Sen. Patty Murray wins re-election in Washington state

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Washington U.S. Sen. Patty Murray seized a fourth term Thursday, surviving voters' backlash against Democrats nationally and weeks of relentless GOP campaign attacks on her voting and federal spending record.

Murray's victory over Republican Dino Rossi, after three days of tallying, preserves breathing room for the Senate's shrunken Democratic majority. Republicans made inroads there Tuesday and took control of the House for the rest of President Barack Obama's first term.

In the Senate, Democrats now will have a 53-46 advantage with the Alaska Senate race yet to be decided.

Murray's win in Washington state was secured Thursday as tallies pushed her lead to about 46,000 votes out of more than 1.8 million counted, or about 51 percent to 49 percent. About three-quarters of the expected ballots had been counted in unofficial returns.

Hundreds of thousands of ballots still await processing, but an Associated Press analysis determined Murray's lead would be insurmountable.

At a Thursday night news conference, Murray thanked Rossi and his family, saying he had been gracious in defeat. Murray said her priorities in a fourth term will include securing tax cuts for the middle class and helping the Boeing Co. win a lucrative Air Force refueling tanker contract.

"Now we have to get to work," Murray said. "I want to make sure Washington state has what it needs to get its economy back on its feet." Rossi conceded defeat in a statement issued Thursday evening. He also called on the new-look Congress to focus on the economy and strive for cooperation.

"The lesson I leave you with is one we learned as kids: We're all in this together. If Washington, D.C., doesn't act to help the economy grow and solve this massive spending and debt, it's going to hurt us all," Rossi said.

Murray's campaign offered a strong defense of her ability to win federal spending, even in a year when economic jitters threatened to derail that traditional strength for sitting senators. The list of projects she touted was seemingly endless: Bridges, highways, veterans' hospitals, dams, port construction and more.

Murray also sought to paint Rossi as a friend of big business, pointing to his call to repeal the Democrats' new Wall Street regulations.

Rossi's campaign was relentlessly focused on Murray's spending record, including the sometimes intertwining paths of Murray's campaign contributors and her "earmarks" for pet projects. He argued that the one-time underdog candidate had changed over 18 years in Washington, D.C., and had to be replaced to secure the nation's economic future.

The campaign was expensive and smothered Washington airwaves with advertising - much of it sharply negative in tone. Murray spent nearly $15 million through September to Rossi's roughly $2.5 million, but a flood of outside money helped Rossi keep up.

Meanwhile in Alaska, incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski's write-in campaign remained optimistic, as vote totals showed it with just over 41 percent of the vote and a 13,500-vote advantage over Republican Joe Miller.

The current vote tally exceeded the campaign's internal projections of the 40 percent and 10,000 votes necessary to stave off any legal challenges. "We're very confident," said Murkowski spokesman Steve Wackowski.

But tens of thousands of votes also have yet to be counted in Alaska, including absentee and questionable ballots.

Although election officials originally set Nov. 18 as the date when they would begin to count the write-in and absentee ballots, Alaska Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai said they were working on a plan to start counting the write-in votes earlier if possible.

Not even Miller's supporters were optimistic about his chances. "I think it's pretty difficult to see how they're going to make it up," said Eddie Burke, a Miller supporter and former candidate for lieutenant governor."