United States Senate election in Washington (August 7, 2018 top-two primary)

Elections in Washington, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 8 (mail or online), or Oct. 29 (in-person)
• Early voting: N/A
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: No
• Voter ID: N/A (Washington conducts all elections by mail)
• Poll times: N/A

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On the ballot: U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State House • Supreme court • Appellate courts • Local judges • State ballot measures • Local ballot measures • Municipal • Recalls • Primaries in Washington, 2018

2022 → ← 2016
U.S. Senate, Washington
Top-two primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: May 18, 2018
Primary: August 7, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent: Maria Cantwell (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: No polling hours (vote-by-mail) Voting in Washington
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic Inside Elections: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
See also
U.S. Senate, Washington U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th Washington elections, 2018 U.S. Congress elections, 2018 U.S. Senate elections, 2018 U.S. House elections, 2018 Arizona U.S. Senate raceCalifornia U.S. Senate raceConnecticut U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceFlorida U.S. Senate raceHawaii U.S. Senate raceIndiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMaryland U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate race (special)Mississippi U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate race (special)Missouri U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNevada U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNew York U.S. Senate raceNorth Dakota U.S. Senate raceOhio U.S. Senate racePennsylvania U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceUtah U.S. Senate raceVermont U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWashington U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWisconsin U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

A top-two primary election took place on August 7, 2018, in Washington to determine which two candidates would earn the right to compete in the state's November 6, 2018, general election.

Washington utilizes a top-two primary system, which allows all candidates to run and all voters to vote but only moves the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, to the general election.

This page focuses on the top-two primary. For an overview of the election in general, click here.

Three-term incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell (D) won her last re-election bid by 21 points. She was the only senatorial candidate in Washington, from any party, who reported raising money through the third quarter of 2017, with $3.7 million in contributions.

See also: United States Senate top-two primaries, 2018

Candidates and election results

See also: Statistics on U.S. Congress candidates, 2018

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. Senate Washington on August 7, 2018.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. Senate Washington

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Maria Cantwell (D)	54.7	929,961
✔		Susan Hutchison (R)	24.3	413,317
		Keith Swank (R)	2.3	39,818
		Joseph Gibson (R)	2.3	38,676
		Clint Tannehill (D)	2.1	35,770
	Submit photo	David R. Bryant (R)	2.0	33,962
		Arthur Coday Jr. (R)	1.8	30,654
		Jennifer Ferguson (Independent)	1.5	25,224
	Submit photo	Tim Owen (R)	1.4	23,167
		Matt Hawkins (R)	0.8	13,324
		Don Rivers (D)	0.7	12,634
		Mike Luke (L)	0.7	12,302
	Submit photo	Glen Stockwell (R)	0.7	11,611
		Thor Amundson (Independent)	0.6	9,393
		Mohammad Said (D)	0.5	8,649
		Matthew Heines (R)	0.5	7,737
		Steve Hoffman (Freedom Socialist Party)	0.4	7,390
		GoodSpaceGuy (R)	0.4	7,057
		John Orlinski (R)	0.4	6,905
	Submit photo	David Lee Strider (Independent)	0.4	6,821
		Roque De La Fuente (R)	0.3	5,724
		James Robert Deal (G)	0.2	3,849
	Submit photo	Sam Wright (The Human Rights Party)	0.2	3,761
		Brad Chase (FDFR Party)	0.2	2,655
	Submit photo	George Kalberer (D)	0.1	2,448
		Charlie Jackson (Independent)	0.1	2,411
	Submit photo	RC Smith (R)	0.1	2,238
		Jon Butler (Independent)	0.1	2,016
		Alex Tsimerman (Standup-America Party)	0.1	1,366

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,700,840
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Clay Johnson (Independent)

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Washington heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

• Following the 2016 elections, Democrats held both U.S. Senate seats in Washington.
• Democrats held six of 10 U.S. House seats in Washington.

State executives

• As of September 2018, Democrats held six of 8 state executive positions, Republicans held two, and the remaining positions were officially nonpartisan.
• The governor of Washington was Democrat Jay Inslee. The state held elections for governor and lieutenant governor on November 3, 2020.

State legislature

• Democrats controlled both chambers of the Washington State Legislature. They had a 50-48 majority in the state House and a 26-23 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

• Washington was a Democratic trifecta, meaning that the Democrats controlled the office of the governor, the state House, and the state Senate.

2018 elections

See also: Washington elections, 2018

Washington held elections for the following positions in 2018:

• One U.S. Senate seat
• 10 U.S. House seats
• 25 of 49 state Senate seats
• 98 state House seats
• Municipal elections in Seattle

Demographics

Demographic data for Washington
	Washington	U.S.
Total population:	7,160,290	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	66,456	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	77.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	3.6%	12.6%
Asian:	7.7%	5.1%
Native American:	1.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.6%	0.2%
Two or more:	5.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	12%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	90.4%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	32.9%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$61,062	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	14.4%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Washington. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, Washington's three largest cities were Seattle (pop. est. 724,745), Spokane (pop. est. 217,108), and Tacoma (pop. est. 213,418).

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Washington from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Washington Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Washington every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Washington 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Hillary Clinton	54.3%	Donald Trump	38.1%	16.2%
2012	Barack Obama	51.2%	Mitt Romney	41.2%	10.0%
2008	Barack Obama	57.6%	John McCain	40.5%	17.1%
2004	John Kerry	52.8%	George W. Bush	45.6%	7.2%
2000	Al Gore	50.2%	George W. Bush	44.6%	5.8%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Washington from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Washington 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Patty Murray	59.0%	Chris Vance	40.1%	18.9%
2012	Maria Cantwell	60.4%	Michael Baumgartner	39.5%	20.9%
2010	Patty Murray	52.4%	Dino Rossi	47.6%	4.8%
2006	Maria Cantwell	56.9%	Michael McGavick	39.9%	17.0%
2004	Patty Murray	55.0%	George R. Nethercutt, Jr.	44.7%	10.3%
2000	Maria Cantwell	48.7%	Slade Gorton	48.6%	0.1%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Washington.

Election results (Governor), Washington 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Jay Inslee	54.4%	Bill Bryant	45.6%	8.8%
2012	Jay Inslee	51.5%	Rob McKenna	48.6%	0.9%
2008	Christine Gregoire	53.2%	Dino Rossi	46.8%	6.4%
2004	Christine Gregoire	48.9%	Dino Rossi	48.9%	0.0%
2000	Gary Locke	58.4%	John Carlson	39.7%	7.1%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Washington in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Washington 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	4	40%	6	60%	D+2
2014	4	40%	6	60%	D+2
2012	4	44.4%	5	55.5%	D+1
2010	4	44.4%	5	55.5%	D+1
2008	3	33.3%	6	66.7%	D+2
2006	3	33.3%	6	66.7%	D+2
2004	3	33.3%	6	66.7%	D+2
2002	3	33.3%	6	66.7%	D+2
2000	3	33.3%	6	66.7%	D+2

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Washington Party Control: 1992-2024
Eighteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	S	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

See also

• United States Senate election in Washington, 2018
• United States Senate elections, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, 2018

Footnotes

[show]

Washington's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Maria Cantwell (D)

Patty Murray (D)

Representatives

District 1

Suzan DelBene (D)

District 2

Rick Larsen (D)

District 3

Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez (D)

District 4

Dan Newhouse (R)

District 5

Michael Baumgartner (R)

District 6

Emily Randall (D)

District 7

Pramila Jayapal (D)

District 8

Kim Schrier (D)

District 9

D. Adam Smith (D)

District 10

Marilyn Strickland (D)

Democratic Party (10)

Republican Party (2)

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