The 2016 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016. Under Washington's

top-two primary A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party ...

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 Jay Robert Inslee (; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician, lawyer, and economist who has served as the 23rd governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Represent ...

(Democratic) and Port of Seattle Commissioner Bill Bryant (Republican), moved on to the November general election, which Inslee won. , this was the last gubernatorial election in Washington in which the margin of victory was within single digits.

Background

Democratic governor

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and ag ...

declined to seek a third term in 2012. Democratic former U.S. Representative

was elected to succeed her, defeating Republican

Rob McKenna Robert Marion McKenna (born October 1, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17th attorney general of Washington from 2005 to 2013 after serving on the Metropolitan King County Council from 1996 to 2005. A member of the Re ...

, the outgoing

Attorney General of Washington The Attorney General of Washington is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of Washington and head of the Washington State Office of the Attorney General. The attorney general represents clients of the state and defends the public interest i ...

, by 51.4% to 48.3%. The last Republican to hold the office of governor was

John Spellman John Dennis Spellman (December 29, 1926 – January 16, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 18th governor of Washington from 1981 to 1985 and as the first King County Executive from 1969 to 1981. Spellman was elected governor in ...

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.

Primary election

Democratic Party

Declared

* James Robert Deal * Johnathan Dodds *

, incumbent governor * Patrick O'Rourke

Republican Party

Declared

* Bill Bryant, former Seattle Port Commissioner *

Goodspaceguy Michael George Goodspaceguy Nelson (born Michael George Nelson) is an American perennial candidate from Washington state. Early life and education Born Michael George Nelson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Goodspaceguy received a B.A. from the Unive ...

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

* Bill Hirt

Declined

* Andy Hill, state senator *

Steve Litzow Stephen Robert Litzow (born 1961) is an American politician who served as a member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 41st district from 2010 to 2017. A liberal Republican, his district includes the affluent Seattle suburbs of B ...

, state senator (running for reelection) *

, former

and nominee for governor in 2012 *

Dave Reichert David George Reichert (; born August 29, 1950) is an American politician, veteran, and former sheriff who served as the U.S. representative for Washington's 8th congressional district from 2005 to 2019. He is a Republican and is the former ele ...

, U.S. Representative for

Washington's 8th congressional district Washington's 8th congressional district is a district for the United States House of Representatives located in western Washington State. It includes the eastern portions of King and Pierce counties, and crosses the Cascade mountains to include ...

(running for reelection)

Third Party and independent candidates

Declared

* David Blomstrom (Fifth Republic) * Christian Joubert (Holistic) * Mary Martin ( Socialist Workers) * Steve Rubenstein (Independent)

Declined

Randy Dorn Randolph I. Dorn (born September 10, 1953) is an American educator and politician who served as the 14th Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a member ...

, State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Polling

Results

General election

Debates

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

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

;Aggregate polls ;Jay Inslee vs. Andy Hill ;Jay Inslee vs. Rob McKenna ;Jay Inslee vs. Dave Reichert ;Jay Inslee vs. generic Republican ;Jay Inslee vs. generic opponent ;Generic Democrat vs. generic Republican

Results

Results by county

= Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

= *

Grays Harbor Grays Harbor is an estuarine bay located north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state, in the United States of America. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels flood ...

(largest city:

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

) *

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

(largest city:

Raymond Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

)

= Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

= *

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

(largest city: Oak Harbor) * Kitsap (largest city:

Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...

) *

Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, We ...

(largest city: Tacoma)

By congressional district

Inslee won 6 of 10 congressional districts.

Notes

References

External links

;Official campaign websites (Archived)
David Blomstrom (FR) for GovernorPatrick O'Rourke (D) for GovernorJay Inslee (D) for GovernorBill Bryant (R) for GovernorJames Robert Deal (D) for Governor
{{Washington elections

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jay Inslee

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...