United States presidential elections in Washington (state)

Presidential elections in Washington
Map of the United States with Washington highlighted
Map of the United States with Washington highlighted
Number of elections33
Voted Democratic18
Voted Republican14
Voted other1[a]
Voted for winning candidate23
Voted for losing candidate10

Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Since its admission to the Union in November 1889, the state has participated in 33 United States presidential elections.[1] It has had twelve electoral votes since 2012, when it gained a tenth congressional district during reappropriation based on the results of the 2010 U.S. census.[2][3] Washington has conducted its presidential elections through mail-in voting since 2012 for general elections and 2016 for party primaries.[4]

In the 1892 presidential election, incumbent president Benjamin Harrison received 41.45% of the popular vote in Washington and obtained the state's four electoral votes in his unsuccessful re-election campaign.[5] Washington generally favored the Republican Party in presidential elections until 1932, reflecting its state and congressional voting patterns.[6] The state was won by Progressive Party presidential nominee Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 election; Roosevelt, who had been a Republican during his presidency, remains the most only third party candidate to have won Washington's presidential election.[6][7]

From 1932 to 1948, Democratic candidates won Washington in landslide victories for the presidency and state offices as a result of the Great Depression and New Deal.[6][8] Washington was characterized as a swing state for the remainder of the 20th century and voted 21 times for the winning candidate from 1892 to 1996.[6][7] Since 1984, no Republican candidate has won a presidential election in Washington.[9] In 2009, American journalist Ron Brownstein referred to Washington and 17 other states collectively as the "blue wall" due to its strong preference for Democrats.[10][11]

Washington is typically thought of as politically divided by the Cascade Mountains, with Western Washington generally being liberal and Eastern Washington generally being conservative.[12] However, due to Democratic dominance in the Seattle metropolitan area, which has the majority of the state's population, Washington is generally labeled as a blue state.[13][14] The state adopted a single-ballot blanket primary system in 1936 to replace earlier party primaries; until 2020, these were non-binding and not used to determine delegates in national party conventions.[15][16]

Washington state has signed the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an interstate compact in which signatories award all of their electoral votes to the winner of the federal-level popular vote in a presidential election, even if there are other candidate won some of individual signatorys' popular vote. However, it has not yet gone into force as of 2023.[17]


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  1. ^ Oldham, Kit (March 1, 2022). "Washington is admitted as the 42nd state to the United States of America on November 11, 1889". HistoryLink. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "Road to the White House" (PDF). Secretary of State of Washington. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  3. ^ "Washington one of few Dem-leaning states to gain congressional seat". The Seattle Times. December 21, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  4. ^ Gutman, David (April 7, 2019). "Washington Democrats choose presidential primary for 2020, ditching precinct caucuses". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  5. ^ Guide to U.S. Elections 2010, p. 773.
  6. ^ a b c d Bone, Hugh A. (1985). Political Life in Washington: Governing the Evergreen State. Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press. pp. 8–9. ISBN 0-87422-018-1.
  7. ^ a b Postman, David (November 12, 2000). "Strong Gore vote hints Washington no longer has swing-state status". The Seattle Times. p. A1. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  8. ^ Phillips, Kevin (2015). The Emerging Republican Majority (STU - Student ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 485. ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6. JSTOR j.ctt9qh063. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  9. ^ Balk, Gene (May 17, 2021). "'Most important election of our lifetime' brought record voter turnout in Washington". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  10. ^ Brownstein, Ron (November 2, 2016). "Clinton's Campaign Is Focused on Battleground States She Doesn't Really Need". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  11. ^ Steinhauser, Paul (November 12, 2012). "Holding Democratic 'blue wall' was crucial for Obama victory". CNN. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  12. ^ Carlsen, Audrey (September 1, 2016). "Red state, blue state: Watch 40 years of political change in Washington". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  13. ^ Brown, Justin (December 8, 2022). "Exploring Washington State's East-West Divide". Battleground. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  14. ^ Webley, Kayla (January 15, 2013). "A State Divided: As Washington Becomes More Liberal, Republicans Push Back". Time.
  15. ^ Clayton, Cornell W.; Donovan, Todd; Lovrich, Nicholas P., eds. (2018). Governing the Evergreen State: Political Life in Washington. Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press. pp. 46–47, 54. ISBN 978-0-87422-355-2. OCLC 1015824451.
  16. ^ Gutman, David (April 7, 2019). "Washington Democrats choose presidential primary for 2020, ditching precinct caucuses". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  17. ^ "Status of National Popular Vote Bill in Each State". National Popular Vote Inc. November 11, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2023.