Slade Gorton (R)	48.64%
Maria Cantwell (D)	48.73%

Race Recap:

Environmental protection became a hot-button issue in the Washington Senate race between incumbent Senator Slade Gorton (R) and former U.S. Representative Maria Cantwell (D).  Although Gorton had spent months before the election attempting to ôgreenwashö his poor environmental record, LCV named him to the Dirty Dozen and launched a campaign to inform voters of GortonÆs undeniable and consistent pattern of voting against common-sense environmental protections.  Gorton supports anti-environment interests over the interests of people, earning a lifetime environmental average of only 25 percent, and a zero percent rating for 2000 on the National Environmental Scorecard.  In a notable comparison, Cantwell earned a laudable lifetime environmental score of 83 percent during her tenure in Congress.

Key Polling Results:

Working with Greenberg Quinlan Research, Inc., LCV polled likely Washington voters October 2-5 and again November 4-6 to evaluate the salience of environmental arguments and their impact on voter decisions.  

╖    Washington voters rated air quality (33 percent), water quality (29 percent) and traffic and growth (28 percent) highest in importance in a list of environmental concerns.

╖    Nearly half of Washington voters believe Gorton ôsides with the powerful special interestsö (47 percent) and is a ôtypical career politicianö (46 percent).  Only 27 and 24 percent of voters, respectively, attributed these characteristics to Cantwell.

╖    Upon learning that Gorton voted against citizensÆ right to know about toxics in their communities and voted against additional funding to clean up toxic waste sites in Washington, 51 percent of voters said this created serious doubts in their minds about Gorton.

╖    In the October poll, clean air and water tied for third in issues that voters are most concerned about, ranking right below education and health care, and above taxes and crime and drugs. 

╖    In Election Eve polling, Washington voters rated two environmental concerns as the most powerful reasons to vote against Gorton.  First, they were heavily persuaded by charges that Gorton has taken more than half a million dollars from big oil, mining companies, and other polluting special interests and also that he voted against funding to clean up the twenty-seven toxic waste sites polluting the Puget Sound.  CantwellÆs promises to make open space preservation and clean air and water top priorities became the most powerful reasons to support her. 

Dirty Dozen Campaign Activities:

Total budget:  $444,000.  LCV Action Fund named Slade Gorton to the Dirty Dozen on October 10, 2000 at a Seattle news conference and media tour.  On October 19, LCV launched a television ad in the Seattle media market, reaching 74 percent of the stateÆs voters.  The ad highlighted GortonÆs votes to protect the interests of polluters instead of the people, specifically for voting against the Safe Drinking Water Act and for impeding the clean up of toxic waste.  Election Eve polling showed that the Dirty Dozen ad created serious doubts in the minds of voters about GortonÆs environmental record and became a powerful reason to vote against him.   In endorsing Maria Cantwell, the Seattle Times noted that GortonÆs designation to the Dirty Dozen, his efforts to undercut clean water safeguards and his history of resorting to anti-environment riders to cut away environmental protection.  Similarly, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer endorsed Cantwell in part because her environmental philosophy better reflects the values of the stateÆs voters than GortonÆs.