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WASHINGTON |
Nov. 3, 2020 Governor |
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Plurality: 545,177 votes (13.43 percentage points). WA
Sec. of State
Notes: Gov. Jay Inslee (D) won a third term, defeating Republic police chief Loren Culp (R) by more than half a million votes. Inslee (50.14%) and Culp (17.41%) finished atop the field of 36 candidates running in the Aug. 4 primary. Inslee was first elected governor in 2012 after serving many years in Congress and two terms in the State House. He announced his re-election bid on Aug. 22, 2019, the day after ending a short-lived campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination during which he emphasized the need to address climate change (+). Culp served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, worked in the building trades, started and ran his own construction business, and in 2010 became a police officer in Republic, a small town in Ferry Co. in eastern Washington. He gained notoriety for refusing to enforce the gun control initiative passed by voters in 2018. There was only one debate, organized by the Washington State Debate Coalition (founded by Seattle CityClub) and held on Oct. 7, 2020 at TVW, Washington's public affairs network, in Olympia (>). The four moderators were in one room and the candidates were alone in separate rooms, without notes, cellphones or computers. The debate included opening and closing statements. According to the National Institute on Money in Politics, the Inslee campaign raised contributions of $7,978,230 to $3,312,182 for the Culp campaign . Despite the wide margin for Inslee, Culp refused to concede, claiming election fraud. On Dec. 10 he filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Kim Wyman charging "many anomalous and otherwise illegal votes" had been cast and seeking an audit of the results in six counties. Culp dropped the lawsuit on Jan. 15, 2021. Campaign Managers: Jay Inslee: Molly Keenan (Oct. 2019) Director of operations on Jay Inslee for America, Mar.-Oct. 2019. District director for U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, Jan. 2017-Mar. 2019. Deputy campaign manager (Jan.-Dec. 2016) and political director (June-Dec. 2015) on Jay Inslee for Washington. Director of Boards & Commissions in the Office of Gov. Jay Inslee, Feb. 2013-May 2015. Deputy fundraising director on Jay Inslee for Washington, Mar.-Dec. 2012. Deputy state finance director on Montanans for Tester, Jan. 2011-Mar. 2012. Fundraising associate on People for Patty Murray, June-Nov. 2010. Marketing director for SmartPlug Systems, June 2008-Nov. 2009. Staff assistant in the U.S. Senate, Feb.-Dec. 2007. B.B.A. and B.S. in finance and political science from University of Portland, 2006. Loren Culp: Christopher Gergen Founder (2015) and principal at Dark Horse Political. Oregon political director for the Trump campaign in 2016. Republican nominee for Oregon House in District 12 in 2014. A managing advisor in the financial services sector. Served in the U.S. Navy from 2001-06. |
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