PORT ANGELES — Republican Dino Rossi told the audience of Port Angeles area business people that things have changed since 2004, when he was narrowly defeated by Chris Gregoire for governor.
Rarely referring to Gregoire by name, he instead called her the incumbent, opponent or “lady in Olympia” to an audience of about 150 at Monday’s weekly Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant.
Rossi repeatedly emphasized that the political climate has changed since the 2004 election in which he lost by 133 votes after three ballot counts.
“In April, we had reached the total number of contributions that we had for the entire last election,” he said.
“The average donation amount is $89.50 — less than Obama’s campaign.
“A lot of people didn’t think I had a prayer in the last election.”
The 129-vote margin in the final 2004 recount was raised to 133 in June 2005 by a Chelan County Superior Court judge’s ruling.
