WASHINGTON 12 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Washington goes from 11 electoral votes to 12 as a result of reapportionment following the 2010 Census
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Washington Secretary of State)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2012 est.
6,897,012
Total Registration, Nov. 2012
3,904,959
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: Christine Gregoire (D) elected in 2004, re-elected in 2008, did not seek re-election in 2012.
State Legislature: Washington State Legislature  House: 98 seats  Senate: 49 seats
Local: Cities and Towns, Counties...  NACO Counties
U.S. House: 4D, 4R, Iv - 1. vacantJ.Inslee (D) | 2. R.Larsen (D) | 3. J.Herrera (R) | 4. D.Hastings (R) | 5. C.McMorris (R) | 6. N.Dicks (D) 7. J.McDermott (D) | 8. D.Reichert (R) | 9. A.Smith (D).
U.S. Senate: Maria Cantwell (D) re-elected in 2012, Patty Murray (D) re-elected in 2010.
2012
Governor: Former Rep. Jay Inslee (D) defeated Attorney General Rob McKenna (R) by 1,582,802 (51.54%) to 1,488,245 (48.46%).  The last Republican governor was John D. Spellman, elected in 1980.
U.S. Senate: In her bid for a third term, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D) defeated state Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R) by 60.45% to 39.55%.
U.S. House: In the 1st CD, a mostly rural district in NW Washington, Rep. Jay Inslee resigned in March to focus on his run for governor.  On Nov. 6 there was a special election to fill the remainder of his term as well as the regular general election.  Suzan DelBene (D), the former Microsoft executive who narrowly lost to Rep. Reichert in 2010 won both elections, defeating
Snohomish County Councilman
John Koster (R), a former state representative who challenged Inslee in 2010 and also ran in 2000.  In the 6th CD (Olympic Peninsula, Tacoma), opened by the retirement of Rep. Norm Dicks (D), State Sen. Derek Kilmer (D) defeated Bill Driscoll (R), a Marine Corps veteran who has worked in the forest products industry, by 59% to 41%.  In the new 10th CD, businessman and former House Majority Leader Denny Heck (D), who lost to Jaime Herrera (R) in the 3rd CD race in 2010, defeated Pierce County Councilmember Dick Muri (R), who lost to Adam Smith (D) in the 9th CD race in 2010, by 58.56% to 41.44%.  The delegation balance goes from 4D, 4R and 1v to  6D, 4R.
State Legislature:
All 98 House seats and 24 of 49 Senate seats were up.  Democrats kept control of both chambers; the House went from 56D, 42R to 55D, 43R and the Senate from 27D, 22R to 26D, 23R. 
Ballot Measures: Voters decided six ballot mea
sures.  They approved Initiative 1185, which would require two-thirds legislative majorities or voter approval for tax increases, by 63.91% to 36.09%; approved Initiative 1240 on creation of a public charter school system by 50.69% to 49.31%; approved R-74
to allow same sex marriage by 53.7% to 46.3%; and approved I-502 to license and regulate marijuana production, by 55.7% to 44.3%.

State of Washington
Secretary of State

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The Evergreen State
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.
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]
State Primary: August 7, 2012
Republican Precinct Caucuses -- Saturday, March 3, 2012
Democratic Precinct Caucuses -- Saturday, April 7, 2012
Democrats


Republicans
43 Delegates (3 RNC; 10 at-large; 30 by CD (3 x 9 CDs) and 40 alternates.
1.88% of the 2,286 Delegates.

March 3, 2012 Precinct Caucus Results  [non-binding]
6,785 of 6,785 precincts reporting: 
Newt Gingrich
5,221
10.28%
Ron Paul
12,594
24.81%
Mitt Romney
19,111
37.65%
Rick Santorum
12,089
23.81%
Others

3.44%
Total

(details)
Suspending the Presidential Preference Primary
Allthough almost 1.4 million people participated in the 2008 presidential primary, the Democratic Party did not use the primary as part of its presidential nominating process and the Republicans only partially used it to allocate delegates.  In 2004 it was cancelled.

Gov. Gregoire's proposed 2011-13 budget, released in mid-Dec. 2010, sought to suspend the state presidential primary, saving $10 million in general fund expenditures.  According to a supporting document (Government Efficiency), "Every four years, the state of Washington is required by law to conduct a presidential primary and reimburse counties for the state’s share of election costs for the primary.  While the next presidential primary is scheduled in 2012, the Secretary of State will introduce legislation to suspend it."  (Reed statement).  Legislation was introduced in January. 

Republicans argued, as summarized by legislative staff: "This bill is contrary to the will of the people expressed in an initiative. Without this primary, military and overseas, elderly, and working voters are disenfranchised because they can't participate in the caucuses. The Republicans always use this primary to choose at least a portion of their delegates. This primary is not a frill. People often do not participate in caucuses and this, the presidential preference primary, offers them a way to participate."

Secretary Reed argued, as summarized by legislative staff: "A broad cross-section of voters participate in the Presidential Preference Primary, which is preferable to the party caucus system, where fewer voters participate. However, the political parties are legally entitled to ignore the results of the presidential primary, so it becomes merely a beauty contest. Therefore, due to the state’s fiscal situation, the cost savings outweigh the benefits of holding the primary."

The Senate passed SB 5119 on April 6, 2011 by a vote of 34-15,  the House passed the measure
on April 19 by 69-28 and 1 excused, and Gov. Gregoire signed it on May 12.


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:
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