King County, Washington

King County is located in the state of Washington. As of 2000, the population is 1,737,034, the largest in the state and the 12th largest in the nation. The county seat is Seattle, which is also the county's and the state's largest city. Unlike in other counties with major cities, most of the population lives in suburbs and rural areas - less than a third of King County residents live in Seattle.

Politics

King County is a major center for liberal politics and is a bastion for the Democrats. In the 2004 election, John Kerry defeated George W. Bush here by 32%, a larger margin than what Al Gore won in the 2000 election. King County has also been the deciding factor in a few recent close election which have given victory to the Democratic candidate in statewide elections. In 2000, it was King County that pushed Maria Cantwell over incumbent Republican Slade Gorton, winning her a seat in the United States Senate. In 2004, King County gave a lead to Democrat Christine Gregoire in the second recount in the state's razor-thin governor's race, pushing her ahead of Republican Dino Rossi, who led by 42 votes after the initial count.

Related Topics:
Democrats - 2004 election - John Kerry - George W. Bush - Al Gore - 2000 election - Maria Cantwell - Republican - Slade Gorton - United States Senate - Christine Gregoire - Dino Rossi

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Some conservative rural residents of eastern King County are agitating to secede and form their own county, though there does not appear to exist a procedure by which they could do so without the agreement of a King County Council controlled by urban and suburban Democrats.{{ref|proposal}}{{ref|rural}} According to a map published by the Seattle Times{{ref|cci}}, four different geographic borders are being considered.

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