WASHINGTON 12 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
 
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Washington Secretary of State)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2019 est.
7,614,893
Total Registration, Nov. 2020
4,892,871 >

Washington does not require party affiliation when registering.
Washington has: 39 counties.
Five largest counties: King, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Clark.
Five largest cities: Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Bellevue. 

Government
Governor: Jay Inslee (D) seeking re-election in 2020.
State Legislature: Washington State Legislature  House: 98 seats  Senate: 49 seats
Local: Cities and Towns, Counties...   NACO
U.S. House: 7D, 3R - 1.S.DelBene (D) | 2. R.Larsen (D) | 3. J.Herrera Beutler (R) | 4. D.Newhouse (R) | 5. C.McMorris Rodgers (R) | 6. D.Kilmer (D) 7. P.Jayapal (D) | 8. K.Schrier (D) | 9. A.Smith (D) | 10. D.Heck (D).
U.S. Senate: Maria Cantwell (D) re-elected in 2018, Patty Murray (D) re-elected in 2016.
2020
Governor: Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who waged a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination from  Mar.-Aug. 2019 (+), won a third term; he defeated Loren Culp (R), a police chief and veteran, by 2,294,243 votes (56.56%) to 1,749,066 (43.12%) and 13,145 votes (0.32%) for write-ins.
U.S. House: In WA-10 (west central WA from Olympia to Puyallup), Rep.
Denny Heck (D), first elected in 2012, ran for lieutenant governor.  Former Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland (D) defeated State Rep. Beth Doglio (D) by 167,937 votes (49.33%) to 121,040 (35.56%) and 51,430 (15.11%) for write-ins.  Strickland finished first in the primary and was seen as more of an establishment candidate, while Doglio had support of many progressives.
State Legislature:
26 of 49 Senate seats and all 98 House seats were up.  The balance in both chambers stayed the same, thee Senate at 29D,20R to and the House at 57D,41R.
Ballot Measures: Voters approved Referendum 90, by 57.82% to 42.18%, upholding ESSB 5395, the K-12 sex ed law approved earlier this year (Yes/Approve  |  No/Repeal).  Voters also weighed in on four advisory votes and rejected a proposed constitutional amendment which would have allowed funds in the Long-Term Service and Supports Trust Account to be invested. 
>

State of Washington
Secretary of State

WA State Democratic Party
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Libertarian Party of WA
Green Party of WA State
Constitution Party of WA

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Washington State Wire

Politics1-WA
Ballotpedia-WA


The Evergreen State
General Election -- Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Washington has had vote by mail since election reforms passed in Apr. 2005.

Voter Registration Deadline:
Oct. 26, 2020 - mail or online.
Nov. 3, 2020 - in person.

Voting Starts: Oct. 16, 2020 -
"Start of 18-day voting period (through Election Day)."
Official Results >
 
 
+Biden/Harris (Dem.)
2,369,612
(57.97)
Trump/Pence (Rep.)
1,584,651
(38.77)
Jorgensen/Cohen (Lib.)
80,500
(1.97)
Hawkins/Walker (Grn.)
18,289
(0.45)
La Riva/Freeman (PSL)
4,840
(0.12)
Kennedy/Jarrett (SWP)
2,487
(0.06)
write-ins
27,252
(0.67)
Total........4,087,631

total ballots counted 4,115,585

Ballot Access for minor party and independent candidates for president.
Overview: As expected, Washington's 12 electoral votes ended up in the Democratic column; the Biden-Harris ticket won with a plurality of 784,961 votes (19.20 percentage points), carrying 13 counties to 26 counties for Trump-Pence.  The presidential campaign was relaitvely quiet here, although the Biden campaign did name a  state director for the Fall (+) and supporters phonebanked into battleground states (+).
+     Seattle was much in the news following the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day in Minneapolis when protesters set up a six-block "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone" (CHAZ), later renamed "Capitol Hill Occupied Protest" (CHOP); police dismantled the zone on July 1.
BALLOT [PDF]
[State Primary: August 4, 2020]
 Presidential Primary -- Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Registration: 4,553,013 (active), 407,428 (inactive).  Ballots Issued: 4,661,931.  Ballots Received: 2,352,866.  Ballots Counted: 2,256,488.  Voter Turnout: 49.56%.
Democrats
Biden 591,403 (37.94%), Sanders 590,039 (36.57%), Warren 142,652 (9.15%), Bloomberg 122,530 (7.86%)...  Total 1,558,776.  details
 
109 Delegates: 58 District, 19 At-Large, 12 PLEO, 20 Unpledged.

Republicans
Trump 684,239 (98.41%), write-ins 11,036 (1.59%).  Total: 695,275.



General Election Winners in Washington, 1992-2016
1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Clinton
43.40%
Clinton
49.84%
Gore
50.15%
Kerry
52.82%
Obama
57.65%
Obama
56.16%
Clinton
54.30%
  and the details...

General Election -- Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Voting Eligible Population*: 5,123,524.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 64.7%.


Washington has vote by mail.

Voter Registration Deadline:
Oct. 10, 2016 - mail or online.
Oct. 31, 2016 - in person.

Voting Starts: Oct. 21, 2016 -
"Start of 18-day voting period (through Election Day).
Official Results >

 
+Clinton/Kaine (Dem.)
1,742,718
(54.30)
Trump/Pence (Rep.)
1,221,747
(38.07)
Kennedy/Hart (SWP)
4,307
(0.13)
La Riva/Puryear (PSL)
3,523
(0.11)
Stein/Baraka (Grn.)
58,417
(1.82)
Castle/Bradley (Const.)
17,623
(0.55)
Johnson/Weld (Lib.)
160,879
(5.01)
Total........3,209,214*

*does not include write-ins
total ballots counted 3,363,440



Overview: As in 2012 the major party principals made few visits to Washington State, focusing on fundraisers in the Seattle area.  The outcome was fairly consistent with recent presidential races, as the Clinton-Kaine ticket obtained a plurality of 520,971 votes (16.23 percentage points).  Clinton carried 12 counties to 27 for Trump.
    While the presidential election in Washington state drew little attention, the post-election was not so quiet.  When the state's 12 electors gathered at the state capitol in Olympia on Dec. 19, eight cast their votes for Clinton but four "faithless electors" declined to support the Democratic nominee.  Three voted for former Sec. of State Colin Powell and one voted for Faith Spotted Eagle; they are subject to a fine of up to $1,000 (see Chiafalo et al. v. Inslee et al. [PDF]).
BALLOT [PDF]

[SOS]  |  Clinton  |  Trump
 
General Election -- Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voting Eligible Population*: 4,877,969.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 64.1%.


Washington has had vote by mail since 2005; a handful of counties adopted it before then, others waited until 2006, 2007 or 2008, and Pierce County (Tacoma area) still has not fully adopted it.

Voter Registration Deadline: October 8, 2012; new WA State voter registration (in person) October 29.
Voting Starts: October 19, 2012 -
"Start of 18-day voting period (through Election Day). Ballots are mailed out and Accessible Voting Units (AVUs) are available at voting centers."
Official Results >

 
+Obama/Biden (Dem.)
1,755,396
(56.16)
Romney/Ryan (Rep.)
1,290,670
(41.29)
Johnson/Gray (Lib.)
42,202
(1.35)
Goode/Clymer (Const.)
8,851
(0.28)
Stein/Honkala (Grn.) 20,928
(0.67)
Lindsay/Osorio (PSL)
1,318
(0.04)
Harris/Kennedy (SWP)
1,205
(0.04)
Anderson/Rodriguez (Just.)
4,946
(0.16)
Total........3,125,516

Total ballots counted 3,172,939.
2012 Overview
The Obama/Biden ticket won Washington State with a plurality of 464,726 votes (14.87 percentage points), carrying 16 counties to 23 for Romney/Ryan.  Romney carried all of the Eastern counties as well as Lewis and Wahkiakum.  Obama's plurality in King County (Seattle area) was 392,304 votes.  The major party principals made a few visits to Washington State mostly for fundraisers in the Seattle area.
Obama  |  (Romney)
BALLOT [PDF]

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting Eligible Population*: 4,535,438.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 67.0%.



"Most voters are choosing to vote by mail this election. Of the 39 counties, 37 are using vote-by-mail exclusively. King and Pierce also offer poll-site voting on November 4, but most of their voters are voting by mail." -SoS


Registration: Mail-in or online deadline is Oct. 4, 2008; in-person deadline, at county elections office, is Oct. 20.

Absentee: Request as early as 90 days before the election.  "You will receive your absentee or mail-in ballot approximately 14 days prior to the election."
Official Results >


+Obama/Biden (Dem.)
1,750,848
(57.65)
McCain/Palin (Rep.)
1,229,216 (40.48)
Nader/Gonzalez (Indep.)
29,489
(0.97)
La Riva/Puryear (S&L)
705
(0.02)
Harris/Kennedy (SWP)
641
(0.02)
Barr/Root (Lib.) 12,728
(0.42)
Baldwin/Castle (Const.)
9,432
(0.31)
McKinney/Clemente (Grn.)
3,819
(0.13)
Total........ 3,036,878

2008 Overview
The Obama-Biden ticket amassed a plurality of 521,632 votes (17.17 percentage points), carrying 20 counties to 19 for McCain.  There were few candidate visits.  The presidential race in Washington tightened for a time after the Republican National Convention, but for most of the Fall the governor's race was the center of attention.
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  Nader



General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Voting Eligible Population*: 4,272,914.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 66.9%.


Total Registration: 3,508,208.

2,884,783 total votes were cast; of these 1,974,606, or 68.4%, were absentee ballots.


Official Results >


+Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
1,510,201 (52.82)
Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 1,304,894 (45.64)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 11,955 (0.42)
Parker/Gutierrez (WWP) 1,077 (0.04)
Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.) 2,974 (0.10)
Harris/Trowe (SWP)
547
(0.02)
Van Auken/Lawrence (SEP)
231
(0.01)
Nader/Camejo (I)
23,283
(0.81)
Total........2,855,162  
2004 Overview
The presidential race in Washington was not closely contested, and the state saw few visits by the candidates.  Kerry improved upon Gore's showing, gaining a plurality of 205,307 votes (7.18 percentage points).  Kerry carried 12 counties to 27 for Bush.
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population*: 4,098,044.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 60.7%.

Total Registration: 3,335,714. 

2,517,028 total votes were cast; of these 1,364,607, or 54.2%, were absentee ballots. 

Official Results


+Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
 1,247,652
(50.15)
Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
 1,108,864
(44.57)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
 13,135
(0.52)
McReynolds/Hollis (Soc.)
 660
(0.02)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
 103,002
(4.14)
Moorehead/La Riva(WWP)
 1,729
(0.07)
Phillips/Frazier (Const.)
1,989
 (0.08)
Buchanan-Foster (FDM)
7,171
(0.28)
Harris-Trowe (SWP)
304
(0.01)
Hagelin-Goldhaber (NLP)
2,927
(0.11)
Total........2,487,433

2000 Overview
Washington had gone Democratic for the past three elections, but the Nader factor created a degree of uncertainty. The Bush campaign invested significant resources; Gore-Lieberman nonetheless ended up winning the state with a plurality of 138,788 votes (5.58 percentage points).  Gore carried 11 counties to 28 for Bush.  Washington was the scene of one of the most closely fought U.S. Senate races as Maria Cantwell (D) defeated incumbent Slade Gorton (R) with a plurality of just 2,229 votes (0.09 percentage points).  Voters also faced seven ballot measures. 
General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections





Archive Pages:
2016 | 2012 | 2008 | 2004 | 2000
1992
Clinton (Dem.)........993,037 (43.40)
Bush (Rep.)...........731,234 (31.96)
Perot (Ind.)............541,780
 (23.68)
Others (8+w/ins).......22,177
(0.97)
Total........2,288,228


1996
Clinton (Dem.).....1,123,323 (49.84)
Dole (Rep.)............840,712 (37.30)
Perot (Ref.)............201,003
 (8.92)
Nader (Ind.).............60,322
(2.68)
Others (6)................28,477
(1.26)
Total........2,253,837