Voters in Washington state are likely facing a recount with a 158-vote margin separating the state's gubernatorial candidates.
Democratic candidate Christine Gregoire led Republican Dino Rossi by 158 votes out of the nearly 2.8 million votes cast, largely due to a surprise boost of ballots in King County, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Tuesday.
Officials estimated some 22,000 ballots remained to be counted two weeks after Election Day, which together with the tight margin points to a mandatory recount.
Gregoire received a boost when the largely Democratic King County registered about 10,000 more ballots than previously expected, the Post-Intelligencer said.
"It changes the math in the race," said Chris Vance, chairman of the state Republican Party. "Dino was looking like a pretty sure winner. Now it's looking too close to call."
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