The results are mostly known. Some contested legislative races might still flip by the time it's over, but the trend seems clear: the statehouse GOP was shellacked. Senator Cantwell and Justice Owens won in landslides.

I'd like to start some constructive discusson here on why Republican candidates did so poorly in contested races locally (exceptions: Cathy McMorris, decisively re-elected, and Dave Reichert, currently leading). What went wrong beyond the national climate? Campaign strategy and tactics? The underlying messages?

No comments on this post, save those for post-mortems of specific races. But some general guidelines for the discussion --
* Comments are welcome from across the political spectrum, but please stay on topic and be constructive. Off-topic posts, gratuitous invective and junk comments will be deleted..

Post-mortem #1: Owens v. Johnson, below.