Today reports declare U.S. Representative Rick Larsen the winner in the race for the 2nd Congressional District in Washington.

Though John Koster, the Snohomish County Councilman running against Larsen, has not conceded election totals show that Larsen leads Koster 51% to 49%  with more than 281,000 votes counted as of Monday night.  This lead is outside the range for a mandatory recount.

State
At the time of this blog, the Democrats it appears that the Democrats will retain control of both the Washington House and Senate.

Regardless of the outcome, the majorities in both chamber will be much smaller than in the prior biennium.  Republicans  won several seats this election, closing the prior 13 member gap held by the Senate Democrats to five (27 Democrat; 22 Republican) at the time of this blog.

In the House, the Democrats held a 61-37 advantage. All 98 seats were on the November ballot, with 16 open seats. The latest poll numbers show the Democrat advantage has been reduced, closing the gap from 24 to 16 votes (57 Democrats; 41 Republicans) at the time of this blog.

What is Next
On November 15, the next revenue forecast is scheduled. The preliminary forecast showed little change from September, but an increase in caseloads is expected.

Between now and the end of December any unknowns regarding the election will be cleared. In addition, information regarding legislative leadership and committee chairs should emerge.

Finally, towards the end of December Governor Gregoire will release her budget. Followed by the beginning of the 2011 legislative regular session on January 10.