Over at the downtown Seattle Westin, PubliCola ran in to Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-36). Brandishing a blue notebook with the latest state legislative results, Carlyle said he was happy that it looks the Democrats are going to hold on to the state House. However, state Sen. Ed Murray, also at the Hyatt, seemed frustrated that the results were going up and down so wildly, making it tough to read trends or make predictions for the votes that remain outstanding. He added glumly, "I didn't expect it to be so bad," noting the huge number of Senate Democratic incumbents---Chris Marr in the 6th, Randy Gordon in the 41st, Steve Hobbs in the 44th, Eric Oemig in the 45th, Rodney Tom in the 48th---who were either losing or barely holding on. Among the races that were viewed as contested, only Tracey Eide---holding on with 51 percent in the 30th---seemed to offer Democrats a ray of hope.

Meanwhile, in Bellevue, state Attorney General Rob McKenna pointed to Republicans' likely control of the state senate as an indication that Washington State had turned a corner. "We're heading in the direction of change," he said, echoing a theme GOP Senate candidate Dino Rossi touched on earlier in the night. "These are the best candidates running that I have seen in 20 years. Now we can got to work in Olympia on issues that voters care about."

Then the loudspeakers started blasting "Wild Thing" and "Sweet Caroline" as everyone went back to the party.