Washington gubernatorial election, 2016

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Washington Gubernatorial Election

Primary Date: August 2, 2016

General Election Date: November 8, 2016

November Election Winner: Jay Inslee (D)

Incumbent Prior to Election: Jay Inslee (D)

State Executive Elections Top Ballot Governor • Lt. Governor Secretary of State • Attorney General Down Ballot Auditor • Insurance Commissioner Natural Resources Commissioner Superintendent • Treasurer

Washington held an election for governor on November 8, 2016. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) won re-election to the office, defeating his Republican opponent, Bill Bryant.

HIGHLIGHTS

No Republican has won the governor's office in Washington since 1980.

Governor Jay Inslee (D) and Seattle Port Commissioner Bill Bryant (R) placed first and second respectively in the state's August 2 top-two primary election. The two competed in the November general election.

Overview

Washington voters have elected Democratic governors into office since 1984, but in the last three election cycles, the winning party won by a small margin. Additionally, Democratic Governor Jay Inslee's low approval ratings with voters put him in danger of losing the governor's seat. A 2015 poll found that 39 percent of respondents believed Inslee was doing an “excellent” or “good" job as governor. Another 2015 poll, however, found that he had a 9-point lead over Republican Bill Bryant in a hypothetical general election match-up.

Inslee and Bryant placed first and second against nine other candidates in the state's August 2 top-two primary election, in which the top two candidates advance to the general election. Heading into the November 8 election, Washington had a divided government: Democrats held the governorship and a one-seat majority in the state House; Republicans held a one-seat majority in the state Senate. Ballotpedia identified both chambers of the state legislature as battleground chambers in the 2016 elections, meaning that there was some possibility of an overall shift in partisan control in the state.

This race was rated Likely Democrat. Inslee won re-election on November 8, 2016.

Candidates and results

Candidates

Jay Inslee (D)
Governor of Washington since 2013

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Bill Bryant (R)
Seattle port commissioner since 2007

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Click [show] to view candidates who were defeated in the primary election

Prominent candidates Ballotpedia uses a varitety of standards to determine which candidates will feature prominently in a given race. James Robert Deal (D) Attorney Patrick O'Rourke (D) Utility worker Steve Rubenstein (Ind.) Consultant Other candidates David Blomstrom (Fifth Republic Party) - Writer, website designer Johnathan Dodds (D) - Entrepreneur Bill Hirt (R) Goodspaceguy (R) - Amateur economist, astronomer Christian Joubert (Holistic Party) Mary Martin (Socialist Workers Party)

Click [show] to view candidaes who declined to run in the primary election
Declined Dave Reichert (R) - U.S. congressman Andy Hill (R) - State representative Rob McKenna (R) - Former state attorney general Tanner Smith (Ind.) - Student

Results

General election

Incumbent Jay Inslee defeated Bill Bryant in the Washington governor election.

Washington Governor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jay Inslee Incumbent	54.24%	1,760,520
	Republican	Bill Bryant	45.49%	1,476,346
		Write-in votes	0.26%	8,416
Total Votes				3,245,282
Source: Washington Secretary of State

Primary election

Note: Washington utilizes a mail-in ballot system. Results were not finalized until 14 days after the primary election.

The following candidates ran in the Washington primary for governor.

Washington primary for governor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jay Inslee Incumbent	49.30%	687,412
	Republican	Bill Bryant	38.33%	534,519
	Republican	Bill Hirt	3.47%	48,382
	Democratic	Patrick O'Rourke	2.91%	40,572
	Independent	Steve Rubenstein	1.62%	22,582
	Democratic	James Robert Deal	1.05%	14,623
	Democratic	Johnathan Dodds	1.01%	14,152
	Republican	Goodspaceguy	0.95%	13,191
	Socialist Workers Party	Mary Martin	0.74%	10,374
	Fifth Republic Party	David Blomstrom	0.32%	4,512
	Holistic Party	Christian Joubert	0.29%	4,103
Total Votes				1,394,422
Source: Washington Secretary of State

About the primary

A primary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should appear on the general election ballot. Primaries usually take place several months before a general election. Washington utilizes a top-two primary, in which a single primary election is held for each office wherein all candidates running for that office, regardless of party affiliation, compete in the same election. The two candidates receiving the most votes move on to the general election; all voters may vote in the primary for any candidate. In this type of primary, it is possible for both candidates in the general election to belong to the same political party. The general election also mimics a runoff election in that the two candidates who compete already competed against each other in the primary election.

Washington's primary elections took place on August 2, 2016. The state utilizes a mail-in ballot system, and all ballots were required to be postmarked or left in a designated dropbox by 8 p.m. on election day. Ballots were mailed to registered voters 18 days prior to the election, and preliminary results were released at 8 p.m. on election day. While some races were called by the media on election day, official results were not certified by the Washington secretary of state until 14 days after the election, which, in 2016, was on August 16.

Party control

Washington Party Control: 1992-2024
Eighteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	S	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Prior to the election, the state of Washington had not seen a Republican governor since John Dennis Spellman, who held office from 1981 to 1985. In fact, no other state had experienced a longer period of one-party statehouse rule than Washington. The 2004, 2008, and 2012 gubernatorial elections were all close, although Democratic presidential candidates were able to win by big margins in the state at the same time.

Washington had a divided government entering the 2016 election. Democrats controlled the governorship and also held a two-seat majority in the state house. Republicans gained control of the state senate in the 2014 elections by a one-seat majority, which ended a seven-year Democratic trifecta. Ballotpedia identified both chambers of the state legislature as battleground chambers in the 2016 elections. Party control of state government had the potential to shift after the November elections, but did not. Democrats retained control of the governorship and the state house. Democrats also gained a one-seat majority in the state senate, but did not take control of the chamber due to a Democratic senator who decided to caucus with the Republicans. Republicans thereby maintained control of the state senate, which resulted in the continuation of the state's divided government.

Race tracking

Race Ratings: Governor of Washington
Race Tracker	Race Ratings
The Cook Political Report	Likely Democrat	Safe Democrat
Governing	Likely Democrat	Lean Democrat
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Likely Democrat	Safe Democrat
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Safe Democrat	Safe Democrat
Daily Kos Race Ratings	Likely Democrat	Likely Democrat
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every two weeks throughout the election season.

Polls

General election between Jay Inslee and Bill Bryant
Poll	Inslee	Bryant	Margin of error	Sample size
KOMO/Strategies 360 (September 29-October 3, 2016)	50%	40%	+/-4.4	500
Elway Poll (August 9-13, 2016)	48%	36%	+/-4.5	500
AVERAGES	49%	38%	+/-4.45	500
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected].

Click [show] to view polling information for the primary elections.

Hypothetical match-up, Jay Inslee (D) and Bill Bryant (R) Poll Inslee Bryant Undecided Margin of error Sample size The Elway Poll December 28 - December 30, 2015 39% 30% 31% +/-4.5 500 The Elway Poll April 14 - April 17, 2016 48% 36% 16% +/-4.5 503 AVERAGES 43.5% 33% 23.5% +/-4.5 501.5 Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected].

Endorsements

Key endorsements
Jay Inslee (D)	Bill Bryant (R)
Washington Conservation Voters	Associated General Contractors of Washington
Washington State Labor Council	National Electrical Contractors Association
AFL-CIO	Washington Farm Bureau
Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii	Washington Retail Association
League of Education Voters	U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert (R)
	U.S. Congressman Dan Newhouse (R)
	Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler (R)
What is a key endorsement?

Campaign finance

In the state of Washington's candidate registration form, candidates who choose to raise more than $5,000 of funds from others for their campaigns must use the "full reporting" system, which requires frequent, detailed campaign reports but not the traditional quarterly reports. The figures below represent the amounts raised and spent by Jay Inslee (D) and Bill Bryant (R) as of October 28, 2016.

Campaign media

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!

Democrats

James Robert Deal (D)
Jay Inslee (D)
Johnathan Dodds (D)
Patrick O'Rourke (D)

Republicans

Bill Bryant (R)
Goodspaceguy (R)

David Blomstrom (Fifth Republic Party)
Steve Rubenstein (Ind.)

Know of a candidate's campaign site not listed? Tell us!

Campaign advertisements

Bill Bryant

BillBryantForGovernor, "Broken Bureaucracies," January 20, 2016

BillBryantForGovernor, "Education," January 25, 2016

BillBryantForGovernor, "Jobs," January 25, 2016

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Washington state Governor election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Washington gubernatorial election, 2016 - Google News

Past elections

2012

Christine Gregoire (D) did not run for re-election in 2012. Jay Inslee (D) narrowly defeated Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna in the general election on November 6, 2012.

Governor of Washington General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jay Inslee	51.4%	1,582,802
	Republican	Rob McKenna	48.3%	1,488,245
	Other	Write-in votes	0.3%	8,592
Total Votes				3,079,639
Election results via Washington Secretary of State

To view the electoral history dating back to 2000 for the office of Governor of Washington, click [show] to expand the section.

2008 On November 4, 2008, Christine Gregoire won re-election to the office of Governor of Washington. She defeated Dino Rossi in the general election. Governor of Washington, 2008 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Christine Gregoire Incumbent 53.2% 1,598,738      Republican Dino Rossi 46.8% 1,404,124 Total Votes 3,002,862 Election results via Washington Secretary of State. 2004 On November 2, 2004, Christine Gregoire won election to the office of Governor of Washington. She defeated Dino Rossi, Ruth Bennett in the general election. Governor of Washington, 2004 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Christine Gregoire 48.9% 1,373,361      Republican Dino Rossi 48.9% 1,373,228      Libertarian Ruth Bennett 2.3% 63,464 Total Votes 2,810,053 Election results via Washington Secretary of State. 2000 On November 7, 2000, Gary Locke won re-election to the office of Governor of Washington. He defeated John Carlson, Steve W. LePage in the general election. Governor of Washington, 2000 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Gary Locke Incumbent 58.4% 1,441,973      Republican John Carlson 39.7% 980,060      Libertarian Steve W. LePage 1.9% 47,819 Total Votes 2,469,852 Election results via Washington Secretary of State.

About the office

Key election dates

Filing deadline: May 20, 2016

Primary date: August 2, 2016

Filing deadline (write-ins): October 21, 2016

General election date: November 8, 2016

Recount request deadline: TBD

Inauguration: TBD

Governor

Main article: Governor of Washington

The governor of the state of Washington is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the executive branch, and the highest state office in Washington. The governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and has no term limit. The 23rd and current governor is Jay Inslee, a Democrat elected in 2012. He succeeded Christine Gregoire (D) on January 16, 2013.

See also: Washington State Legislature, Washington House of Representatives, Washington State Senate

Incumbent

When Governor Christine Gregoire (D) announced that she would not be seeking a third term in 2012, then-Congressman Jay Inslee (D) quickly emerged as a front-runner to succeed her in the state's top office. Inslee and Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna squared off in the general election on November 6. It was a very tight vote, but McKenna decided to concede the race after it was clear he would not be able to catch up to Inslee. The final tally was 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent, in favor of Inslee.

State profile

Demographic data for Washington
	Washington	U.S.
Total population:	7,160,290	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	66,456	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	77.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	3.6%	12.6%
Asian:	7.7%	5.1%
Native American:	1.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.6%	0.2%
Two or more:	5.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	12%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	90.4%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	32.9%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$61,062	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	14.4%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Washington. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Washington

Washington voted for the Democratic candidate in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Washington, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Washington had four Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 2.21 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Washington coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Washington
• United States congressional delegations from Washington
• Public policy in Washington
• Endorsers in Washington
• Washington fact checks
• More...

See also

Washington government:

• Washington state executive offices
• Washington State Legislature
• Washington courts

Previous elections:

• State executive official elections, 2015
• State executive official elections, 2014

Ballotpedia exclusives:

• State executives compensation
• State of the state addresses
• Who runs the states?

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Governor of Washington