One year ago today...Gregoire won

And to think, it was all just one year ago...Here's an entry from the NPI Official Blog one year ago, on December 22nd, 2004:

Gregoire wins
BREAKING NEWS: King County certifies results in race for governor

Democrat Christine Gregoire has won Washington's race for governor by 130 votes, with King County's final hand-recount tally complete.

The county accepted 565 of the 732 additional ballots as having valid signatures -- 311 went for Gregoire and 191 for Rossi. The others either went for Ruth Bennett or didn't have a vote for governor or the person marked multiple candidates.

Election officials from Seattle's King County convened Thursday to begin counting 732 mistakenly discarded ballots that have widened Democrat Christine Gregoire's lead in Washington's incredibly tight race for governor.

So it's over. And it's time to move on. Christine Gregoire has won the governor's race. Rossi should concede immediately. This is the final recount: there isn't going to be another one. Speaking of which, Progressive Majority Washington is asking you to join them in asking Rossi to concede.

One year ago today, Christine Gregoire won the 2004 gubernatorial race. What a political drama that was.

More from one year ago:

King crowns Gregoire
King County reports; Gregoire on top by 10 votes

King County has reported +59 votes for Gregoire, giving Gregoire the overall lead in the statewide manual recount by 10 votes. This does not count the 725 ballots the Supreme Court said can be counted.

The 10 vote reversal is a stunning development in this two month old saga: finally, now, Christine Gregoire is winning the governor's race! And her lead should increase with the counting of those formerly disputed ballots tomorrow.

The especially good news about all of this is it shows Democrats are willing to stand and fight. We won't be intimidated by the GOP....No more stolen elections! Christine Gregoire has held on for almost two months now - and we believe she will emerge from this as our state's Governor.

Yes, it was just one year ago that the State Supreme Court ruled unanimously to reverse a Pierce County Superior Court ruling that barred King County from counting 573 ballots that had been disputed by Republicans. And it was just one year ago that King County finally finished a manual hand recount that capped a month and a half of political turmoil and uncertainty over who had been elected Governor.

Other blogs that reported on the events of December 22nd, 2004: HorsesAss, Washington State Political Report, Progressive Majority Washington, Upper Left