Washington voters have chosen a new superintendent of public instruction and thrown out the state lands commissioner.

Randy Dorn defeated three-term incumbent Terry Bergeson in a tight race for state schools superintendent that some called a referendum on the state’s high-stakes graduation test, the WASL.

With 62 percent of the ballots counted Thursday, Dorn had 929,339 votes to 874,342 for Bergeson. That’s a 52-48 percent margin.

Also Thursday, Democrat Peter Goldmark was declared the victor over State Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland, a Tacoma native. Goldmark, who trailed in early counts, had 1,007,526 votes to 975,388 for Sutherland. That’s a 51-49 percent advantage.

Dorn, a former legislator, teacher and principal who’s executive director of the Public School Employees of Washington, said Thursday that he was ecstatic.

“I think it was decided on people talking to people about what’s best for kids and that’s what really turned the tide,” he said of the election.

During the campaign, he promised to replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning with another achievement test, and fire the education department’s upper management if elected.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, who won re-election this week, has stood by the WASL and has fought previous attempts to get rid of it.

Dorn wouldn’t be able to replace the WASL without legislative approval and the governor’s signature.

Goldmark, an Okanogan rancher and molecular biologist, won the lands post with the backing of environmentalists and had support of more than 62 percent of voters in King County.

Sutherland, a former Tacoma mayor and Pierce County executive, declined to concede, saying, “There’s a lot of counties where we have pretty strong support that have to be counted.”

The commissioner heads the Department of Natural Resources, which manages 5.6 million acres of state lands. Income generated by harvesting timber or leasing land to farmers is used to pay for schools and other state expenses.

Dorn said his first job as superintendent will be putting together a transition team and making plans to reorganize the education department.

The most pressing issue will be school finance reform. The state will be defending itself in court next March if the Legislature doesn’t approve a new plan for paying for education.

A committee of lawmakers, government officials and other citizens spent this past spring and summer studying the issue and hearing proposals. Committee members plan to start paring down their choices Monday.

While serving in the Legislature, Dorn was a sponsor of the state’s major school reform act that started Washington on its path toward higher standards and high-stakes testing in 1993. House Bill 1209 didn’t provide any new cash to pay for the work aimed at reaching higher standards. He said during the campaign that one of the reasons he was running was to address that unfunded mandate.

Bergeson said she decided to concede Thursday afternoon after seeing the latest vote count from King County. She called Dorn to congratulate him.

“This has been the biggest joy of my life to be in this job,” she said. “I’ve been honored to serve the children.”

Bergeson, 66, said she doesn’t plan to retire. She said she was inspired by Tuesday’s national election and expects President-elect Barack Obama to accomplish a lot to help children across the nation.

“Somehow I’m going to find a way to keep helping kids,” she said.