NO COAST, NOT BLUE:

GOP moving ahead in Wash. statehouse contests (CURT WOODWARD, 11/04/09, Associated Press)

The only Democratic legislator from rural Eastern Washington lost to a Republican challenger Tuesday.

With about 60 percent of the expected vote reported, Republican Terry Nealey defeated freshman Rep. Laura Grant, D-Walla Walla, about 57 percent to 43 percent. Grant was appointed to the seat early this year after the death of her father, Bill Grant, who held the job for more than 20 years.