Burner v. Reichert, Part III

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Netroots fave Darcy Burner was clipped by Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) in Washington state’s new and relatively unusual open primary yesterday by 3 points.

They’ll face off again in November because they were the top two vote-getters in the primary and neither received a majority of the vote. But this has got to be a sobering development for Burner, who lost to Reichert by just 2 points in the 2006 general election and hopes to finish him off this time around with a better-financed campaign that includes support from the DCCC.

It’s not over, and you can still see a path to a Burner win in the general, but this is a tough one.

Late Update: Under the peculiar Washington state system, even if a candidate gets a majority of the vote in the primary they still must face the second-place finisher in the general election (so long as the runner-up received at least 1% of the vote in the primary).

[Thanks to TPM Reader JD for the catch.]

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