everett School Levy
Yes 11,847 50.18% No 11,761 49.82%
1st District, Position 1
Derek Stanford 6,988 Dennis Richter 6,381 Vince DeMiero 6,200 Sandy Guinn 6,062
For the latest results, go to www.snoco.org/ elections/results/ ecurrent.htm and www.secstate.wa.gov.
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