Washington Attorney General election, 2016

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Washington Attorney General Election

Primary Date: August 2, 2016

General Election Date: November 8, 2016

November Election Winner: Bob Ferguson (D)

Incumbent Prior to Election: Bob Ferguson (D)

State Executive Elections Top Ballot Governor • Lt. Governor Attorney General • Secretary of State Treasurer Down Ballot Auditor • Insurance Commissioner Natural Resources Commissioner Superintendent of Schools

Key election dates

Filing deadline: May 20, 2016

Primary date: August 2, 2016

Filing deadline (write-ins): October 21, 2016

General election date: November 8, 2016

Recount request deadline: TBD

Inauguration: TBD

Washington held an election for attorney general on November 8, 2016, with a primary election on August 2. Bob Ferguson (D) won re-election, defeating Libertarian candidate Joshua Trumbull in the general election.

HIGHLIGHTS

Incumbent Bob Ferguson (D) sought re-election to a second term.

Libertarian Joshua Trumbull was the sole candidate who filed to run against Ferguson.

As the state holds a top-two primary, in which all candidates compete against each other regardless of party affiliation, the two candidates automatically advanced to the November general election.

Übersicht

The attorney general of Washington serves as the chief legal advisor and chief law enforcement officer for the state. In Washington, the attorney general provides official titles and summaries for ballot measures, the wording of which can significantly influence whether or not the measure passes. Additionally, the years prior to 2016 saw state attorneys general filing multi-state lawsuits that significantly altered national policies and regulations in industries such as tobacco, pharmaceuticals, clean energy, and healthcare.

The attorney general's seat tended to alternate party hands every one to two officeholders since the 1930s, with no party controlling the office for more than two decades. The elections leading up to 2016 were not very competitive, and Washington voters tended to re-elect incumbent attorneys general by large margins.

Candidates

Bob Ferguson (D)
Most recent position: Attorney general since 2013
Past experience: King City councilman, 2003-2013

Joshua Trumbull (Lib.)
Most recent position: Private practice attorney
Past experience: Realtor

Results

Note: Washington utilizes a mail-in ballot system. Results were not finalized until 14 days after the primary election.

General election

Incumbent Bob Ferguson defeated Joshua Trumbull in the Washington attorney general election.

Washington Attorney General, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Bob Ferguson Incumbent	67.14%	2,000,804
	Libertarian	Joshua Trumbull	32.86%	979,105
Total Votes				2,979,909
Source: Washington Secretary of State

Primary election

Incumbent Bob Ferguson and Joshua Trumbull were unopposed in the Washington primary for attorney general.

Washington primary for attorney general, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Bob Ferguson Incumbent	72.61%	906,493
	Libertarian	Joshua Trumbull	27.39%	341,932
Total Votes				1,248,425
Source: Washington Secretary of State

Context of the 2016 election

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should appear on the general election ballot. Primaries usually take place several months before a general election. Washington utilizes a top-two primary, in which a single primary election is held for each office wherein all candidates running for that office, regardless of party affiliation, compete in the same election. The two candidates receiving the most votes move on to the general election; all voters may vote in the primary for any candidate. In this type of primary, it is possible for both candidates in the general election to belong to the same political party. The general election also mimics a runoff election in that the two candidates who compete already competed against each other in the primary election.

Washington's primary elections took place on August 2, 2016. The state utilizes a mail-in ballot system, and all ballots were required to be postmarked or left in a designated dropbox by 8 p.m. on election day. Ballots were mailed to registered voters 18 days prior to the election, and preliminary results were released at 8 p.m. on election day. While some races were called by the media on election day, official results were not certified by the Washington secretary of state until 14 days after the election, which, in 2016, was on August 16.

Incumbent Bob Ferguson (D)

Attorney General Bob Ferguson was elected in 2012 after defeating Republican Reagan Dunn by a 7 percent margin of victory. The office was vacated after previous A.G. Rob McKenna (R) declined to seek re-election in favor of an unsuccessful bid for the governorship.

Prior to his tenure as attorney general, Ferguson served for nine years on the King County Council.

Party control in Washington

Washington had a divided government entering the 2016 election. Democrats controlled the governorship and also held a two-seat majority in the state house. Republicans gained control of the state senate in the 2014 elections by a one-seat majority, which ended a seven-year Democratic trifecta. Ballotpedia identified both chambers of the state legislature as battleground chambers in the 2016 elections. Party control of state government had the potential to shift after the November elections, but did not. Democrats retained control of the governorship and the state house. Democrats also gained a one-seat majority in the state senate, but did not take control of the chamber due to a Democratic senator who decided to caucus with the Republicans. Republicans thereby maintained control of the state senate, which resulted in the continuation of the state's divided government.

Prior to the 2016 election, both of Washington's U.S. Senate seats had been occupied by Democrats since 2001, and the state's electoral votes had gone to the Democratic presidential candidate every election cycle since 1988. Senator Patty Murray (D) won re-election and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won the state's presidential electoral votes in the November general election.

The office of attorney general in Washington tended to change party hands every one to two officeholders since the 1930s. During that time, no attorney general held office for longer than 11 years. The previous several elections for the office were not competitive: incumbent Bob Ferguson won the 2012 open election by a margin of 7 percent, and Rob McKenna (R) won the 2004 open race by 10 percent. Additionally, incumbents were re-elected by large margins: McKenna in 2008 by 19 percentage points, and Christine Gregoire (D) in 2000 by 22 percentage points.

Campaigns

Race tracking

Race Rankings - Attorney general of Washington
Race Tracker	Race Ratings
	March 2016	July 2016
Governing	Likely Democrat	Safe Democrat
Overall call	Safe Democrat
Note: Ratings are based on projections found in Governing, Larry Sabato, The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, and The Cook Political Report where available. They were updated periodically throughout the election season.

Campaign finance

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, he or she did not exceed the minimum requirements to report campaign finance information to the state's Public Disclosure Commission.

Bob Ferguson Campaign Finance Reports
Bericht	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
To date	As of August 2, 2016	$0	$1,221,592.99	$(368,897.10)	$
			Running totals
			$1,221,592.99	$(368,897.1)

Endorsements

Ex: Key endorsements, primary candidates
Bob Ferguson
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington
Washington Conservation Voters
Washington Education Association
Washington State Nurses Association
U.S. Congressman Adam Smith (D)
State House Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore Tina Orwall (D)
Washington State Patrol Troopers Association
U.S. Congressman Denny Heck (D)
What is a key endorsement?

Campaign media

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!

Democrats

Bob Ferguson (D)

Joshua Trumbull (Lib.)

About the office

The Attorney General of Washington is an elected executive position in the Washington state government. As the chief legal officer for the state, the attorney general represents state clients and the public interest as directed by state law. The attorney general is popularly elected by the citizens of Washington in presidential election years and serves a four-year term.

Helpful Facts About U.S. State Attorneys General

Attorneys general are directly elected in 43 states. The remaining seven are appointed by the governor, the state legislature, or the state supreme court. Heading into the 2016 round of elections, there were 22 Democratic, 27 Republican, and one nonpartisan attorneys general. Ten states were scheduled to hold attorney general elections in 2016. In 2014 the annual salaries for state attorneys general ranged from $72,408 (Arkansas) to $176,988 (Tennessee). The office of attorney general exists in all 50 states; for 19 of them, the attorney general is not required to be licensed to practice law or even hold a law degree.

Incumbent

The incumbent was Bob Ferguson, a Democrat elected in 2012. He succeeded former Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna on January 16, 2013.

Qualifications

Under state law, the attorney general must be a qualified practitioner of the state supreme court.

Additionally, Article 3, Section 25 of the state constitution establishes the qualifications of state offices in general:

Qualifications, Compensation, Offices Which May Be Abolished. No person, except a citizen of the United States and a qualified elector of this state, shall be eligible to hold any state office...

• a citizen of the United States
• a qualified elector in Washington

Authority

Article 3 of the state constitution establishes the state's executive offices.

Article III, Section 2:

Executive Department. The executive department shall consist of a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, and a commissioner of public lands, who shall be severally chosen by the qualified electors of the state at the same time and place of voting as for the members of the legislature.

Past elections

2012

See also: Washington attorney general election, 2012

Incumbent Rob McKenna (R) chose to run for Governor of Washington rather than run for re-election as attorney general in 2012, and Bob Ferguson (D) won the open seat in the general election on November 6, 2012.

Attorney General of Washington General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Bob Ferguson	53.5%	1,564,443
	Republican	Reagan Dunn	46.5%	1,361,010
Total Votes				2,925,453
Election results via Washington Secretary of State

2008

On November 4, 2008, Rob McKenna won re-election to the office of Washington Attorney General. He defeated John Ladenburg in the general election.

Washington Attorney General, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rob McKenna Incumbent	59.5%	1,689,764
	Democratic	John Ladenburg	40.5%	1,152,174
Total Votes				2,841,938
Election results via Washington Secretary of State.

2004

On November 2, 2004, Rob McKenna won election to the office of Washington Attorney General. He defeated Deborah Senn (D), J. Bradley Gibson (L) and Paul Richmond (G) in the general election.

Washington Attorney General, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rob McKenna	53%	1,425,368
	Democratic	Deborah Senn	43.3%	1,163,964
	Libertarian	J. Bradley Gibson	2.1%	56,792
	Green	Paul Richmond	1.6%	44,020
Total Votes				2,690,144
Election results via Washington Secretary of State.

2000

On November 7, 2000, Christine Gregoire won re-election to the office of Washington Attorney General. She defeated Richard Pope (R), Richard Shepherd (L), Stan Lippmann (NM) and Luanne Coachman (NL) in the general election.

Washington Attorney General, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Christine Gregoire Incumbent	56%	1,292,887
	Republican	Richard Pope	38.2%	883,002
	Libertarian	Richard Shepherd	3.9%	90,941
	NM	Stan Lippmann	0.8%	19,120
	NL	Luanna Coachman	1%	23,685
Total Votes				2,309,635
Election results via Washington Secretary of State.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Washington attorney general election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Washington Attorney General election, 2016 - Google News

State profile

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%
Bildung
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.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Washington

Washington voted for the Democratic candidate in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Washington, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Washington had four Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 2.21 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Washington coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Washington
• United States congressional delegations from Washington
• Public policy in Washington
• Endorsers in Washington
• Washington fact checks
• More...

See also

Washington government:

• Washington state executive offices
• Washington State Legislature
• Washington courts

Previous elections:

• State executive official elections, 2015
• State executive official elections, 2014

Ballotpedia exclusives:

• State executives compensation
• State of the state addresses
• Who runs the states?

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Washington Attorney General
• National Association of Attorneys General
• Attorney General blog