The state of Washington holds its gubernatorial elections every four years, concurrently with United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 presidential elections. The 1996 gubernatorial election was especially significant in that it resulted in Washington electing the first Asian American

Asian American

Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 in the mainland United States (after George Ariyoshi

George Ariyoshi

George Ryoichi Ariyoshi , served as the third Governor of Hawaii from 1974 to 1986. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He assumed the governorship when John A. Burns was declared incapacitated. When he was elected, Ariyoshi became the first American of Asian descent to be elected governor of...

 of island state Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

), Democrat Gary Locke.

Washington gubernatorial election, 1996

#	Name	Party	Votes	Percent
1	Gary Locke	Democrat	1,296,492	58.0%
2	Ellen Craswell Ellen Craswell Ellen Craswell was an American politician, a former Washington state legislator, and a candidate in the 1996 Washington gubernatorial election. She ran as a Republican, but grew disillusioned with the party and later joined the American Heritage Party, the Washington State affiliate of the...	Republican	940,538	42.0%

See also

• Washington gubernatorial election, 2004
  Washington gubernatorial election, 2004
  The election for governor of Washington on November 2, 2004 gained national attention for its legal twists and extremely close finish. Notable for being among the closest political races in United States election history, Republican Dino Rossi was declared the winner in the initial automated count...
  
  
• Washington gubernatorial election, 2008
  Washington gubernatorial election, 2008
  The gubernatorial election in Washington, 2008 elected the Governor of Washington on November 4, 2008. With the emergence from the August 19 primary of Republican Dino Rossi and incumbent Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire, the 2008 election was a rematch between the candidates from the 2004...