Microsoft's House Seat Still A Toss-Up
It's Wednesday morning -- the day after Election Day -- and one of the most closely watched races in the country from the high-tech perspective is still up in the air. In the battle for Washington's 8th District, only 40 percent of precincts have reported and Republican Rep. Dave Reichert is maintaining a slim lead. As of 6:43 a.m. EST, he has 50.1 percent (68,541 votes) while Democratic challenger Darcy Burner has captured 49.9 percent (68,165 votes). The campaigns don't expect final results until later in the week but both candidates said they felt good about their chances, the AP reported. The Burner-Reichert race was by far the closest congressional race in the state with Washington's other House members clinching re-election.
The hard-fought race is a rematch from 2006 where Reichert, a former sheriff, defeated Burner, a Microsoft program manager, 51-49 percent. This time around, the campaign has gotten nasty with Burner fighting accusations she lied about her Harvard University education and Reichert having to answer to published materials that misstated his own higher ed experience. Over the course of her run, Burner became the darling of the liberal blogosphere, collecting a heap of cash from Internet activists. She also received $93,894 from Microsoft and its employees this cycle while Reichert got a total of $35,750 from the high-tech giant.
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Campaign 2008
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