Early results from Tuesday’s general election show show close races in the 8th Congressional District and for the Pierce County executive post, with the state House of Representatives and gubernatorial races favoring the incumbents.

According to the Secretary of State Web site, Republican incumbent Dave

Reichert, who represents the 8th Congressional District in the U.S House of

Representatives, was leading by less than 1 percentage point, 50.32 with

69,627 votes, to Democrat Darcy Burner’s 49.68 percent and 68,746 votes.

Ballots are still be tabulated by the Pierce and King county auditors.

In King County, Burner was leading with 56,194 votes to Reichert’s 54.82. In Pierce

County, Reichert was leading with 14,807 votes to Burner’s 12,552.

In the 31st District Legislative races both incumbents, Chris Hurst,

D-Greenwater, and Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, were easily winning their

contests.

Roach, in Position 1, had 12,010 votes and 56 percent, while Ron Weigelt, D-Buckley,

had garnered 9,174 votes and 43 percent.

Hurst had picked up 60 percent for Position 2 with 12,575 votes to Sharon

Hanek, a Republican from the Bonney Lake area, with 8,241 votes and 39 percent.

In the Pierce County executive race, County Councilman Shawn Bunney,

R-Lake Tapps, was holding a slim lead over current County Auditor Pat

McCarthy, a Democrat.

Bunney had 33 percent with 36,807 with McCarthy at 32,152 with 29 percent.

Rank choice voting is used in the executive race and it appears Democrat

Calvin Goings and Mike Lonergan, who calls his party Executive Excellence,

are eliminated. But ballots are still being counted and final results of

this race will not be clear until later in the week.

In the governor’s race, Democrat Chris Gregoire appears to have won a second

term over Dino Rossi, a Republican. Gregoire was leading 53.5 percent to Rossi’s 46.5 percent.

In other statewide races, most incumbents were faring well. The two exceptions were for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Education, where Terry Bergeson was trailing 50.8 percent to 49.2 in a heated battle with challenger Randy Dorn, and Commissioner of Public Lands, where Doug Sutherland was trailing challenger Peter Goldmark, who had 50.5 percent of the vote.

Two of three statewide measures on the ballot appeared to be passing.

Initative 1000, allowing for terminally ill people to obtain lethal prescriptions, was passing by nearly 69 percent. Initiative 1029, requiring long-term care workers to gain additional certification, was passing by nearly 74 percent.

Intiative 985, which would have opened high-occupancy lanes at certain times, was failing by 59 percent. Opponents feared it would draw money from education and other needs.

Sound Transit Proposition 1 was passing by 58 percent. The measure needed to be approved by voters in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

King County voters faced eight charter amendments. Early results showed seven had garnered greater than 50 percent support. Only amendment No. 7 (citizen initiative) had less than half the vote.