2020 Washington gubernatorial election

The 2020 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020. It followed a top-two primary held on August 4. Incumbent governor Jay Inslee, the Democratic candidate, defeated Loren Culp, the Republican candidate by a wide margin. Inslee, who was eligible to run for a third term due to the lack of gubernatorial term limits, initially launched a campaign for president of the United States in the 2020 election. When he dropped out of that race in August 2019 due to extremely low polling numbers, he announced he would seek a third term as governor. Several other Democratic political figures considered entering the race if Inslee did not run, including Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson; no other major Democratic candidates entered the race. Republican Loren Culp, the police chief of Republic, Washington, placed second in the top-two primary and advanced to the general election alongside Inslee.

The election was clear and decisive, with incumbent Jay Inslee winning re-election over Loren Culp by over 13 points. This marked the largest margin of victory in a Washington gubernatorial race since Gary Locke won reelection in 2000. Inslee's landslide victory included over 74% of the vote in King County, the highest ever for a Democrat in the county's history. King County, home to Seattle, has about a third of the state's voters. In addition, this was the first time since 2000 that a Democrat won a county in Eastern Washington with Inslee winning Whitman County. Culp still ran ahead of the top-ticket presidential candidate, Donald Trump, by about 4 points.

Despite the margin of victory, Culp refused to concede and filed a lawsuit against Republican Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman five weeks after the election. He did not give a concession speech, while making claims of irregularities which Wyman characterized as "unsubstantiated". Culp's actions drew criticism and were compared to Donald Trump's refusal to concede the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

This election marked the 10th consecutive election victory of the Democratic candidate for governor of Washington.

Background
Washington had not had a Republican governor since John Spellman left office in 1985, the longest streak of Democratic leadership of any state in the country and the third longest streak of one-party leadership after South Dakota (which had not had a Democratic governor since Harvey L. Wollman left office in 1979) and Utah (which had not had a Democratic governor since Scott M. Matheson left office nine days prior to Spellman in 1985). Incumbent Governor Jay Inslee, who previously served in the U.S. House, was first elected to the governorship in the 2012 election and won reelection in 2016.

When Inslee announced his candidacy for president, several political figures expressed interest in running for Governor if Inslee won the Democratic primaries. These included Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz and King County executive Dow Constantine. They stated they would only run if Inslee did not, avoiding a primary challenge.

Several Republican politicians announced their own campaigns to challenge Inslee, including businessman Anton Sakharov, Republic police chief Loren Culp, and state senator Phil Fortunato. However, speculated candidates such as former U.S. Representative Dave Reichert, former Seattle Port Commissioner and 2016 gubernatorial nominee Bill Bryant, Pierce County Executive and former state senator Bruce Dammeier, and state House Minority Leader J. T. Wilcox, all declined to be candidates, leaving no prominent Republicans to challenge Inslee, which was seen as a necessary prerequisite to mount a formidable challenge to him.

Primary election
Washington is one of two states that holds a top-two primary, meaning that all candidates are listed on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation, and the top two move on to the general election. Most states have party primaries.

Advanced to the general election

 * Jay Inslee, incumbent governor of Washington and candidate for president of the United States in 2020

Declined

 * Dow Constantine, King County Executive
 * Bob Ferguson, Washington Attorney General (running for reelection)
 * Hilary Franz, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands (running for reelection)

Advanced to the general election

 * Loren Culp, police chief of Republic, U.S. Army veteran

Eliminated in the primary

 * Tim Eyman, activist, initiative promoter
 * Phil Fortunato, state senator
 * Joshua Freed, former mayor of Bothell
 * Raul Garcia, emergency room physician
 * Nate Herzog, former Lake Forest Park city councilman
 * Anton Sakharov, program manager

Declined

 * Bill Bryant, former Seattle Port Commissioner and nominee for Governor of Washington in 2016
 * Bruce Dammeier, Pierce County Executive (running for reelection)
 * Doug Ericksen, state senator
 * Drew MacEwen, state representative (running for reelection)
 * Dori Monson, radio personality
 * Dave Reichert, former U.S. Representative for Washington's 8th congressional district
 * Drew Stokesbary, state representative (running for reelection)
 * J. T. Wilcox, minority leader of the Washington House of Representatives (running for reelection)

Eliminated in the primary

 * Liz Hallock, attorney

Eliminated in the primary

 * Cregan Newhouse, City of Seattle Consumer Protection Division acting manager and former public television director

Withdrew

 * Asa Palagi, U.S. Army officer and businessman

Polling

 * with Bryant, Constantine, Ferguson, and Franz

Debates

 * Complete video of debate, October 7, 2020 - C-SPAN

Polling

 * Jay Inslee vs. Tim Eyman


 * Jay Inslee vs. Phil Fortunato


 * Jay Inslee vs. Joshua Freed


 * Jay Inslee vs. Raul Garcia

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Clark (largest city: Vancouver)
 * Skagit (largest city: Mount Vernon)
 * Whitman (largest city: Pullman)

Results by congressional district
Inslee won six of 10 congressional districts, with the remaining four going to Culp, including one that elected a Democrat.