2024 Washington gubernatorial election

The 2024 Washington gubernatorial election will be held on November 5, 2024. The top-two primary will be held on August 6. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jay Inslee announced on May 1, 2023 that he would not run for a fourth term. Inslee, who previously served in the U.S. House, was first elected governor in 2012 and won re-election in 2016 and 2020 by increasing margins each time.

Washington has 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 has not had a Democratic governor since Harvey Wollman left office in 1979) and Utah (which has not had a Democratic governor since Scott Matheson left office nine days prior to Spellman in 1985).

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 advance to the general election.

The filing deadline was May 10, 2024. On that day, two candidates named Bob Ferguson entered the race at the behest of a conservative activist who sought people with the same surname as Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who is considered the Democratic frontrunner. The two new candidates—a retired state employee and a U.S. Army veteran—resigned from the race on May 13, the deadline to withdraw, after questions about the legality of their campaigns arose. Washington's state statutes prohibit a new candidate with the same surname as an already-filed candidate from running with the intent to confuse or mislead voters.

Declared

 * Ricky Anthony, retiree
 * Edward Cale IV, postal worker
 * Bob Ferguson, Washington Attorney General
 * Fred Grant, communications professional
 * Cassondra Hanson, retail worker
 * Chaytan Inman, artificial intelligence engineer
 * EL'ona Kearney, event planner
 * Mark Mullet, state senator
 * Don Rivers, retired King County Metro worker and perennial candidate

Withdrawn

 * Bob Arthur Ferguson, former state employee
 * Bob Benjamin Ferguson, veteran
 * Hilary Franz, Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands (running for U.S. House)

Declined

 * Dow Constantine, King County Executive
 * Denny Heck, Lieutenant Governor of Washington and former U.S. Representative from WA's 10th congressional district (running for re-election)
 * Jay Inslee, incumbent governor and candidate for President of the United States in 2020 (endorsed Ferguson)

Declared

 * Semi Bird, P.C.O. and chair for the Benton County Republican Party (2022–present) and former Richland school board member (2021–2023)
 * A.L. Brown
 * Jim Daniel, former Klickitat Hospital Board commissioner
 * Bill Hirt, retired aircraft engineer and perennial candidate
 * Jennifer Hoover, pastor
 * Dave Reichert, former U.S. Representative for WA's 8th congressional district (2005–2019)
 * Martin Wheeler, farmer and candidate for governor in 2020

Withdrawn

 * Raul Garcia, physician and candidate for governor in 2020 (endorsed Reichert, running for U.S. Senate)

Declined

 * Bruce Dammeier, Pierce County Executive (2017–present) and former state senator (2013–2017) (endorsed Reichert)
 * Jaime Herrera Beutler, former U.S. Representative for WA's 3rd congressional district (2011–2023) (running for Public Lands Commissioner)
 * Loren Culp, former Republic police chief, runner-up for governor in 2020, and candidate for WA's 4th congressional district in 2022 (endorsed Bird)
 * Drew MacEwen, state senator (running for U.S. House, endorsed Reichert)
 * J.T. Wilcox, state representative and former Minority Leader of the Washington House of Representatives

Declared

 * Brian Bogen (Independent), businessman
 * Jim Clark (Independent), computer programmer
 * William Combs (Independent), U.S. Navy veteran
 * Jeff Curry (Independent), school bus driver
 * Frank Dare (Independent), retiree
 * Michael DePaula (Libertarian), enterprise engineer
 * Leon Lawson (Trump Republican), used car dealer, proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory, candidate for governor in 2020, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022
 * Alan Makayev (Nonsense Busters), property manager
 * Rosetta Marshall-Williams (Independence)
 * Brad Mjelde (Independent), retired businessman
 * Andre Stackhouse (Green), nonprofit executive
 * Alex Tsimerman (Standup-America), business consultant and perennial candidate

Polling

 * with Bird, Ferguson, Franz, Garcia, and Mullet
 * with Constantine, Dammeier, Ferguson, and Franz
 * with Inslee, generic Republican, and generic Democrat

Polling

 * Bob Ferguson vs. Dave Reichert