| Rossi wins recount by 42 votes KING5.com Both political parties are poised to request a rare hand recount in the governor's race if they don't like the outcome, potentially extending the process until nearly Christmas. With just a 42-vote difference, a request for a manual recount appeared to be a near certainty. Up until King County released its recount totals around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Rossi had gained a net of 26 votes over Gregoire for a 287-vote lead. But Gregoire gained a net of 219 votes in the King County count. The gain for Gregoire comes after more than 700 previously uncounted ballots were added in King county after election workers, under the close watch of party observers, "enhanced" ballots to reflect voters' intentions and over the objections of Republicans. An enhanced ballot is one in which a voter circled the candidate's name, for instance, rather than filling in the oval for an optical scanning machine to read. A lawsuit over the practice is expected to be heard Nov. 30 after a judge earlier refused to issue an injunction stopping the practice. Gregoire gained ground on Rossi in Democratic-leaning King County and picked up votes in Kitsap County, completing the 39-county tally in a near tie. The 42-vote gap is the closest gubernatorial election finish in state history. Even before the last big surge of ballots was tallied, Democrats had signaled they would seek a hand recount in at least part of the state. Republicans called on Gregoire to concede and not drag the state through a third count that could stretch until Christmas week or longer. Gregoire, 57, of Olympia, hoping to become only the state's second woman governor, carried eight of the 39 counties, most notably the largest, King, which includes heavily Democratic Seattle. Gregoire, strongly backed by the women's movement, is best known for battling America's tobacco industry. Rossi, 45, a self-made real estate millionaire and former state Senate budget chairman from the Seattle suburb of Sammamish, was hoping to become the first Republican since 1980 to win the governor's mansion. He ran on a platform of change and job-creation.
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