Washington's 6th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Washington District 6

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Derek Kilmer (D)	63.9	206,409
		Douglas Dightman (R)	36.1	116,677

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 323,086
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

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

---

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

2020 → ← 2016
Washington's 6th Congressional District
Top-two primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: May 18, 2018
Primary: August 7, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent: Derek Kilmer (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
Washington's 6th Congressional District 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 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 6th Congressional District of Washington, held elections in 2018.

Heading into the election the incumbent was Derek Kilmer (D), who was first elected in 2012.

Washington's 6th Congressional District is located in the western portion of the state and includes Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, and Kitsap counties and portions of Mason and Pierce counties.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Washington District 6

Incumbent Derek Kilmer defeated Douglas Dightman in the general election for U.S. House Washington District 6 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Derek Kilmer (D)	63.9	206,409
		Douglas Dightman (R)	36.1	116,677

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 323,086
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House Washington District 6

Incumbent Derek Kilmer and Douglas Dightman defeated Tyler Myles Vega in the primary for U.S. House Washington District 6 on August 7, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Derek Kilmer (D)	63.5	117,848
✔		Douglas Dightman (R)	32.7	60,651
		Tyler Myles Vega (Progressive Party)	3.8	7,080

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 185,579
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mike Coverdale (Independent)

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+6, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 6 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Washington's 6th Congressional District the 161st most Democratic nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.05. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.05 points toward that party.

Race background

Washington's 6th District was listed as one of the NRCC's initial targets in 2018.

Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Derek Kilmer	Democratic Party	$2,350,190	$1,359,240	$2,995,183	As of December 31, 2018
Douglas Dightman	Republican Party	$46,610	$42,423	$4,187	As of October 17, 2018
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

District history

2016

See also: Washington's 6th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Derek Kilmer (D) defeated Todd Bloom (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Kilmer and Bloom defeated Paul Nuchims (D), Stephan Andrew Brodhead (R), Tyler Myles Vega (G), and Mike Coverdale (I) in the top-two primary on August 2, 2016.

U.S. House, Washington District 6 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Derek Kilmer Incumbent	61.5%	201,718
	Republican	Todd Bloom	38.5%	126,116
Total Votes				327,834
Source: Washington Secretary of State

U.S. House, Washington District 6 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Derek Kilmer Incumbent	58.4%	87,311
	Republican	Todd Bloom	24.5%	36,659
	Republican	Stephan Andrew Brodhead	8.2%	12,269
	Independent	Mike Coverdale	4.8%	7,223
	Democratic	Paul Nuchims	2.2%	3,318
	Green	Tyler Myles Vega	1.9%	2,803
Total Votes				149,583
Source: Washington Secretary of State

2014

See also: Washington's 6th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 6th Congressional District of Washington held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Derek Kilmer (D) defeted Marty McClendon (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Washington District 6 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Derek Kilmer Incumbent	63%	141,265
	Republican	Marty McClendon	37%	83,025
Total Votes				224,290
Source: Washington Secretary of State

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Five of 39 Washington counties—12.8 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Obama margin of victory in 2012	Obama margin of victory in 2008
Clallam County, Washington	2.76%	0.38%	3.30%
Cowlitz County, Washington	13.32%	4.44%	11.15%
Grays Harbor County, Washington	6.99%	14.11%	14.56%
Mason County, Washington	5.81%	7.09%	8.66%
Pacific County, Washington	6.74%	11.52%	14.07%

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Washington with 52.5 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 36.8 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Washington cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 73.3 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Washington supported Democratic candidates for president more often than Republican candidates, 53.3 to 43.3 percent. The state favored Democrats in every election between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Washington. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 34 out of 49 state House districts in Washington with an average margin of victory of 25.4 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 30 out of 49 state House districts in Washington with an average margin of victory of 32.1 points.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 15 out of 49 state House districts in Washington with an average margin of victory of 13.9 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 19 out of 49 state House districts in Washington with an average margin of victory of 14.9 points.

2016 presidential results by state House district
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin
1	59.66%	37.93%	D+21.7	61.73%	30.36%	D+31.4
2	47.71%	49.88%	R+2.2	37.79%	53.05%	R+15.3
3	57.66%	38.63%	D+19	51.82%	38.12%	D+13.7
4	40.00%	57.37%	R+17.4	34.91%	56.36%	R+21.4
5	53.41%	44.29%	D+9.1	54.74%	37.12%	D+17.6
6	46.76%	50.72%	R+4	44.72%	46.75%	R+2
7	36.16%	61.01%	R+24.9	29.00%	63.45%	R+34.5
8	36.10%	61.49%	R+25.4	34.54%	57.03%	R+22.5
9	37.70%	59.71%	R+22	35.13%	56.40%	R+21.3
10	50.21%	47.38%	D+2.8	46.94%	45.07%	D+1.9
11	67.51%	30.27%	D+37.2	67.74%	25.40%	D+42.3
12	39.91%	57.67%	R+17.8	37.34%	55.97%	R+18.6
13	35.70%	61.75%	R+26	31.04%	61.91%	R+30.9
14	42.63%	54.97%	R+12.3	38.98%	54.23%	R+15.2
15	45.75%	52.31%	R+6.6	42.51%	51.74%	R+9.2
16	38.20%	59.21%	R+21	36.00%	56.67%	R+20.7
17	48.28%	49.36%	R+1.1	45.51%	46.88%	R+1.4
18	43.85%	54.12%	R+10.3	42.36%	50.56%	R+8.2
19	53.59%	43.66%	D+9.9	41.57%	50.52%	R+8.9
20	40.98%	56.26%	R+15.3	30.96%	61.41%	R+30.4
21	61.52%	36.25%	D+25.3	62.27%	30.19%	D+32.1
22	63.17%	33.68%	D+29.5	60.67%	30.15%	D+30.5
23	57.91%	39.72%	D+18.2	56.69%	34.37%	D+22.3
24	54.21%	42.81%	D+11.4	48.95%	43.35%	D+5.6
25	50.87%	46.92%	D+4	45.23%	46.56%	R+1.3
26	49.33%	48.06%	D+1.3	45.36%	45.35%	D+0
27	67.29%	30.00%	D+37.3	65.15%	26.43%	D+38.7
28	54.44%	43.37%	D+11.1	52.61%	38.96%	D+13.7
29	62.55%	34.97%	D+27.6	54.47%	36.76%	D+17.7
30	58.70%	39.18%	D+19.5	56.77%	35.96%	D+20.8
31	47.88%	49.93%	R+2.1	41.61%	50.16%	R+8.5
32	70.64%	26.92%	D+43.7	71.67%	21.56%	D+50.1
33	65.65%	32.25%	D+33.4	64.85%	28.57%	D+36.3
34	77.41%	20.25%	D+57.2	79.30%	14.85%	D+64.4
35	51.47%	45.95%	D+5.5	44.25%	46.59%	R+2.3
36	81.82%	15.34%	D+66.5	85.25%	9.15%	D+76.1
37	86.30%	11.18%	D+75.1	87.06%	8.13%	D+78.9
38	59.99%	37.08%	D+22.9	53.38%	37.81%	D+15.6
39	49.44%	47.52%	D+1.9	40.00%	50.75%	R+10.7
40	62.09%	34.70%	D+27.4	62.61%	29.29%	D+33.3
41	60.00%	38.22%	D+21.8	67.76%	26.09%	D+41.7
42	49.67%	47.37%	D+2.3	47.57%	44.43%	D+3.1
43	85.99%	10.63%	D+75.4	88.74%	5.96%	D+82.8
44	54.08%	43.61%	D+10.5	50.96%	40.24%	D+10.7
45	58.18%	39.63%	D+18.6	64.80%	28.03%	D+36.8
46	78.25%	19.15%	D+59.1	81.92%	12.42%	D+69.5
47	55.53%	42.30%	D+13.2	54.37%	38.29%	D+16.1
48	61.67%	35.86%	D+25.8	68.17%	25.02%	D+43.2
49	57.30%	40.04%	D+17.3	54.21%	37.87%	D+16.3
Total	56.16%	41.29%	D+14.9	54.30%	38.07%	D+16.2
Source: Daily Kos

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

• Washington's 6th Congressional District election (August 7, 2018 top-two primary)
• United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2018

Footnotes

Ballotpedia

About

Overview • What people are saying • Support Ballotpedia • Contact • Contribute • Job opportunities

---

Executive: Leslie Graves, Founder and CEO • Gwen Beattie, Chief Operating Officer

Communications: Alison Graves, Director of Communications • Carley Allensworth • Abigail Campbell • Frank Festa • Sarah Groat • Nathaniel Harwood • Dillon Redmond • Erica Shumaker
External Relations: Geoff Pallay, Director of External Relations • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Ashley Fleming • Thomas Mardik • Hannah Nelson
Operations: Meghann Olshefski, Director of Operations • Amanda Herbert • Mandy Morris • Caroline Presnell • Kelly Rindfleisch
Tech: Matt Latourelle, Director of Technology Operations • Ryan Burch • Kirsten Corrao • Beth Dellea • Travis Eden • Tate Kamish • Margaret Kearney • Eric Lotto • Joseph Sanchez • Mary Susmitha

Contributors: Scott Rasmussen

---

Editorial Content

Josh Altic, Director of Content • Daniel Anderson, Associate Director of Elections & Data • Cory Eucalitto, Associate Director of Features • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor of Ballot Measures • Mandy McConnell, Managing Editor of News • Doug Kronaizl, Managing Editor of Local Expansion • Abbey Smith, Managing Editor of Elections • Janie Valentine, Managing Editor of Law • Joel Williams. Managing Editor of Events • Andrew Bahl • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Jon Dunn • Thomas Ellis • Nicole Fisher • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Jaime Healy-Plotkin • Brianna Hosea • Molly Kehoe • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Norm Leahy, Senior Editor • Nathan Maxwell • Jimmy McAllister • Brandon McCauley • Ellie Mikus • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Annelise Reinwald • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Emma Soukup • Alexis Thacker • Mina Vogel • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox

[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)