State Rep. Barbara Bailey won the 2008 election for the 10th Legislative District by a safe margin, according to unofficial Island County election results Tuesday night.

Bailey owned approximately 53 percent of the vote Tuesday night, while her challenger, Patricia Terry, collected only 46 percent. The elections office still had 6,500 votes to count late Wednesday, although the difference is not likely enough to change the outcome of Bailey’s win over Terry.

Bailey escaped the Democratic steamroller in Island County that ousted long-time Commissioner Mac McDowell from power along with appointed Commissioner Phil Bakke. Appointed 10th District House member Norma Smith lost, as did senatorial candidate Linda Haddon.

“I’d like to think that I’ve earned the trust of the voters by working for the issues that are important and by representing them to the best of my ability,” Bailey said of her election to a fourth term. “There are still a lot of ballots to be counted,” she added.

Last night, as the local and national results unfolded, Bailey’s campaign team and supporters gathered at Angelo’s Caffe in Oak Harbor to monitor the outcome on a big screen TV. About 75 people filtered through the party over the course of the evening, she said.

Bailey said that she will continue to make decisions to build stronger and more prosperous communities, but that planning and balancing the state’s budget will take a lot of work.

“All the other issues are going to be dwarfed by the budget situation. It’s going to be really challenging,” she said. “But with every challenge is great opportunity.”

Bailey told the News-Times that she had not yet spoken with Terry since the initial results were posted.

Terry could not be reached for comment.