| It's not surprising
that over the course of its history, Washington state has been regarded
as true blue on the political spectrum. Democrats hold both of the
state's U.S. Senate seats, six of its nine U.S. House seats and
the governor's office. The state went for Democratic presidential
candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.
In 2006, voters will decide whether to uphold the Democratic
streak for the House seats and incumbent Democratic Sen. Maria
Cantwell, or go with her Republican challenger Mike McGavick.
 Historically,
Washington is a union stronghold. The International Workers of
the World were active in Seattle in the early 1900s, and labor
unions gained particular strength in the state in the 1930s. So
established was Washington's left-leaning reputation that James
Farley, Franklin D. Roosevelt's campaign manager, was known to
refer to "the 47 states and the Soviet of Washington."
Nevertheless, recent close elections in Washington show the state
to be more politically divided than in the past. Democrats barely
won two of the narrowest races in recent state electoral history
and this year's Senate race could be just as close.
In 2000, Cantwell eked out a victory over Republican incumbent
Sen. Slade Gorton. In the 2004 governor's race, Democrat Christine
Gregoire pulled off an even slimmer 129-vote margin in her controversial
win over Republican Dino Rossi.
Washington's political differences mirror its geography.
"Washington is like two states," said Yakima Herald-Republic
reporter Leah Beth Ward. She points to the Cascade Mountains as
the dividing line. "The mountains are more than just a symbolic
divide," she said. "There is a real cultural divide
between east and west."
Congressional Quarterly's Ryan Kelly writes that there are three
regions composing Washington's political geography. He divides
the state into "a Democratic stronghold in Seattle and its
immediate environs, politically competitive 'swing' areas in suburbs
and outlying areas near Seattle, and more rural and conservative
areas to the south and east that lean Republican."
Washington east of the Cascades is the rural part of the state
where the economy depends, in a large part, on agriculture. This
area produces commodities including tree fruits and berries, vegetables,
milk, grain and cattle.
It is in the central and eastern parts of the state that GOP
senatorial candidate McGavick must motivate voter turnout if he
wants to give Cantwell a run for her money. Here, immigration
is said to be the make-or-break issue for voters because farmers
depend on a reliable labor stream. Both McGavick and Cantwell
favor a strong guest worker program.
 When
it comes time to vote, western Washington and Seattle have a separate
set of influences and priorities. Recognized as a hub of technology
and industry, the Seattle area is home to Microsoft, Starbucks
and Amazon.com. Boeing, founded in Washington in 1916, was headquartered
in Seattle until relocating to Chicago in 2001. The region is
decidedly more white-collar than parts east and south, and is
known for tolerance and progressive political values. In particular,
the 1999 World Trade Organization protests cemented Seattle's
reputation for leftist and activist political leanings.
Environmental issues rank near the top of the list in Seattle,
and Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly says that
Cantwell "is running in a rather large measure" on her
strong environmental record.
As a first-term senator, Cantwell led a successful filibuster
of Republican powerbroker Sen. Ted Stevens' efforts to open a
portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil
drilling. McGavick has said he would support drilling in ANWR
to lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
Iraq also is a major issue for Washington's left-leaning voters,
and Cantwell continues to hear criticism for her support of the
2002 authorization of the Iraq invasion.
Clear tensions exist between the liberal values that Seattle
has come to represent and the more conservative convictions of
Washington's rural population. According to Ward, there is a strong
sense among Republicans that Rossi was cheated out of the governorship
in 2004. "They still believe that he was robbed," she
said of local conservative voters.
Columnist Connelly agreed, saying that state Republicans are
hoping for a reversal of fortune in the Cantwell-McGavick match-up.
Conservatives envision a "boa constrictor strategy,"
as Connelly put it, which will allow them to win by "carrying
every other part of the state and squeezing the liberal heartland
of Seattle and King County."
-- By Molly Messick for the
Online NewsHour
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