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2008 Washington gubernatorial election
none
none
Field
Value
election_name
2008 Washington gubernatorial election
country
Washington
type
presidential
ongoing
no
previous_election
2004 Washington gubernatorial election
previous_year
2004
next_election
2012 Washington gubernatorial election
next_year
2012
election_date
November 4, 2008
image1
File:ChristineGregoireOfficial (cropped).jpg
image_size
150x150px
candidate1
**Christine Gregoire**
party1
Democratic Party (United States)
popular_vote1
**1,598,738**
percentage1
**53.24%**
image2
File:Dino Rossi (cropped).jpg
candidate2
Dino Rossi
party2
Republican Party (United States)
popular_vote2
1,404,124
percentage2
46.76%
map_image
{{switcher
[[File:2008 Washington gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
275px]]
County results
[[File:2008 Washington gubernatorial election results map by congressional district.svg
275px]]
Congressional district results
map_caption
**Gregoire**:
**Rossi**:
**Tie**:
title
Governor
before_election
Christine Gregoire
before_party
Democratic Party (United States)
after_election
Christine Gregoire
after_party
Democratic Party (United States)
|[[File:2008 WA Gov by precinct.svg|275px]] |Precinct results}}
Rossi: Tie:
The 2008 gubernatorial election in Washington was held on November 4, 2008. Republican Dino Rossi and incumbent Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire emerged from the August 19 primary. This made the 2008 election a rematch between the candidates from the 2004 election, the closest gubernatorial election in the state's history. In contrast to the recounts and months of legal challenges in their previous contest, Gregoire was the clear winner on November 5 with about 53% of the vote. With a margin of 6.48%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2008 gubernatorial election cycle, behind only the election in North Carolina.
The Washington primary election was held August 19, 2008. For the first time, Washington ran a top-two primary, eliminating the "pick a party" primary used since 2004. Unlike traditional primaries, wherein each party with more than one candidate is reduced to a single person to appear on the general election ballot, the system simply reduces the entire crop of candidates from all parties down to the top two candidates, resulting in no more than two candidates appearing on the general election ballot for a given position. As a result, candidates from all parties were essentially running against each other. To allow for ideological identification, each candidate in a partisan race was allowed to indicate an arbitrary party preference.
Controversy over Rossi's party preference
Under the changes to election law made by the passage of Initiative 872, partisan contests are no longer tied to registered parties, but candidates are allowed to indicate an arbitrary "party preference" to appear next to their name on the primary and general election ballots. An extreme example of this occurred in the 40th District race for state senator, where candidate Timothy Stoddard indicated a preference for the "Salmon Yoga" party.
Republican candidate Dino Rossi listed his party preference as "G.O.P." instead of the traditional party name "Republican". Critics of Rossi contended that the choice of party name was an attempt to distance himself from any negative opinions associated with the Republican Party. Rossi's campaign argued that the difference was insignificant, saying voters are already aware that the terms refer to the same party. However, an Elway Research poll taken in August 2008 found that over 25% of registered voters were not aware that the term "GOP" meant the Republican Party.
On September 23, the Washington State Democrats, alleging that the latter is a misrepresentation of his true party affiliation, filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State to force the state to list Rossi to on the general election ballot as a Republican instead of with the "GOP Party" label. A King County Superior Court judge dismissed the suit, saying nothing in state law made the choice of party name illegal, but he acknowledged the potential confusion. Had the lawsuit succeeded, many counties would have had to reprint their ballots, and the already-cast absentee votes of military personnel may have become invalid.
Results
While the primary was officially held on August 19, 2008, some counties such as King County allowed absentee ballots to be postmarked by that date in order to be valid. As a result, the primary vote tally was not officially certified until September 9, to allow time for mailed-in ballots to arrive and be counted by the counties. As an increasing number of counties allowed, encouraged, or mandated mail-in ballots for voters within the county, the number of such ballots was significant.
County results
]]|County results|
Congressional district results
]]|Congressional district results}}
General election
Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi were declared the winners of the primary and placed on the ballot for the November 4 election, which coincided with the national election. However, with all Washington counties either exclusively or (in the case of Pierce and King counties) predominantly voting via mail-in ballot, many votes were cast prior to that date. King County, the largest county in the state, and the one which carried Gregoire to victory in 2004, sent out overseas absentee ballots on October 5, and resident mail-in ballots on October 17.
In Washington state, mail-in ballots only needed to be postmarked, not received, by November 4, meaning that valid ballots continued to be received and counted after that date. For the 2008 election, counties had until November 26 to send results to the state, and the Secretary of State had until December 4 to certify all state results.
Predictions
Source
Ranking
As of
The Cook Political Report
October 16, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report
November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball
November 3, 2008
Real Clear Politics
November 4, 2008
Endorsements
Newspapers
The Seattle Times
Polling
Aggregate polls
Source of poll
aggregation
Dates
administered
Dates
updated
Christine
Gregoire (D)
Dino
Rossi (R)
Other/Undecided
Margin
Real Clear Politics
October 22 – November 2, 2008
November 2, 2008
**50.7%**
47.3%
2.0%
**Gregoire +3.4%**
Poll source
Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Christine
Gregoire (D)
Dino
Rossi (R)
Undecided
Survey USA
October 30-November 2, 2008
–
–
**52%**
46%
2%
Survey USA
October 26–27, 2008
–
–
**50%**
48%
2%
Rasmussen Reports
October 22, 2008
–
–
**50%**
48%
2%
Survey USA
October 12–13, 2008
–
–
**48%**
47%
5%
Rasmussen Reports
October 2, 2008
–
–
**48%**
**48%**
4%
Survey USA
September 21–22, 2008
–
–
**50%**
48%
2%
Strategic Vision
September 14–16, 2008
800
± 3.0%
46%
**48%**
6%
Rasmussen Reports
September 10, 2008
–
–
46%
**52%**
2%
Survey USA
September 5–7, 2008
–
–
47%
**48%**
5%
SurveyUSA
August 11–12, 2008
718
± 3.7%
**50%**
48%
2%
Rasmussen Reports
August 6, 2008
–
–
**47%**
43%
10%
Strategic Vision
July 25–27, 2008
800
± 3.0%
**47%**
45%
8%
SurveyUSA
July 13–15, 2008
666
± 3.9%
**49%**
46%
5%
Moore Information
July 9–10, 2008
400
± 5.0%
**45%**
**45%**
11%
Rasmussen Reports
July 9, 2008
–
–
**49%**
43%
8%
Elway Poll
June 18–22, 2008
405
± 5.0%
**47%**
39%
14%
Rasmussen Reports
June 9, 2008
–
–
**50%**
43%
7%
SurveyUSA
June 9, 2008
637
± 4.0%
**50%**
47%
3%
Rasmussen Reports
May 12, 2008
–
–
**52%**
41%
7%
Elway Poll
April 21–22, 2008
405
± 5.0%
**43%**
38%
19%
SurveyUSA
April 14–16, 2008
634
± 4.0%
**50%**
46%
4%
SurveyUSA
April 7, 2008
607
± 4.1%
**48%**
47%
5%
Rasmussen Reports
March 27, 2008
–
–
**47%**
46%
7%
Rasmussen Reports
February 28, 2008
–
–
46%
**47%**
7%
Washington Poll
February 7–18, 2008
300
± 5.6%
**54%**
42%
4%
Elway Poll
January 3–6, 2008
405
–
**48%**
35%
17%
Washington Poll
October 22–29, 2007
601
± 4.0%
**47%**
42%
11%
Strategic Vision
October 5–7, 2007
800
± 3.0%
**47%**
45%
8%
Strategic Vision
March 24–26, 2006
800
± 3.0%
38%
**51%**
11%
Police Guild press conference incident
At an August 7 press conference held by the Seattle Police Officers Guild to declare its endorsement of Rossi, the Guild forcibly removed Kelly Akers, a Gregoire campaign staffer who was filming the event, from the premises. The Rossi campaign reiterated a standing policy to prevent opposing campaigns from filming Rossi's appearances, to deny them the ability to take "attack footage." Rossi's campaign staff includes a cameraman tasked with filming Gregoire appearances.
Debates
Five debates were held
between Gregoire and Rossi, the candidates in the general election.
Date
Time
Location
Sponsors
2008-09-20
9:00 PM
Fisher Plaza (Seattle)
Fisher Communications, League of Women Voters, *Seattle Post-Intelligencer*
2008-09-25
7:30 PM
Semiahmoo Resort (Blaine)
Association of Washington Business [Complete video of debate](https://www.c-span.org/video/?281487-1/washington-gubernatorial-debate) - C-SPAN
2008-10-01
7:00 PM
Capitol Theatre (Yakima)
KCTS 9, *Yakima Herald-Republic*
2008-10-09
7:00 PM*
KSPS-TV Studios (Spokane)
KSPS-TV, *Spokane Spokesman-Review*
2008-10-15
8:00 PM
TBD
KING-TV, *Seattle Times*, NPR
*The Spokane debate was taped in the morning to be aired at the indicated time. All other debates were held and aired live.
The Gregoire campaign had sought a sixth debate in Tacoma, sponsored by the Tacoma News-Tribune. The Rossi campaign instead sought a sixth debate in Vancouver, Washington, sponsored by The Columbian. The local Camas-Washougal Rotary Club went so far as to reserve a venue for October 8. The campaigns could not agree on either event.
The Gregoire campaign had set aside August 15 for a pre-primary radio debate with Rossi on Seattle NPR station KUOW-FM. Rossi declined to appear, giving Gregoire solo airtime.
Results
Gregoire declared victory after late evening returns were posted, with 42% of the statewide vote counted, showing her with a 52% lead over Rossi. By 10:30 PM PST (1:30 AM EST) all five major television networks had called the race for Gregoire. The Rossi campaign called the networks' declarations "premature" and did not concede defeat that evening. Rossi held out hope that late ballots would carry him, as late returns had reversed an early Gregoire lead in 2004. Rossi conceded the next morning.
Rossi conceded defeat in the gubernatorial election on November 5. In his concession speech, he indicated that he was not planning a return to politics. Rossi's retirement from politics was short-lived: in 2010 he ran in (and lost) the race for United States Senate against Patty Murray.
By county
County
Christine Gregoire
Democratic
Dino Rossi
Republican
Margin
Total votes cast
#
%
#
%
#
%
Totals
1,598,738
53.24%
1,404,124
46.76%
194,614
6.48%
3,002,862
Adams
1,453
30.17%
3,363
69.83%
-1,910
-39.66%
4,816
Asotin
4,254
43.92%
5,432
56.08%
-1,178
-12.16%
9,686
Benton
21,968
30.26%
50,635
69.74%
-28,667
-39.48%
72,603
Chelan
12,087
37.99%
19,730
62.01%
-7,643
-24.02%
31,817
Clallam
18,987
49.42%
19,431
50.58%
-444
-1.16%
38,418
Clark
87,683
48.99%
91,301
51.01%
-3,618
-2.02%
178,984
Columbia
706
31.48%
1,537
68.52%
-831
-37.05%
2,243
Cowlitz
20,723
46.38%
23,954
53.62%
-3,231
-7.23%
44,677
Douglas
5,128
33.87%
10,013
66.13%
-4,885
-32.26%
15,141
Ferry
1,330
38.33%
2,140
61.67%
-810
-23.34%
3,470
Franklin
6,365
32.41%
13,276
67.59%
-6,911
-35.19%
19,641
Garfield
434
32.01%
922
67.99%
-488
-35.99%
1,356
Grant
8,732
31.94%
18,604
68.06%
-9,872
-36.11%
27,336
Grays Harbor
15,729
53.98%
13,407
46.02%
2,322
7.97%
29,136
Island
20,891
50.24%
20,688
49.76%
203
0.49%
41,579
Jefferson
12,588
63.61%
7,200
36.39%
5,388
27.23%
19,788
King
583,357
64.16%
325,820
35.84%
257,537
28.33%
909,177
Kitsap
62,478
50.74%
60,656
49.26%
1,822
1.48%
123,134
Kittitas
6,988
39.44%
10,732
60.56%
-3,744
-21.13%
17,720
Klickitat
4,538
45.42%
5,454
54.58%
-916
-9.17%
9,992
Lewis
12,283
35.47%
22,347
64.53%
-10,064
-29.06%
34,630
Lincoln
2,052
34.66%
3,868
65.34%
-1,816
-30.68%
5,920
Mason
13,942
49.58%
14,181
50.42%
-239
-0.85%
28,123
Okanogan
6,575
39.27%
10,168
60.73%
-3,593
-21.46%
16,743
Pacific
5,695
52.28%
5,198
47.72%
497
4.56%
10,893
Pend Oreille
2,571
39.66%
3,912
60.34%
-1,341
-20.68%
6,483
Pierce
166,562
51.10%
159,363
48.90%
7,199
2.21%
325,925
San Juan
7,044
67.73%
3,356
32.27%
3,688
35.46%
10,400
Skagit
27,915
50.33%
27,545
49.67%
370
0.67%
55,460
Skamania
2,564
47.68%
2,813
52.32%
-249
-4.63%
5,377
Snohomish
167,175
52.67%
150,205
47.33%
16,970
5.35%
317,380
Spokane
104,369
48.11%
112,570
51.89%
-8,201
-3.78%
216,939
Stevens
7,771
35.02%
14,418
64.98%
-6,647
-29.96%
22,189
Thurston
72,652
57.88%
52,880
42.12%
19,772
15.75%
125,532
Wahkiakum
960
41.92%
1,330
58.08%
-370
-16.16%
2,290
Walla Walla
9,405
38.32%
15,137
61.68%
-5,732
-23.36%
24,542
Whatcom
54,249
54.67%
44,975
45.33%
9,274
9.35%
99,224
Whitman
8,363
48.46%
8,896
51.54%
-533
-3.09%
17,259
Yakima
30,172
39.27%
46,667
60.73%
-16,495
-21.47%
76,839
;Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Island (largest city: Oak Harbor)
Kitsap (largest city: Bremerton)
Pierce (largest city: Tacoma)
Skagit (largest city: Mount Vernon)
Snohomish (largest city: Everett)
;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Cowlitz (largest city: Longview)
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{{col-begin}}
DemocraticRepublican
By congressional district
Gregoire won five of nine congressional districts, with the remaining four going to Rossi, including one that elected a Democrat.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080918182010/http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/osos/en/candidatefiling/Pages/Candidateswhohavefiled.aspx?officecodes=3001 Secretary of State]
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