Washington

WASHINGTON

11 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Washington Secretary of State)

Total Population, July 1, 2008 est.	6,549,224
Total Registration, Nov. 2008	3,629,901

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; up for re-election in 2008.
State Legislature: Washington State Legislature House: 98 seats Senate: 49 seats
Local: Cities and Towns, Counties... NACO Counties
U.S. House: 6D, 3R - 1. J.Inslee (D) | 2. R.Larsen (D) | 3. B.Baird (D) | 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 2006, Patty Murray (D) re-elected in 2004.

2008
update
Governor: In a rematch of 2004's closely fought campaign, Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) defeated businessman and former State Sen. Dino Rossi (R) by 53.24% to 46.76%.
U.S. House: Another rematch occurred in the 8th CD (Bellevue), where Rep. Dave Reichert (R) won a third term by again defeating Darcy Burner (D), this time by a margin of 52.78% to 47.22%. The U.S. House delegation remains at 6D, 3R. MORE

The Evergreen State

State of Washington
Secretary of State

Constitution Party of WA
Libertarian Party of WA
Green Party of WA State
WA State Democratic Party
WA State Republican Party

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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TV, Radio

Politics1-WA

blogs
Sound Politics
Horse's Ass
OrbusMax

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

[Primary Election: Aug. 19, 2008]

Precinct Caucuses -- Saturday, February 9, 2008
Presidential Primary - Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Registration, Feb. 19, 2008: 3,311,503.

Washington State's 2008 Presidential Primary
Secretary of State FAQ:
"The Republican Party used the results of the primary to allocate all of the Washington delegates in 1992, half of its delegates in 1996, and one third of its delegates in 2000. The State Republican Party has decided that it will use the 2008 Presidential Primary to allocate 51% of its delegates. The remaining 49% of the delegates will be allocated based on caucus results.
"The Democratic Party has never used the results of the primary to allocate delegates. The State Democratic Party has decided to only use caucuses to allocate delegates in 2008."
releases

Democrats
97 Delegates (78 Pledged, 19 Unpledged) and 13 Alternates.
2.40% of the 4,047 Delegate Votes. 2.29% of the 4,234 Delegate Votes.

Clinton | Obama
former
Edwards - SEIU Washington State Council was one of ten state councils to endorse Edwards on Oct. 15, 2007.
Richardson - Endorsed by Margarita Prentice, State Senator, Chair of Ways & Means Committee.
Unofficial Sites: Obama | Richardson | Feingold

Feb. 9, 2008 Precinct Caucus Results [All 78 Pledged Delegates]
According to the Washington State Democrats, 243,000 Democrats attended precinct caucuses in 600 locations electing 33,409 delegates.

Delegate Equivalents:

-Breakdown by Congressional District:

CD1, Clinton: 2, Obama: 4, Total: 6
CD2, Clinton: 2, Obama: 4, Total: 6
CD3, Clinton: 2, Obama: 3, Total: 5
CD4, Clinton: 1, Obama: 2, Total: 3
CD5, Clinton: 2, Obama: 3, Total: 5
CD6, Clinton: 2, Obama: 4, Total: 6
CD7, Clinton: 2, Obama: 7, Total: 9
CD8, Clinton: 2, Obama: 4, Total: 6
CD9, Clinton: 2, Obama: 3, Total: 5

Total, Clinton: 17, Obama: 34, Total: 51

-Extrapolating same formula to apply to the statewide result adds:

Obama: 18, Clinton: 9

-Total breakdown of the 78 pledged delegates:

Obama: 52, Clinton: 26.

[Primary: Biden 1,883 (0.27%), Clinton 315,744 (45.67%), Dodd 618 (0.09%), Edwards 11,892 (1.72%), Gravel 1,071 (0.15%), Kucinich 4,021 (0.58%), Obama 354,112 (51.22%), Richardson 2,040 (0.30%)...Total 691,381]

Republicans
40 Delegates (3 RNC; 10 at-large; 27 by CD (3 x 9 CDs) and 37 alternates.
1.68% of the 2,380 Delegates.
Huckabee | McCain | Paul
former
Giuliani - Endorsed by U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (WA-8) (June 15, 2007). ...Chair
Romney
Feb. 9, 2008 Precinct Caucus Results [49% of Delegates]
99.99% of precincts reporting:
Sen. McCain 25.3% of the delegates, Gov. Huckabee 23.2%, Congressman Paul 21.5%, Gov. Romney 15.5%, Uncommitted 13.5%, Other 1.1%.
Releases: WA GOP, Huckabee
Feb. 19, 2008 Primary Results [51% of Delegates]

Rudy Giuliani	5,145	0.97%
Mike Huckabee	127,657	24.09%
Duncan Hunter	1,056	0.20%
Alan Keyes	2,226	0.42%
+John McCain	262,304	49.50%
Ron Paul	40,539	7.65%
Mitt Romney	86,140	16.25%
Fred Thompson	4,865	0.92%
Total	529,932

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

[State Primary: September 14, 2004]

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

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