The 2024 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2024. The top-two primary was held on August 6. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jay Inslee was eligible to seek re-election to a fourth term but decided that he would not do so. The Democratic nominee, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, defeated the Republican nominee, former Congressman Dave Reichert, who conceded defeat on November 19. Ferguson defeated Reichert with 55.51% of the vote in the general election. He also became the first Democrat to win Clallam County since 2000.
This election marked the 11th consecutive election victory of the Democratic candidate for governor of Washington. Washington has not had a Republican governor since John Spellman left office in 1985, the longest streak of Democratic 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 Wollman left office in 1979) and Utah (which has not had a Democratic governor since Scott Matheson left office nine days prior to Spellman in 1985).
Primary election
Washington is one of two states that holds a top-two primary, meaning that all candidates are listed on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation, and the top two advance to the general election.
The filing deadline was May 10, 2024. On that day, two candidates named Bob Ferguson entered the race at the behest of a conservative activist who sought people with the same surname as Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who was considered the Democratic frontrunner. The two new candidates—a retired state employee and a U.S. Army veteran—resigned from the race on May 13, the deadline to withdraw, after questions about the legality of their campaigns arose. Washington's state statutes prohibit a new candidate with the same surname as an already-filed candidate from running with the intent to confuse or mislead voters.
Democratic candidates
Advanced to general
- Bob Ferguson, Washington Attorney General
Eliminated in primary
- Ricky Anthony, retiree
- Edward Cale IV, postal worker
- Fred Grant, communications professional
- Cassondra Hanson, retail worker
- Chaytan Inman, artificial intelligence engineer
- EL'ona Kearney, forgiveness coach
- Mark Mullet, state senator
- Don Rivers, retired King County Metro worker and perennial candidate
Withdrawn
- Bob Arthur Ferguson, former state employee
- Bob Benjamin Ferguson, veteran
- Hilary Franz, Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands (ran for U.S. House)
Declined
- Dow Constantine, King County Executive
- Denny Heck, Lieutenant Governor of Washington and former U.S. representative from Washington's 10th congressional district (ran for re-election)
- Jay Inslee, incumbent governor and candidate for President of the United States in 2020 (endorsed Ferguson)
Republican candidates
Advanced to general
- Dave Reichert, former U.S. representative for Washington's 8th congressional district (2005–2019)
Eliminated in primary
- Semi Bird, former P.C.O. and chair for the Benton County Republican Party (2022–2024) and former Richland school board member (2021–2023)
- A.L. Brown
- Jim Daniel, former Klickitat Hospital Board commissioner
- Bill Hirt, retired aircraft engineer and perennial candidate
- Jennifer Hoover, pastor
- Martin Wheeler, farmer and candidate for governor in 2020
Withdrawn
- Raul Garcia, physician and candidate for governor in 2020 (endorsed Reichert, ran for U.S. Senate)
Declined
- Bruce Dammeier, Pierce County Executive (2017–present) and former state senator (2013–2017) (endorsed Reichert)
- Jaime Herrera Beutler, former U.S. representative for Washington's 3rd congressional district (2011–2023) (ran for Public Lands Commissioner)
- Loren Culp, former Republic police chief, runner-up for governor in 2020, and candidate for Washington's 4th congressional district in 2022 (endorsed Bird)
- Drew MacEwen, state senator (ran for U.S. House, endorsed Reichert)
- J.T. Wilcox, state representative and former Minority Leader of the Washington House of Representatives
Third-party and independent candidates
Eliminated in primary
- Brian Bogen (Independent), businessman
- Jim Clark (Independent), computer programmer
- William Combs (Independent), U.S. Navy veteran
- Jeff Curry (Independent), school bus driver
- Frank Dare (Independent), retiree
- Michael DePaula (Libertarian), enterprise engineer
- Leon Lawson (Trump Republican), used car dealer, proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory, candidate for governor in 2020, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022
- Alan Makayev (Nonsense Busters), property manager
- Rosetta Marshall-Williams (Independence)
- Brad Mjelde (Independent), retired businessman
- Andre Stackhouse (Green), nonprofit executive
- Alex Tsimerman (Standup-America), business consultant and perennial candidate
Endorsements
Polling
Results
General election
Predictions
Fundraising
Debates
Polling
Aggregate polls
Results
By county
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Clallam (largest city: Port Angeles)
By congressional district
Ferguson won six of 10 congressional districts, with the remaining four going to Reichert, including two that elected Democrats.
Notes
Partisan clients
References
External links
- Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Washington", Voting & Elections Toolkits
- "Washington: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
- "League of Women Voters of Washington". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
- Washington at Ballotpedia
Official campaign websites
- Bob Ferguson (D) for Governor
- Dave Reichert (R) for Governor
