Christine Gregoire

Christine “Chris” O' Grady Gregoire (born the March 24th 1947) is the democratic governor of the American State of Washington since January 2005.

Declared victorious by 129 votes with the third recount only in front of the republican Dino Rossi, its election remained a heavy subject of controversy and its disputed legitimacy.

Christine Gregoire was high in Auburn in the State of Washington and graduate in right of the universities of Washington and Gonzaga.

Professional path

Of 1988 with 1992, it is director of the department of ecology of the State of Washington where it negotiates an agreement with the agency of environmental protection and the department of energy to clean the nuclear center of Hanford.

In 1992, she is elected Attorney General, station where she will twice be re-elected and where she illustrates herself in particular in the causes of the environment and the fight against the tobacco industries.

A political scandal reaches it in 2000 and its responsibility is committed when heavy faults were raised against its cabinet. Indeed, its cabinet had omitted to make call within the legal delays against a verdict returned against the State of bearing Washington on the sum of 17,8 million dollars. This fault was accompanied by fraudulent behaviors to try to hide this serious error of procedure.

At the time of the countryside of 2004 for the post of governor of the State of Washington, Gregoire is the candidate of the democratic party. At the time of the primary educations, she survived charges of racism owing to the fact that she had been member of a brotherhood coed “reserved for the white” when she was at the university.

During the electoral campaign itself against its republican adversary , Dino Rossi, former senator d' État, it comes to a conclusion for research about the Original cells but its speech recontre little echo. She is constantly criticized to be notable of Olympia whose party controls the State since end of the year 80. She answers while promising to give to the step the bureaucracy and to bring itself the change, negatively surprising her own partisans and colleagues.

Its incapacity to promote the assessments of the last democratic governors and his propensity with autocongratuler alienates good number of its natural partisans to him. Negative publicities are baited by pointing out another bureaucratic error of its cabinet in 2002 having cost 22,4 million dollars to the taxpayers echoing the preceding fiasco of 2000.

The difficult election of governor

At the evening of the November 2nd 2004, it is the republican Dino Rossi who is at the head votes with 261 votes in advance.

One recounts automatic decreases then this advance with 42 votes.

The December 3rd 2004, the democratic party claimed a manual recount and also deposited a motion before the Supreme court of the State to require the taking into account of the bulletins rejected into the county of King (Seattle) and not entered.

After a first refusal of this taking into account by a judge of the superior court of the county of Pierce, the Supreme court (of which the members were all named by democratic governors) in a stop of the December 22nd makes a contrary unanimous decision and asks that the litigious bulletins of the county of King be well counted.

The county of King is a democratic bastion without which the state would for a long time have rocked at the republicans. It includes/understands the town of Seattle and is managed by the democrats.

On 732 litigious bulletins, 566 were finally validated and added to the final calculation the December 23rd 2004 thus giving an advance of 130 votes to Christine Gregoire.

The December 30th 2004, the Secretary of State (republican) Sam Reed certified the victory of Gregoire by 129 votes.

But Dino Rossi, given victorious until this December 23rd, did not agree to recognize its defeat, nor the whole of the Republican party of the State advancing several reasons:

several soldiers expatriates, republicans and benches in the county of King, affirm not to have been able to vote because they never received their ballot paper just like the soldiers expatriates established in the county of Snohomish.
the electoral roll of the county of King would be fraudulent.

In May 2005, the surveys indicate that 2/3 of the inhabitants of the State think that Dino Rossi actually gained the election calling in question the legitimacy of Christine Gregoire. In June however, Dino Rossi fails to provide in front of the courts the material proofs of the frauds and the called upon irregularities. It gives up going before the Supreme court by calling upon the democratic filiation of the judges, thus validating the election of Christine Gregoire.

In December 2005, with a rate of approval of 43% (against 50% of negative opinions), it arrives only in 38ème position in term of popularity among the 50 governors of the country, ex-aequo with Ted Kulongoski, the governor of the Oregon (bearing SurveyUSA Survey on 600 residents of each state carried out from December 9th to 11th 2005. Margin of error of 4%).

Christine Gregoire is married and has two girls, graduate college of Olympia.

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