Republicans roll in Whatcom County, but region loses clout in Olympia

Pundits questioned the influence of the conservative tea party movement. Even locally, the Bellingham Tea Party said the 2010 mid-term elections were crucial to see whether the movement lived.

Whatcom County appears to have been one of the major bastions for the conservative movement in Washington state after the Tuesday, Nov. 2, election.

The trends for local, state and federal elections showed an extremely motivated group of conservatives who ushered in Republicans and GOP-backed candidates at the local and state level. They may have even taken out a Democratic congressman - Rick Larsen - who many thought held a safe 2nd Congressional District seat.