Smiley leading 27 counties, but still losing
PASCO – Local farm girl turned political newcomer Tiffany Smiley securely has all 20 of Eastern Washington's counties in her corner.
In fact, she had the lead in 27 of the state's 39 counties in the Tuesday, Nov. 8, general election. Yet, she was still losing to career politician Patty Murray, D-Shoreline.
Smiley, a Pasco Republican, trailed Murray after the first night of counting in the general election. Murray had 980,199 votes (56.92%); Smiley had 738,618 votes (42.89%).
Smiley was unable to be reached for comment prior to press time.
Late-arriving ballots will continue to be counted over the next two weeks.
Adams and Lincoln counties provided the strongest support, percentage-wise, for Smiley. In Adams County, Smiley had 1,554 votes (76.36%). In Lincoln County, she had 3,655 votes (76.48%).
In her home county, Franklin County, Smiley had 11,640 votes (69.75%). Murray had 5,041 votes (30.21%).
But Murray performed best in King County, the state's most populous county. There, Murray received 324,715 votes (74.222%) compared to Smiley's 111,806 votes (25.56%)
Murrays' King County lead of 212,909 votes was similar to her entire lead statewide, which added up to 241,581 votes.
West of the Cascades, Murray led in all of the Puget Sound counties and Clark County, which includes Vancouver. Smiley led in Grays Harbor, Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Lewis and Skamania counties.
East of the Cascades, Smiley led in all 20 counties.
Murray's best performance on this side of the state was in Spokane and Whitman Counties, which are home to Eastern Washington, Gonzaga and Washington State universities.
In Spokane County, Smiley had 75,237 votes (53.04%) compared to Murray's 66,361 votes (46.79%).
In Whitman County, Smiley had 3,411 votes (54.38%) and Murray had 2,846 votes (45.38%).
But the election isn't over.
According to the Office of the Secretary of State, only 1,722,064 votes have been counted out of 4,805,688 ballots sent to registered voters.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, columnist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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