Washington election preview, 2024
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Last updated: Oct. 9, 2024
Thousands of general elections are taking place across the United States on Nov. 5, 2024. Those elections include offices at the federal, state, and local levels. This is one of 50 pages in which Ballotpedia previews the elections happening in each state as part of the Daily Brew’s 50 states in 25 days series.
This page provides an overview of all elections happening in Washington within our coverage scope on Nov. 5, 2024. Those elections include offices for one U.S. Senator, 10 U.S Representatives, nine state executives, and 123 state legislators. On this page, you will also find information regarding:
- How to vote in Washington
- The elected offices that Washington voters can expect to see on their ballots
- The races in Washington that Ballotpedia is covering as battlegrounds
- The ballot measures that voters in Washington will decide on
- Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
- The partisan balance of Washington's congressional delegation and state government
- Past presidential election results in Washington
- The competitiveness of legislative elections in Washington
- The candidates who are on the ballot in Washington
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Washington
What's on the ballot?
2024 elections
- See also: Washington elections, 2024
At the federal level, Washington voters will elect one U.S. Senator and 10 U.S. Representatives. Two U.S. House seats are open because the incumbent did not run for re-election.
Nine state executive offices are up for election: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, public lands commissioner, and insurance commissioner.
All 98 seats in the state House and 25 seats in the state Senate are up for election. There are 18 open seats in the House and eight in the Senate.
Three state Supreme Court seats are up for election. One seat is open because the incumbent will reach the mandatory retirement age and is not eligible for re-election. Washington is one of 13 states that use nonpartisan elections at the state supreme court level. Eight intermediate appellate court seats are also up for nonpartisan election.
A special municipal election will be held in Seattle for city council. King County for will hold elections for superior court judges and a special election for two district court judges.Spokane County will hold elections for county commission and superior court. Ballotpedia's coverage of municipal elections includes 82 cities and 80 counties.
Below is a list of Washington elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2024. Click the links to learn more about each type:
| Washington elections, 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office | Elections? | More information |
| U.S. Senate | ✓ | Click here |
| U.S. House | ✓ | Click here |
| Congress special election | — | — |
| Governor | ✓ | Click here |
| Other state executive | ✓ | Click here |
| State Senate | ✓ | Click here |
| State House | ✓ | Click here |
| Special state legislative | — | — |
| State Supreme Court | ✓ | Click here |
| Intermediate appellate courts | ✓ | Click here |
| School boards | — | — |
| Municipal government | ✓ | Click here |
| Recalls | — | — |
| Ballot measures | ✓ | Click here |
| Local ballot measures | ✓ | Click here |
Legend: ✓ election(s) / — no elections
Subject to Ballotpedia's scope
Your ballot
- See also: Sample Ballot Lookup
Noteworthy elections
As of October 9, Ballotpedia has identified four elections as battleground races. Those are the races that we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive or compelling.
- Washington gubernatorial election, 2024: Bob Ferguson (D) and Dave Reichert (R) are running
- Washington Treasurer election, 2024: Incumbent Mike Pellicciotti (D) and Sharon Hanek (R) are running.
- Washington's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024: Incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez (D) and Joe Kent (R) are running.
- Washington's 4th Congressional District election, 2024: Incumbent Dan Newhouse (R) and Jerrod Sessler (R) are running.
Ballot measures
- See also: Washington 2024 ballot measures
There are four statewide ballot measures on the ballot in Washington.
| Type | Title | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initiative 2066 | Prohibit state and local governments from restricting access to natural gas |
|
1,941,474 (52%) |
1,813,169 (48%) |
|
| Initiative 2109 | Repeal the capital gains excise tax imposed on long-term capital assets by individuals with capital gains over $250,000 |
|
1,364,510 (36%) |
2,437,419 (64%) |
|
| Initiative 2117 | Prohibit carbon tax credit trading and repeal provisions of the 2021 Washington Climate Commitment Act (CCA), a state law that provided for a cap and invest program designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 95% by 2050 |
|
1,437,103 (38%) |
2,340,077 (62%) |
|
| Initiative 2124 | Allow all employees and self-employed individuals to opt out of paying the tax and receiving benefits under WA Cares, the state's long-term services and supports trust health care program |
|
1,668,435 (45%) |
2,077,216 (55%) |
A total of 203 ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots in Washington between 1985 and 2023. One hundred seven ballot measures were approved, and 96 ballot measures were defeated.
State analysis
Partisan balance
There are eight Democrats and two Republicans in Washington's U.S. House delegation. In the U.S. House, Republicans have a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.
Both of Washington's U.S. Senators -- Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray are Democrats. Democrats have a majority in the U.S. Senate. There are 47 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and four independents. Three independents caucus with the Democratic Party, and one other counts towards the Democratic majority for committee purposes.
Democrats have a 28-20 majority in the state Senate with one vacancy and a 58-40 majority in the state House with no vacancies. Democrats have had a majority in the state Senate since 2017 and a majority in the state House since 2002.
Because the governor is a Democrat, Washington is one of 17 states with a Democratic trifecta. It has held this status since 2017. Washington's attorney general and secretary of state are also Democrats. This makes Washington one of 20 states with a Democratic triplex. It has held this status since 2021 when Steve Hobbs (D) was sworn in as secretary of state after Kim Wyman (R) resigned to take a job in the Biden Administration.
Past presidential election results in Washington
How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:
| County-level voting pattern categories | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | |||||||
| Status | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | ||||
| Solid Democratic | D | D | D | ||||
| Trending Democratic | R | D | D | ||||
| Battleground Democratic | D | R | D | ||||
| New Democratic | R | R | D | ||||
| Republican | |||||||
| Status | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | ||||
| Solid Republican | R | R | R | ||||
| Trending Republican | D | R | R | ||||
| Battleground Republican | R | D | R | ||||
| New Republican | D | D | R | ||||
Following the 2020 presidential election, 72.5% of Washingtonians lived in one of the state's 11 Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 22.3% lived in one of 22 Solid Republican counties. Overall, Washington was Solid Democratic, having voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012, Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Washington following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.
| Washington county-level statistics, 2020 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solid Democratic | 11 | 72.5% | |||||
| Solid Republican | 22 | 22.3% | |||||
| Trending Republican | 4 | 3.6% | |||||
| Battleground Democratic | 1 | 1.0% | |||||
| Trending Democratic | 1 | 0.6% | |||||
| Total voted Democratic | 13 | 74.1% | |||||
| Total voted Republican | 26 | 25.9% | |||||
State legislative competitiveness
According to Ballotpedia's annual state legislative competitiveness report, Washington had a Competitiveness Index of 36.7, ranking it 19th of the 44 states that held elections.
- 26 of the 123 seats up for election were open (21%).
- 24 of the 97 incumbents who ran for re-election faced contested primaries (25%).
- 79 of the 123 seats up for election were contested by both major parties (64%).
2010-2024
Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.
| State Legislative Competitiveness Index in Washington, 2010-2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Open seats | Incs. in contested primaries | Major party competition | Competitiveness Index | Rank | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | 16.3% | 23.3% | 65.0% | 34.9 | 18 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | 21.0% | 15.3% | 63.7% | 33.3 | 27 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | 9.8% | 20.7% | 63.4% | 31.3 | 17 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | 16.9% | 31.1% | 50.0% | 32.7 | 21 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | 13.8% | 32.1% | 73.2% | 39.7 | 16 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 13.0% | 35.5% | 74.8% | 41.1 | 8 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 21.3% | 32.3% | 58.2% | 37.3 | 18 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 21.1% | 24.7% | 64.2% | 36.7 | 19 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
In 2024
Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents. Click on headings for more state-specific information.
| State Legislative Competitiveness Index in Washington, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber | Open seats | Incs. in contested primaries | Major party competition | Competitiveness Index | ||||||||||||||||||||
| House | 18.4% | 25.0% | 62.2% | 35.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Senate | 32.0% | 23.5% | 72.0% | 42.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 21.1% | 24.7% | 64.2% | 36.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
List of candidates
See also
Footnotes
