By GENE JOHNSON
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — Bainbridge Island attorney Charlie Wiggins continued Friday to cut into the slim lead held by Justice Richard Sanders as Sanders tries to retain his seat on the state Supreme Court.
In updated vote totals Friday at 5:22 p.m., Sanders led 50.34 percent (795,046 votes) to 49.66 percent (784,241 votes) for Wiggins.
Friday’s new total reflected another slight improvement for Wiggins, who started Thursday trailing by 2 percentage points.
Hundreds of thousands of ballots from Tuesday’s election remain to be counted.
A significant portion are in populous King County, where Wiggins is winning handily — 57.76 percent to 42.24 percent as of 4:22 p.m. Friday.
Wiggins was also leading in Clallam and Jefferson counties.
On Thursday, both candidates expressed optimism about the results, with Sanders saying he’s glad to be in the lead, and Wiggins saying the trend in King County bodes well for him.
“It’s a close race,” Sanders said. “I’m happy that it appears that I’m winning.”
Sanders came under fire late in the campaign for insisting at a court meeting that racial bias plays no significant role in the criminal justice system.
He said certain minority groups are “disproportionally represented in prison because they have a crime problem.”
A front-page story on the remarks appeared in The Seattle Times after ballots were mailed to voters and was followed by the newspaper’s decision to rescind its endorsement of him.
Blacks make up 4 percent of the state’s population and nearly 20 percent of its prisoners, and studies around the country have linked such disproportionate numbers to drug enforcement policies, poverty and racial biases throughout society.
Sanders said he stood by his remarks, that the uproar over his comments amounted to a personal attack and that he’s proud of his record of upholding the state constitution and protecting individual liberties.
He and his supporters pointed out he often sides with defendants in criminal cases that reach the high court.
Wiggins said Sanders’ comments fit into a pattern of ill-considered remarks — including the time Sanders shouted “Tyrant!” at then-U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey during a black-tie dinner — that raise questions about his judgment.
