Gregoire basks in sunny early returns

SEATTLE -

The crowd at the Gregoire primary night party was lively, clapping their hands and chanting "four more years" as Gov. Chris Gregoire and her husband, First Mike, walked into the room.

Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-Seattle) introduced Gregoire, and spoke of how the party was proudest of the counties they were competing in, rather than the victory as a whole.  Pettigrew cited Gregoire's 9:30 PM lead in counties like Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Kitsap, and Pierce that she had lost in 2004. At press time, Gregoire led Rossi 360,428 to 341,474.

Flanked on stage by her husband and daughter/campaign staffer Michelle, Gregoire basked in what appears to be a strong showing for her campaign an hour and a half into the ballot counting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are winning in all 4 corners of the great state of Washington. We have worked hard over the last 3.5 years to create one Washington," she said, and talked about having won a victory for that same united state.

Gregoire also praised her campaign, asked for a moment of prayer and tahnks for the 81st National Guard unit that just deployed this week, and moved into a speech full of her main campaign theme, notably children's health care, crime, jobs, and the environment.

Beginning tomorrow, the campaign moves on along those same lines, only from now on the minor candidates whose campaigns appeared nonexistent truly are.