Reichert wins re-election to Congress in 8th District

November 5, 2008 5:05 pm
U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert waves to the crowd after giving a speech Tuesday night at a Republican Party election night party at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Bellevue.
U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert waves to the crowd after giving a speech Tuesday night at a Republican Party election night party at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Bellevue.

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert stood as one of the few Republican holdouts on Oct. 6 bracing against a wave of change from Election Day.The Republican incumbent held a 1,853-vote advantage over Democratic challenger Darcy Burner on Thursday at noon.

Initial returns on Election Night showed Burner leading with a 57-43 percent split, but Reichert had closed the margin by the next morning.

Around 45 percent of the votes were counted as of noon on Nov. 6, with Reichert ahead 95,221 votes to Burner’s 93,368.

“We expected going into Election Day that this was going to be a very close race, and that’s where we’re at,” said Burner campaign spokesman Sandeep Kaushik. “There’s still a lot of counting to be done, and we’ll just have to see how it plays out.”

Reichert was holding a significant lead with Pierce County voters – who make up 20 percent of the 8th District – and he was making gains in King County, although lagging behind by 2,200 votes.

“We’re very encouraged by what we’re seeing,” said Amanda Halligan, a spokeswoman for the Reichert campaign.

Reichert defeated Burner by 300 votes in King County in the 2006 election. The Burner camp was encouraged by its early leads in the county, according to Kaushik.