Elections 2012

The race for Washington governor remains too close to call. But Democrat Jay Inslee said Wednesday he’s already forming a transition team to prepare to take office. The former congressman leads Republican attorney general Rob McKenna 51 percent to 49 percent.

When you talk to Madeline Fakharzadeh, a high school senior in Kent, you wouldn’t necessarily think American politics are all that divisive right now.  At Tuesday's Republican election night party in Bellevue, she held a campaign sign for her local congressman, Republican Dave Reichert. But she has also volunteered for Democrats and for Washington United for Marriage, the group behind Referendum 74 to legalize same-sex marriage. And she didn’t think she was out of the ordinary in a Republican crowd on election night. “With times changing the way they are, it’s not a matter of, ‘I’m a conservative, I don’t believe in same-sex marriage.’ It’s changing,” she said.

The results are in! Well, almost. We discuss how the races played out for each side of the isle. Joining us are Chris Vance, former chair of the Republican Party in Washington, and Christian Sinderman, a Democratic political consultant and the founder of Northwest Passage.

We take a deeper look at last night’s elections with polling expert Matt Barreto to see what strategies led to success.

Vancouver Sun political correspondent Vaughn Palmer brings us the latest news from Canada. Film critic Robert Horton reviews the new Daniel Day-Lewis movie “Lincoln” seen through the lens of the nation's post-election political climate. Then, we review the latest economic news with Seattle Times columnist Jon Talton.

This is Washington’s first presidential election after making the switch to all mail-in voting. Just over half of the ballots have been counted and many races are still undecided.  KUOW’s Sara Lerner speaks with Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed.

Many races in Washington state are yet to be decided. In the highly contested race for governor, Republican Rob McKenna is trailing Democrat Jay Inslee by about 2.5 percentage points. The same-sex marriage referendum and the charter schools initiative are also too close to call.  But the returns on the marijuana initiative are decisive: recreational use will soon be legal in Washington. 

KUOW’s Sara Lerner speaks with our political reporter Austin Jenkins.

LYNNWOOD, Wash. – Washington voters are leaning in favor of allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry. But neither side of the hard fought referendum campaign is ready to claim victory or concede defeat yet. The current vote totals on Referendum 74 have 52 percent in favor to 48 percent against.

A large crowd of same-sex marriage supporters started dancing in the streets of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood when their campaign pulled into the lead.