The 2016 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election. Washington voters chose twelve representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice-President.
Washington was won by incumbent President Henry T. Ferguson (D-Texas), with 61.97% of the popular vote, against Senator William H. Pryor, Jr. (R-Alabama), with 37.37% of the popular vote.
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Analysis[edit | edit source]
Washington once leaned Republican, like most of the Pacific Northwest. From 1952 to 1984, it only went Democratic twice-in 1964 and 1968. However, it has become much more friendly to the Democrats since 1988, voting Republican only in 1992 and in 2008. In the latter year, Mitt Romney had won the state by a decisive margin-9.64%-against Dennis Kucinich. Nevertheless, even in that year, the state was 2.82% more Democratic than the national average. And in 2012, Washington had swung decisively against Romney, going to Henry T. Ferguson with 56.08% of the popular vote.
Like Oregon, the state is divided politically by the urban/rural divide and geographically by the Cascade Mountains. The two are related in that nearly all of the major cities lie west of the Cascades. Most of the state's population resides in Western Washington along the Pacific Coast and in highly urbanized areas like Seattle. The Seattle area, home to almost two-thirds of the state's population, is overwhelmingly Democratic. The rest of Western Washington leans Democratic as well, though the lean is not as pronounced as in the greater Seattle area. By contrast, Eastern Washington is very rural, and in many ways more similar to Idaho than Seattle. Republicans have had an edge here for many years, in part due to its strong tinge of social conservatism. As a result, while Republicans typically win more counties, the overwhelming Democratic trend in the more heavily-populated western portion is enough to swing the whole state to the Democrats.
On Election Day, Ferguson won the state by 24.60%. The President carried King County, home to Seattle itself and its close suburbs and just over a third of the state population, with 68% of the vote-half of his statewide majority. Ferguson won the next two largest counties in Western Washington, Pierce (home to Tacoma) and Snohomish (home to Everett) with over 60% of the vote. His combined majority in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties-558,392 votes-would have been more than enough to carry the state. But Ferguson won the majority of Washington's thirty-nine counties, carrying all but six of them. He became the first Democrat since Johnson in 1964 to win Eastern Washington, carrying Whitman County, home to Washington State University in Pullam, and Spokane County, the region's largest county, home to the city of Spokane, by double-digit margins. And in two counties-Jefferson and San Juan-the President received more than 70% of the vote. The most populous county carried by Pryor was Benton County, home to Kennewick, which he won by a 4.45% margin.
During the same election, incumbent Democratic Governor Jay Inslee was reelected to a second term with 59.39% of the vote over Republican Bill Bryant, who took 40.11% of the popular vote. And incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Patty Murray won her fifth term against Republican Chris Vance, earning 59.01% of the vote to Vance's 40.99%. At the state level, Democrats picked up one seat in the Washington House of Representatives while Republicans picked up a seat in the Washington Senate.
Results[edit | edit source]
| 2016 United States presidential election in Washington | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic (inc.) | Henry T. Ferguson | 2,055,542 | 61.97% | 12 | |
| Republican | William H. Pryor, Jr. | 1,239,561 | 37.37% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Sam Sloan | 20,566 | 0.62% | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein | 1,350 | 0.04% | 0 | |
| Totals | 3,317,019 | 100.00% | 12 | ||
Results by county[edit | edit source]
| County | Henry Thomas Ferguson Democratic |
William Holcombe Pryor, Jr. Republican |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 2,185 | 45.70% | 2,591 | 54.17% | 6 | 0.13% | -406 | -8.47% | 4,782 |
| Asotin | 5,751 | 57.66% | 4,219 | 42.30% | 4 | 0.04% | 1,532 | 15.36% | 9,974 |
| Benton | 39,915 | 47.75% | 43,637 | 52.20% | 40 | 0.05% | -3,722 | -4.45% | 83,592 |
| Chelan | 17,423 | 50.60% | 16,783 | 48.74% | 227 | 0.66% | 640 | 1.86% | 34,433 |
| Clallam | 23,987 | 59.18% | 16,503 | 40.71% | 43 | 0.11% | 7,484 | 18.47% | 40,533 |
| Clark | 130,926 | 62.80% | 76,838 | 36.85% | 721 | 0.35% | 54,088 | 25.95% | 208,485 |
| Columbia | 989 | 44.36% | 1,239 | 55.60% | 1 | 0.04% | -250 | -11.24% | 2,229 |
| Cowlitz | 31,302 | 66.40% | 15,493 | 32.86% | 347 | 0.74% | 15,809 | 33.54% | 47,142 |
| Douglas | 7,782 | 48.94% | 8,108 | 50.99% | 11 | 0.07% | -326 | -2.05% | 15,901 |
| Ferry | 2,008 | 55.11% | 1,631 | 44.75% | 5 | 0.14% | 377 | 10.36% | 3,644 |
| Franklin | 12,642 | 51.36% | 11,811 | 47.99% | 161 | 0.65% | 831 | 3.37% | 24,614 |
| Garfield | 547 | 43.22% | 719 | 56.78% | 0 | 0.00% | -172 | -13.56% | 1,266 |
| Grant | 15,059 | 51.47% | 14,179 | 48.46% | 20 | 0.07% | 880 | 3.01% | 29,258 |
| Grays Harbor | 17,622 | 60.14% | 11,509 | 39.28% | 170 | 0.58% | 6,113 | 20.86% | 29,301 |
| Island | 25,182 | 56.88% | 19,040 | 43.00% | 51 | 0.12% | 6,142 | 13.88% | 44,273 |
| Jefferson | 14,665 | 70.24% | 6,159 | 29.50% | 55 | 0.26% | 8,506 | 40.74% | 20,879 |
| King | 709,205 | 68.96% | 308,584 | 30.00% | 10,684 | 1.04% | 400,621 | 38.96% | 1,028,473 |
| Kitsap | 78,833 | 61.22% | 49,576 | 38.50% | 361 | 0.28% | 29,257 | 22.72% | 128,770 |
| Kittitas | 10,463 | 53.34% | 9,131 | 46.55% | 21 | 0.11% | 1,332 | 6.79% | 19,615 |
| Klickitat | 6,700 | 63.21% | 4,364 | 36.70% | 10 | 0.09% | 2,336 | 26.51% | 11,074 |
| Lewis | 17,888 | 50.82% | 17,277 | 49.08% | 34 | 0.10% | 611 | 1.74% | 35,199 |
| Lincoln | 2,676 | 45.66% | 3,182 | 54.29% | 3 | 0.05% | -506 | -8.63% | 5,861 |
| Mason | 16,749 | 57.75% | 12,226 | 42.15% | 28 | 0.10% | 4,523 | 15.60% | 29,003 |
| Okanogan | 10,130 | 57.70% | 7,409 | 42.20% | 17 | 0.10% | 2,721 | 15.50% | 17,556 |
| Pacific | 7,389 | 67.34% | 3,559 | 32.44% | 24 | 0.22% | 3,830 | 34.90% | 10,972 |
| Pend Oreille | 3,841 | 54.74% | 3,171 | 45.20% | 4 | 0.06% | 670 | 9.54% | 7,016 |
| Pierce | 220,438 | 61.23% | 136,164 | 37.82% | 3,415 | 0.95% | 84,274 | 23.41% | 360,017 |
| San Juan | 8,208 | 73.72% | 2,895 | 26.00% | 31 | 0.28% | 5,313 | 47.72% | 11,134 |
| Skagit | 33,726 | 58.09% | 24,260 | 41.78% | 73 | 0.13% | 9,466 | 16.31% | 58,059 |
| Skamania | 3,760 | 64.51% | 2,062 | 35.37% | 7 | 0.12% | 1,698 | 29.14% | 5,829 |
| Snohomish | 213,089 | 60.07% | 139,592 | 39.35% | 2,053 | 0.58% | 73,497 | 20.72% | 354,734 |
| Spokane | 133,132 | 56.40% | 101,406 | 42.96% | 1,512 | 0.64% | 31,726 | 13.44% | 236,050 |
| Stevens | 11,962 | 51.13% | 11,404 | 48.75% | 29 | 0.12% | 558 | 2.38% | 23,395 |
| Thurston | 79,200 | 59.45% | 54,551 | 40.22% | 440 | 0.33% | 24,649 | 19.23% | 134,191 |
| Wahkiakum | 1,487 | 61.20% | 938 | 38.64% | 4 | 0.16% | 549 | 22.56% | 2,429 |
| Walla Walla | 13,130 | 50.06% | 13,083 | 49.88% | 15 | 0.06% | 47 | 0.18% | 26,228 |
| Whatcom | 73,081 | 64.48% | 39,490 | 34.84% | 768 | 0.68% | 33,591 | 29.64% | 113,339 |
| Whitman | 10,638 | 59.01% | 7,374 | 40.90% | 16 | 0.09% | 3,264 | 18.11% | 18,028 |
| Yakima | 41,832 | 52.46% | 37,404 | 46.91% | 505 | 0.63% | 4,428 | 5.55% | 79,741 |
| Totals | 2,055,542 | 61.97% | 1,239,561 | 37.37% | 21,916 | 0.66% | 815,981 | 24.60% | 3,317,019 |
By congressional district[edit | edit source]
Ferguson carried all ten congressional districts, including two represented by a Republican.
| District | Ferguson | Pryor | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 58% | 41% | Suzan DelBene |
| 2nd | 63% | 37% | Rick Larsen |
| 3rd | 62% | 38% | Brian Baird |
| 4th | 51% | 49% | Dan Newhouse |
| 5th | 56% | 44% | Joseph Pakootas |
| 6th | 64% | 35% | Derek Kilmer |
| 7th | 81% | 19% | Jim McDermott |
| Pramila Jayapal | |||
| 8th | 51% | 48% | Dave Reichert |
| 9th | 68% | 31% | Adam Smith |
| 10th | 60% | 40% | Dennis Heck |
Counties that swung from Republican to Democratic[edit | edit source]
- Chelan (largest city: Wenatchee)
- Ferry (largest city: Republic)
- Franklin (largest city: Pasco)
- Grant (largest city: Moses Lake)
- Kittitas (largest city: Ellensburg)
- Lewis (largest city: Centralia)
- Pend Oreille (largest city: Newport)
- Stevens (largest city: Colville)
- Yakima (largest city: Yakima)
- Walla Walla (largest city: Walla Walla)
