A widely watched recount in Southwest Washington has concluded. At the end of the tallying, Sen. Don Benton (R-Vancouver) came out 74 votes ahead of his challenger, Rep. Tim Probst (D-Vancouver).
As reported earlier, that outcome means that control of the State Senate is still an open question, with two Senate Democrats potentially holding the keys to a new coalition:
Sen. Don Benton wins Senate race by 74 votes http://t.co/imEWDAKU
— Christina Salerno (@cmsalerno) December 6, 2012
In the House, Rep. Mark Hargrove (R-Covington) will be returning to Olympia, after a recount tally showed him with a 157 vote margin over his Democratic opponent:
Results of King County machine recount are in and Rep Mark Hargrove has won re-election. He picked up one vote in the recount. #waelex
— Jordan Schrader (@Jordan_Schrader) December 5, 2012
In other state political news this week, newly minted Senate Majority Leader Ed Murray (D-Seattle), announced he is forming an exploratory committee for a Seattle mayoral run:
State Sen. Ed Murray wants to be Seattle's next mayor http://t.co/VdtXQvmf
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) December 5, 2012
Sen. Murray, formerly the Senate Ways & Means Chair, was responsible for the State Senate’s “no more cuts to higher education,” budget last year.