2020 Washington gubernatorial election

The 2020 Washington gubernatorial election will be held on November 3, 2020, to elect the governor of Washington, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The top-two primary is scheduled for August 4.

2020 Washington gubernatorial election

November 3, 2020

Incumbent Governor

Jay Inslee
Democratic


Washington does not have gubernatorial term limits; incumbent Democratic Governor Jay Inslee is eligible to run for a third term.[1] Inslee initially launched a campaign for President of the United States in the 2020 election. When he dropped out of that race in August 2019, he announced he would seek a third term.[2] Several other Democratic political figures considered entering the race if Inslee did not run, but no Democrats have challenged him.[3] Jay Inslee is the first governor to seek a third term since 1972.

Background

Washington has not had a Republican governor since John Spellman left office in 1985, the longest streak of Democratic-party leadership of any state in the country and the third longest streak of one-party leadership after South Dakota, which has not had a Democratic governor since Harvey L. Wollman left office in 1979, and Utah, which has not had a Democratic governor since Scott M. Matheson left office nine days prior to Spellman in 1985.[4][5][6] Incumbent Governor Jay Inslee, who previously served in the U.S. House, was first elected to the governorship in the 2012 election and won reelection in 2016.

When Inslee announced his candidacy for President, several political figures expressed interest in running for Governor if Inslee won the Democratic primaries. These included Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz and King County executive Dow Constantine.[7] They stated they would only run if Inslee was not, avoiding a primary challenge.[8][9] So far, Jay Inslee is the sole major Democratic candidate.

Several Republican politicians have announced their own campaigns to challenge Inslee, including businessman Anton Sakharov, Republic police chief Loren Culp, and state senator Phil Fortunato.[10][11]

Democratic candidates

Declared

Declined

Republican candidates

Declared

Declined

Other candidates

Green Party

Declared

Independents

Declared

  • Cregan Newhouse, City of Seattle Consumer Protection Division acting manager and former public television director[28]

Withdrew

  • Asa Palagi, Army officer and businessman[29][30]

General election

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[31] Safe D April 3, 2020
Inside Elections[32] Safe D April 23, 2020
Sabato[33] Safe D January 16, 2020
Politico[34] Safe D April 19, 2020

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Jay
Inslee (D)
Tim
Eyman (R)
Loren
Culp (R)
Phil
Fotunato (R)
Joshua
Freed (R)
Anton
Sakharov (R)
Raul
Garcia (R)
Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSA/KING 5 News May 16-19, 2020 650 (A) ± 5.6% 50% 8% 4% 6% 6% 1% 2% 23%
SurveyUSA/KING 5 News January 26–28, 2020 1,103 (RV) ± 3.9% 39% 11% 5% 4% 4% 3% - 34%
Crosscut/Elway December 26–29, 2019 405 (RV) ± 5% 46% 7% (listed as Independent) 4% 4% 5% - - 34%
Among Democrats
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Jay
Inslee (D)
Tim
Eyman (R)
Loren
Culp (R)
Phil
Fotunato (R)
Joshua
Freed (R)
Anton
Sakharov (R)
Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSA/KING 5 News Poll January 26–28, 2020 452 (RV) 73% 4% 1% 0% 0% 0% 22%
Among Republican voters
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Jay
Inslee (D)
Tim
Eyman (R)
Loren
Culp (R)
Phil
Fotunato (R)
Joshua
Freed (R)
Anton
Sakharov (R)
Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSA/KING 5 News Poll January 26–28, 2020 287 (RV) 4% 11% 13% 11% 11% 6% 44%
Among independent voters
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Jay
Inslee (D)
Tim
Eyman (R)
Loren
Culp (R)
Phil
Fotunato (R)
Joshua
Freed (R)
Anton
Sakharov (R)
Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSA/KING 5 News Poll January 26–28, 2020 298 (RV) 27% 22% 5% 4% 2% 2% 37%
Hypothetical polling
with Bryant, Constantine and Ferguson
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Bill
Bryant (R)
Bob
Ferguson (D)
Dow
Constantine (D)
Hillary
Franz (D)
Other /
Undecided
Chism Strategies March 8-10, 2019 400 (LV) ± 4.9% 46.3% 24.6% 6.2% 1.8% 21.1%

Head-to-head Polling

with Jay Inslee and Loren Culp
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Jay
Inslee (D)
Loren
Culp (R)
Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSA May 16–19, 2020 530 (LV) ± 5.4% 56% 31% 13%
with Jay Inslee and Phil Fortunato
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Jay
Inslee (D)
Phil
Fortunato (R)
Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSA May 16–19, 2020 530 (LV) ± 5.4% 56% 34% 10%
with Jay Inslee and Joshua Freed
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Jay
Inslee (D)
Joshua
Freed (R)
Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSA May 16–19, 2020 530 (LV) ± 5.4% 57% 30% 13%
with Jay Inslee and Tim Eyman
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Jay
Inslee (D)
Tim
Eyman (R)
Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSA May 16–19, 2020 530 (LV) ± 5.4% 60% 31% 9%

Results

Primary election

A top-two primary will take place on August 4. All candidates are listed on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation and the top two will advance to the general election in November.

2016 Washington gubernatorial election[35]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Jay Inslee (incumbent)
Democratic Omari Tahir Garrett
Democratic Don L. Rivers
Democratic Gene Hart
Socialist Workers Henry Clay Dennison
Republican Loren Culp
Republican Tim Eyman
Republican Phil Fortunato
Republican Joshua Freed
Republican Raul Garcia
Republican Nate Herzog
Republican Anton Sakharov
Green Liz Hallock
Independent Thor Amundson
Independent Cregan M. Newhouse
Independent Dylan B. Nails
Total votes 100.00%

Notes

  1. Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

References

  1. Merica, Dan (March 1, 2019). "Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announces 2020 presidential bid". Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  2. CNN, Dan Merica and Paul LeBlanc (August 22, 2019). "Washington Gov. Jay Inslee drops out of presidential race". CNN. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  3. Gutman, David (August 22, 2019). "With Inslee running again for governor, leading Washington state Democrats put their ambitions on hold". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  4. Wood, Benjamin (July 19, 2019). "achary Moses, a Democratic candidate for governor, wants to break up Republican control of Utah and build a space port". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  5. Scott, Dylan (November 7, 2018). "Kristi Noem elected first woman governor of South Dakota". Vox. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  6. Camden, Jim (January 16, 2018). "John Spellman, Washington's last Republican governor, dies". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  7. "King County Executive Dow Constantine not ruling out run for governor". KING 5 News. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  8. Axelrod, Tal (August 22, 2019). "Inslee to announce bid for third term as Washington governor: report". The Hill. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  9. Smay, Ian (August 22, 2019). "Bob Ferguson announces decision to run for another term as Washington Attorney General". KING 5 News. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  10. Robinson, Erin (July 26, 2019). "Republic police chief announces run for governor". KXLY. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  11. "GOP State Senator Phil Fortunato gears up for governor run". The Seattle Times. August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  12. @JayInslee (August 22, 2019). "That's why, today, I'm announcing my intention to run for a third term as Washington's governor. Join me" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  13. "King County Executive Dow Constantine not ruling out run for governor". KING. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  14. Gutman, David (August 22, 2019). "With Inslee running again for governor, leading Washington state Democrats put their ambitions on hold". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  15. Brunner, Jim (February 13, 2020). "Tim Eyman says he'll run for governor as Republican, not independent". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  16. Brunner, Jim (September 6, 2019). "Former Bothell Mayor Joshua Freed to run for governor, citing homelessness crisis". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  17. Garcia, Raul (May 15, 2020). "Raul Garcia for WA State Governor". Raul Garcia. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  18. Drew, James (May 15, 2020). "Heres who's running statewide in the Aug. 4 primary election (and in a hot congressional race)". The News Tribune. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  19. Brunner, Jim (September 1, 2019). "As Washington state Republicans struggle to field 2020 candidates, Reichert eyes run for governor". Seattle Times. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  20. Brunner, Jim (June 24, 2019). "Who will Washington's next governor be? Uncertainty over Inslee creates pileup of politicians, domino effects down ballot". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  21. "With Jay Inslee running for president, here's who might lead WA next". Crosscut.com. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  22. "As Governor Inslee eyes White House, who could take his place in 2020?". Q13 FOX News. March 1, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  23. Radio, iFiberone News. "2018 CANDIDATE CONVERSATION - DREW MacEWEN". iFIBER ONE News Radio. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  24. "Dori: Why I might just run for governor after all". Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  25. Connelly, Joel (September 3, 2019). "Former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert says he won't run for Washington governor -- yet again". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  26. "Liz Hallock – A New Deal for Washington". Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  27. Talamo, Lex (February 17, 2020). "Liz Hallock running for Washington governor as a Green Party candidate". Yakima Herald-Republic. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  28. https://www.cregannewhouse.com/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. "Asa Palagi, 2020".
  30. "Independent Candidate Asa Palagi Withdraws From Washington State's Gubernatorial Race and Slams Government Shutdowns - Press Release - Digital Journal". www.digitaljournal.com. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  31. "2020 Governor Race ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  32. "Gubernatorial Ratings | Inside Elections". Inside Elections. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  33. "Crystal Ball". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  34. "We rated every gubernatorial race in 2020. Here's who we think will win". Poltico. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  35. "November 8, 2016 General Election Results". Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved December 3, 2016.


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