REALITY TV
TV
MOVIES
MUSIC
CELEBRITY
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use Accuracy & Fairness Corrections & Clarifications Ethics Code Your Ad Choices
© MEAWW All rights reserved
MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

2020 Presidential Elections State-by-State Guide: Washington's 36-year wait for the hot seat and climate agenda

Washington has not elected a Republican president since Ronald Reagan won it in 1984. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won over 54 percent of the votes in the state. Can the GOP win it this time?
UPDATED FEB 27, 2020
(US Public Domain)
(US Public Domain)

State

WASHINGTON

Primary date

March 10, 2020 (Tuesday)

Type: Mixed

Democratic delegates: 89

Republican delegates: 44

Governor

Jay Inslee (Democratic); since January 2013

Senators

Patty Murray (D) and Maria Cantwell (D)

Representatives: 10

Seven Democrats: Suzan DelBene (1st district), Rick Larsen (2nd district), Derek Kilmer (6th district), Pramila Jayapal (7th district), Kim Schrier (8th district), Adam Smith (9th district) and Denny Heck (10th district)

Three Republicans: Jaime Herrera Beutler (3rd district), Dan Newhouse (4th district) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (5th district).

Electoral College Members: 12

In 2016, eight of them went to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton while none went to Republican Donald Trump. Four faithless electors cast their votes for the former secretary of state Colin Powell while one went for activist Faith Spotted Eagle.

How Washington has voted in the past

After witnessing Republican presidential candidates winning the north-western state four consecutive times between 1972 and 1984, Washington tilted towards the Democrats and has not preferred a Red party presidential candidate since then.

Ronald Reagan was the last Republican president to have won majority votes (55.8 percent) in the state. In 2016, Hillary received over 54 percent of votes in the state.

Between 1988 and 2012, Democratic presidential candidates who have won in the Cascadia state are Michael Dukakis (1988), Bill Clinton (1992 and 1996), Al Gore (2000), John Kerry (2004) and Barack Obama (2008 and 2012).

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announces his run for the 2020 Presidency at A & R Solar on March 1, 2019, in Seattle, Washington. Inslee has been governor since 2013 and was a member of Congress prior to that. He pulled out in August (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

Blues have dominated Washington since late 1980s

Nearly one in four voters in Washington was not born when the state last had a Republican governor (1985) or senator (2001). Till 2000, Washington was still considered a swing state that banked on independent voters.

Till the mid-1960s, Washington's voters backed on party for the Congress and another for the president more frequently. Between 1980 and 1990, the Republicans won 58 percent of the state elections while since 1992, the Democrats have won 77 percent of them.

Between 1992 and 2002, the average split between the total votes of the two parties for the House was only one percent (Dems 50 percent; GOP 49 percent). After 2004, the average went up to 10-point advantage for the Dems (54 to 44) and in 2012 and 2016, the advantage widened to 16 percent (57 to 41).

The Republicans' increasingly turning right and the changing demographics of the state that sees new voters coming up from the Dems-controlled regions (like the central Puget Sound region) have contributed to the "blueing" of Washington.

Washington and 2020 presidential election

With the Donald Trump administration's policies heading right, the Democrats are tending to go more left to nullify him. There is, however, a contradictory take among the state's voters over the economy.

While Washingtonians, in general, feel the economy is doing good, they are not too convinced with Trump's policies like imposing tariffs as the state sees a major movement of exports through the port of Seattle.

Issues related to Washington that could play a defining role in the next presidential election are global warming and the threat to the environment in the region and Trump's controversial abortion policy.

Governor Inslee had joined the presidential race but pulled out in August after failing to reach a larger audience. Till the time he was in, Inslee made climate change his only presidential agenda.

RELATED TOPICS SEATTLE NEWS HILLARY CLINTON
POPULAR ON MEAWW
MORE ON MEAWW