2016 Washington gubernatorial election

The 2016 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Governor of Washington, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

2016 Washington gubernatorial election

November 8, 2016

Nominee Jay Inslee Bill Bryant Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,760,520 1,476,346 Percentage 54.39% 45.61%

County results Inslee:      50–60%      60–70% Bryant:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election Jay Inslee Democratic Elected Governor Jay Inslee Democratic

Under Washington's nonpartisan blanket primary law, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the August 2 primary, residents voted for one of several candidates from a range of party affiliations. The top two finishers, incumbent governor Jay Inslee (Democratic)[1] and Port of Seattle Commissioner Bill Bryant (Republican), moved on to the November general election, which Inslee won.

Background

Democratic governor Christine Gregoire declined to seek a third term in 2012. Democratic former U.S. Representative Jay Inslee was elected to succeed her, defeating Republican Rob McKenna, the outgoing Attorney General of Washington, by 51.5% to 48.5%. The last Republican to hold the office of governor was John Spellman in 1985, meaning that Washington has the second longest period (South Dakota has not had a Democratic governor since 1979) of one-party statehouse rule in America.[2]

Primary election

Declared

• James Robert Deal[3]
• Johnathan Dodds[3]
• Jay Inslee, incumbent governor
• Patrick O'Rourke[3]

Declared

• Bill Bryant, former Seattle Port Commissioner[4]
• Goodspaceguy, perennial candidate[3]
• Bill Hirt[3]

Declined

• Andy Hill, state senator[5]
• Steve Litzow, state senator[5]
• Rob McKenna, former attorney general of Washington and nominee for governor in 2012[6][7]
• Dave Reichert, U.S. Representative (running for re-election)[8]

Declared

• David Blomstrom (Fifth Republic)[3]
• Christian Joubert (Holistic)[3]
• Mary Martin (Socialist Workers)[3]
• Steve Rubenstein (Independent)

Declined

• Randy Dorn, State Superintendent of Public Instruction[9]

Results

Blanket primary election results[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jay Inslee (incumbent)	687,412	49.30
	Republican	Bill Bryant	534,519	38.33
	Republican	Bill Hirt	48,382	3.47
	Democratic	Patrick O'Rourke	40,572	2.91
	Independent	Steve Rubenstein	22,582	1.62
	Democratic	James Robert Deal	14,623	1.05
	Democratic	Johnathan Dodds	14,152	1.01
	Republican	Goodspaceguy	13,191	0.95
	Socialist Workers	Mary Martin	10,374	0.74
	Independent	David Blomstrom	4,512	0.32
	Independent	Christian Joubert	4,103	0.29
Total votes			1,394,422	100

General election

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 19, 2016 - C-SPAN

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[11]	Safe D	November 3, 2016
Daily Kos[12]	Likely D	October 14, 2016
Rothenberg Political Report[13]	Safe D	November 3, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball[14]	Safe D	November 7, 2016
Real Clear Politics[15]	Lean D	November 1, 2016
Governing[16]	Likely D	October 27, 2016

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jay Inslee (D)	Bill Bryant (R)	Undecided
Insights West	November 4–6, 2016	402	± 4.9%	49%	40%	10%
SurveyUSA	October 31 – November 2, 2016	667	± 3.9%	50%	43%	6%
Elway Poll	October 20–22, 2016	502	± 4.5%	51%	39%	10%
KCTS 9/YouGov	October 6–13, 2016	750	± 4.4%	51%	45%	4%
Strategies 360/KOMO News	September 29 – October 3, 2016	500	± 4.4%	50%	40%	8%
Elway Poll	August 9–13, 2016	500	± 4.5%	48%	36%	16%
Moore Information	May 16–18, 2016	500	± 4.0%	43%	36%	18%
Elway Poll	April 14–17, 2016	503	± 3.5%	48%	36%	16%
Elway Poll	December 28–30, 2015	500	± 4.5%	39%	30%	31%
Public Policy Polling	May 14–17, 2015	879	± 3.3%	46%	34%	21%

Results

2016 Washington gubernatorial election[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jay Inslee (incumbent)	1,760,520	54.39%	+2.85%
	Republican	Bill Bryant	1,476,346	45.61%	-2.85%
Total votes			3,236,866	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

Counties that swung from Democratic to Republican

• Grays Harbor (largest city: Aberdeen)
• Pacific (largest city: Raymond)

Counties that swung from Republican to Democratic

• Island (largest city: Oak Harbor)
• Kitsap (largest city: Bremerton)
• Pierce (largest city: Tacoma)

By congressional district

Islee won 6 of 10 congressional districts with the remaining 4 going to Bryant.[18]

District	Bryant	Inslee	Representative
1st	49%	51%	Suzan DelBene
2nd	43%	57%	Rick Larsen
3rd	55%	45%	Jaime Herrera Beutler
4th	60%	40%	Dan Newhouse
5th	56%	44%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th	46%	54%	Derek Kilmer
7th	22%	78%	Jim McDermott
			Pramila Jayapal
8th	54%	46%	Dave Reichert
9th	33%	67%	Adam Smith
10th	47%	53%	Denny Heck

References

1. "Stockpiling for 2016? Gov. Inslee stages quiet 2014 fundraiser". Seattle Pi. October 26, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
2. Connelly, Joel (September 29, 2014). "What 2014 elections say about 2016 governor's race". Seattle Pi. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
3. Camden, Jim (May 23, 2016). "Final list of candidates in the August primary". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
4. Brunner, Jim (May 14, 2015). "Port Commissioner Bill Bryant announces run for governor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
5. O'Sullivan, Joseph (September 11, 2015). "Hill, Litzow won't challenge Inslee in 2016". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
6. Rosenthal, Brian (February 19, 2013). "Former AG McKenna joins lawfirm". Yakima Herald. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
7. Cornfield, Jerry (June 6, 2013). "If not McKenna, others could challenge Inslee in 2016". HeraldNet. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
8. Brunner, Jim (October 16, 2015). "Dave Reichert decides: He won't run against Jay Inslee for governor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
9. Douglas, C.R. (March 9, 2016). "State schools chief Randy Dorn close to a third-party run for governor". Q13 Fox. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
10. "August 2, 2016 Primary Results - Governor". Washington Secretary of State. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
11. "2016 Governor Race ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
12. "Elections 2015-16". Daily Kos. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
13. "Gubernatorial Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
14. "Our Final 2016 picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
15. "2016 Election Maps - 2016 Governor Races". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
16. "2016 Governors Races Ratings & News". Governing Magazine. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
17. "November 8, 2016 General Election Results". Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
18. Results (PDF). wei.sos.wa.gov (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-06-30.

External links

Official campaign websites (Archived)

• David Blomstrom (FR) for Governor
• Patrick O'Rourke (D) for Governor
• Jay Inslee (D) for Governor
• Bill Bryant (R) for Governor
• James Robert Deal (D) for Governor