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

Dino Rossi

Dino Rossi is an American commercial real estate executive, former Washington State Senator, two-time Republican candidate for Governor of Washington, and former Republican candidate for United States Senate. His first run for the Governor's mansion in the 2004 election became the closest...

and incumbent Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire

Christine Gregoire

Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire is the 22nd and current Governor of the state of Washington, and a member of the Democratic Party. Gregoire defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again in 2008. She is the second female governor of Washington...

, the 2008 election was a rematch between the candidates from the 2004 election. That election was the closest in Washington State history

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...

with each receiving 49 percent of the vote and Rossi winning the first two of three counts. In contrast to the recounts and months of legal challenges in their previous contest, Dino Rossi conceded defeat in the election to Gregoire on November 5, earning 46 percent of the vote.

Timeline

Date	Year	Event	Notes
June 6	2008	Filing Deadline
August 19	2008	State Primary	Same date as general primaries for other offices
November 4	2008	General Election	Same date as Presidential election and other offices
November 26	2008	General Election	Last day for counties to deliver results to the state
December 4	2008	General Election	Results certified

Candidates

Christine Gregoire

|| Prefers Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

|| cw || Incumbent Governor
|-
|Dino Rossi

Dino Rossi

|| Prefers G.O.P. Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

|| cw || ex-state senator, 2004 gubernatorial nominee
|-
|Will Baker || Prefers Reform Party

Reform Party of the United States of America

The Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot...

|| cw || Out; Lost primary
|-
|Duff Badgley || Prefers Green Party

Green Party (United States)

The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

|| cw || Out; Lost primary
|-
|John W. Aiken, Jr. || Prefers Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

|| cw || Out; Lost primary
|-
|Christian Pierre Joubert || Prefers Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

|| cw || Out; Lost primary
|-
|Chris Tudor

Chris Tudor

Christopher Tudor was an independent candidate for the office of Washington State Governor in 2008. The Seattle-based entrepreneur currently serves as the Chairman of the Travelodge Board within the Wyndham Worldwide Hotel Group Corporation, representing all of the United States-based franchisee...

|| States No Party Preference || cw || Out; Lost primary
|-
|Javier O. Lopez || Prefers Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

|| cw || Out; Lost primary
|-
|Mohammad Hasan Said || States No Party Preference || cw || Out; Lost primary
|-
|James White || Prefers Independent Party || cw || Out; Lost primary
|-
|colspan=4 align=left|Source: Secretary of State
|}

Controversy over Rossi's party preference

Under the changes to election law made by the passage of Initiative 872, partisan contests are no longer tied to registered parties, but candidates are allowed to indicate an arbitrary "party preference" to appear next to their name on the primary and general election ballots. An extreme example of this occurred in the 40th District race for state senator, where candidate Timothy Stoddard indicated a preference for the "Salmon Yoga" party.

Republican candidate Dino Rossi

Dino Rossi

listed his party preference as "G.O.P." instead of the traditional party name "Republican

Republican Party (United States)

". Critics of Rossi contended that the choice of party name was an attempt to distance himself from any negative opinions associated with the Republican Party. Rossi's campaign argued that the difference was insignificant, saying voters are already aware that the terms refer the same party. However, an Elway Research

Elway Research

Elway Research, Inc.is a Seattle-based public opinion research firm. Since 1975, Elway Research has research projects for major corporations, media outlets, associations, foundations, campaigns and governmental agencies at all levels....

poll taken in August 2008 found that over 25% of registered voters were not aware that the term "GOP" meant the Republican Party.

On September 23, the Washington State Democrats filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State to force the state to list Rossi to on the general election ballot as a Republican instead of with the "GOP Party" label, alleging that the latter is a misrepresentation of his true party affiliation. A King County Superior Court judge dismissed the suit, saying nothing in state law made the choice of party name illegal, though he acknowledged the potential confusion. Had the lawsuit succeeded, many counties would have had to reprint their ballots, and the already-cast absentee votes of military personnel may have become invalid.

Primary Elections

The Washington primary election was held August 19, 2008. For the first time, Washington ran a top-two primary, eliminating the "pick a party" primary used since 2004. Unlike traditional primaries, wherein each party with more than one candidate is reduced to a single person to appear on the general election ballot, the system simply reduces the entire crop of candidates from all parties down to the top two vote-getters, resulting in no more than two candidates appearing on the general election ballot for a given position. As a result, candidates from all parties were essentially running against each other. To allow for ideological identification, each candidate in a partisan race was allowed to indicate an arbitrary party preference.

Primary results

While the primary was officially held on August 19, 2008, some counties such as King County

King County, Washington

King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....

allow absentee ballot

Absentee ballot

An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station. Numerous methods have been devised to facilitate this...

s to be postmark

Postmark

thumb|USS TexasA postmark is a postal marking made on a letter, package, postcard or the like indicating the date and time that the item was delivered into the care of the postal service...

ed by that date in order to be valid. As a result, the primary vote tally may not be officially certified until as late as September 9, to allow time for mailed-in ballots to arrive and be counted by the counties. As an increasing number of counties allow, encourage, or mandate mail-in ballots for voters within the county, the number of such ballots can be significant.

The vote tally as of October 10 is as follows:

Candidate	Home city	Stated Party preference	Total Votes	Percentage
Dino Rossi Dino Rossi Dino Rossi is an American commercial real estate executive, former Washington State Senator, two-time Republican candidate for Governor of Washington, and former Republican candidate for United States Senate. His first run for the Governor's mansion in the 2004 election became the closest...	Sammamish Sammamish, Washington -Surrounding cities and communities:-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 34,104 people, 11,131 households, and 9,650 families residing in the city. In 2007, the population is expected to pass 40,000....	Prefers G.O.P. Party Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	668,571	46.35%
Will Baker	Tacoma Tacoma, Washington Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...	Prefers Reform Party Reform Party of the United States of America The Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot...	5,201	0.36 %
Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire is the 22nd and current Governor of the state of Washington, and a member of the Democratic Party. Gregoire defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again in 2008. She is the second female governor of Washington...	Auburn Auburn, Washington -Parks:Auburn has an extensive system of parks, open space and urban trails comprising 29 developed parks, 5 undeveloped sites under planning, 2 skate parks, 2 water roatary parks, and over of trails , and almost of open space for passive and active recreation.-Environmental Park:The Auburn...	Prefers Democratic Party Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	696,306	48.27 %
Duff Badgley	Seattle Seattle, Washington Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...	Prefers Green Party Green Party (United States) The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...	9,702	0.67 %
John W. Aiken, Jr.	Medical Lake Medical Lake, Washington Medical Lake is a city in Spokane County, Washington, United States. The population was 5,060 at the 2010 census. It is home to two mental hospitals, Eastern State Hospital and Lakeland Village.-Geography:...	Prefers Republican Party Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	21,564	1.49 %
Christian Pierre Joubert	Edmonds Edmonds, Washington Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. Edmonds has a view of Puget Sound and both the Olympic Mountains and Cascade Range. The third most populous city in Snohomish County after Everett and Marysville, the population was 39,709 according to the 2010 census...	Prefers Democratic Party Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	16,646	1.15 %
Christopher A. Tudor	Indianola Indianola, Washington Indianola is a census-designated place in Kitsap County, Washington, United States, located on the north shore of Port Madison on the Port Madison Indian Reservation, home of the Suquamish Indian Tribe. The population was 3,500 at the 2010 census...	States No Party Preference	5,600	0.39 %
Javier O. Lopez	Lacey Lacey, Washington Lacey is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. Established as a suburb of Olympia, its population was 42,393 at the 2010 census out of a county population of 252,264.-History:...	Prefers Republican Party Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	4,981	0.35 %
Mohammad Hasan Said	Ephrata Ephrata, Washington Ephrata is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,808 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Grant County.-History:...	States No Party Preference	3,002	0.21 %
James White	Marysville Marysville, Washington Marysville is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 60,020 at the 2010 census. Marysville is known as "The Strawberry City" due to the large number of strawberry farms that once surrounded the city in its earlier days. Over the past decade, and continuing...	Prefers Independent Party	10,884	0.75 %
Total			1,441,753	100.00 %

General Election

Christine Gregoire

and Dino Rossi

Dino Rossi

were declared the winners of the primary and placed on the ballot for the November 4th election, which coincided with the national election. However, with all Washington counties either exclusively or (in the case of Pierce and King counties) predominantly voting via mail-in ballot, many votes were cast prior to that date. King County, the largest county in the state, and the one which carried Gregoire to victory in 2004, sent out overseas absentee ballots on October 5, and resident mail-in ballots on October 17.

In Washington state, mail-in ballots only need to be postmarked, not received, by November 4, meaning that valid ballots will continue to be received and counted after that date. For the 2008 election, counties had until November 26 to send results to the state, and the Secretary of State had until December 4 to certify all state results.

Polling

Source	Date	Gregoire	Rossi	Undecided
Survey USA	November 2, 2008	52%	46%	1%
Survey USA	October 26–27, 2008	50%	48%	2%
Rasmussen Reports	October 22, 2008	50%	48%	2%

Survey USA	October 12–13, 2008	48%	47%	5%
Rasmussen Reports	October 2, 2008	48%	48%
Survey USA	September 21–22, 2008	50%	48%	1%
Strategic Vision	September 14–16, 2008	46%	48%	6%
Rasmussen Reports	September 10, 2008	46%	52%
Survey USA	September 5–7, 2008	47%	48%	2%
SurveyUSA	August 11–12, 2008	50%	48%	1%
Rasmussen Reports	August 6, 2008	47%	43%	-
Strategic Vision	July 25–27, 2008	47%	45%	8%
SurveyUSA	July 13–15, 2008	49%	46%	3%
Moore Information	July 9–10, 2008	45%	45%	9%
Rasmussen Reports	July 9, 2008	49%	43%	-
Elway Poll	June 18–22, 2008	47%	39%	-
Rasmussen Reports	June 9, 2008	50%	43%	-
SurveyUSA	June 9, 2008	50%	47%	1%
Rasmussen Reports	May 12, 2008	52%	41%	-
Elway Poll	April 21–22, 2008	43%	38%	-
SurveyUSA	April 14–16, 2008	50%	46%	2%
SurveyUSA	April 7, 2008	48%	47%	5%
Rasmussen Reports	March 27, 2008	47%	46%	7%
Rasmussen Reports	February 28, 2008	46%	47%	7%
Washington Poll	February 7–18, 2008	53.7%	42.1%	3.5%
Elway Poll	January 3–6, 2008	48%	35%	-
Washington Poll	October 22–29, 2007	46.8%	42.4%	7.3%
Strategic Vision	October 5–7, 2007	47%	45%	8%
Strategic Vision	March 24–26, 2006	38%	51%	11%

Police Guild press conference incident

At an August 7 press conference held by the Seattle Police Officers Guild to declare its endorsement of Rossi, the Guild forcibly removed Kelly Akers, a Gregoire campaign staffer who was filming the event, from the premises. The Rossi campaign reiterated a standing policy to prevent opposing campaigns from filming Rossi's appearances, to deny them the ability to take "attack footage". Rossi's campaign staff includes a cameraman tasked with filming Gregoire appearances.

Debates

Five debates were held
between the Gregoire and Rossi, the candidates in the general election.

Date	Time	Location	Sponsors
2008-09-20	9:00 PM	Fisher Plaza (Seattle)	Fisher Communications, League of Women Voters League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters is an American political organization founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote... , Seattle Post-Intelligencer Seattle Post-Intelligencer The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
2008-09-25	7:30 PM	Semiahmoo Resort (Blaine Blaine, Washington Blaine is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The city's northern boundary is the Canadian border. Blaine is the shared home of the Peace Arch international monument... )	Association of Washington Business
2008-10-01	7:00 PM	Capitol Theatre (Yakima Yakima, Washington Yakima is an American city southeast of Mount Rainier National Park and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the eighth largest city by population in the state itself. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 91,196 and a metropolitan population of... )	KCTS 9 and Yakima Herald-Republic
2008-10-09	7:00 PM^*	KSPS-TV KSPS-TV KSPS-TV, digital channel 7, is the Public Broadcasting Service Public television station in Spokane, Washington. It also has significant viewership in the province of Alberta, Canada, including the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. The station broadcasts its main signal from its site at Krell Hill,... Studios (Spokane Spokane Spokane is a city in the U.S. state of Washington.Spokane may also refer to:Spokane Spokane RiverSpokane, MissouriSpokane Valley, WashingtonSpokane County, WashingtonSpokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos WarSpokane USS Spokane... )	KSPS-TV KSPS-TV KSPS-TV, digital channel 7, is the Public Broadcasting Service Public television station in Spokane, Washington. It also has significant viewership in the province of Alberta, Canada, including the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. The station broadcasts its main signal from its site at Krell Hill,... , Spokane Spokesman-Review
2008-10-15	8:00 PM	TBD	KING-TV KING-TV KING-TV, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Seattle, Washington, affiliated with the NBC network. Owned by Belo Corporation, it broadcasts on UHF digital channel 48. Its offices and broadcasting center are located just east of Seattle Center... , Seattle Times, NPR

^*The Spokane debate was taped in the morning to be aired at the indicated time. All other debates are held and aired live.

The Gregoire campaign had sought a sixth debate in Tacoma, sponsored by the Tacoma News-Tribune. The Rossi campaign instead sought a sixth debate in Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

sponsored by The Columbian
The Columbian
The Columbian is a daily newspaper for Vancouver, Washington and Clark County in Washington State in the United States. The paper was published for its first decade as a four page daily that was meant as a counterweight to the local Republican newspaper The Independent. Printer Tom Carolan began...

. The local Camas-Washougal Rotary Club went so far as to reserve a venue for October 8. The campaigns could not agree on either event.

The Gregoire campaign had set aside August 15 for a pre-primary radio debate with Rossi on Seattle NPR station KUOW-FM

KUOW-FM

KUOW-FM 94.9 is a National Public Radio affiliate radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is a top-ranked radio station in the Seattle/Tacoma media market...

. Rossi declined to appear, giving Gregoire solo airtime.

Election results

These are the gubernatorial election results as of 11/25/2008 10:45 PM PST.

Early declaration

Gregoire declared victory after late evening returns were posted, with 42% of the statewide vote counted, showing her with a 52% lead over Rossi. By 10:30 PM all three major television networks had called the race for Gregoire.

The Rossi campaign called the networks' declarations "premature" and did not concede defeat that evening. Rossi held out hope that late ballots would carry him, as late returns had reversed an early Gregoire lead in 2004

Washington gubernatorial election, 2004

. Rossi conceded the next morning.

Concession

Rossi conceded defeat in the gubernatorial election on November 5. In his concession speech, he indicated that he was not planning a return to politics.

External links

Elections from the Washington Secretary of State
Washington Governor candidates at Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States...
Washington Governor race from OurCampaigns.com
Washington Governor race from 2008 Race Tracker
Campaign contributions from Follow the Money
Rossi (R) vs Gregoire (D-i) graph of collected poll results from Pollster.com
Official campaign websites
- Christine Gregoire, Democratic incumbent candidate
- Dino Rossi, Republican candidate

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