2016 United States Senate election in Washington

The 2016 United States Senate election in Washington was held November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Washington. Incumbent Democratic Senator Patty Murray ran for re-election to a fifth term,[1] and won by a significant margin, winning 59% of the vote, to Republican Chris Vance's 41%.

2016 United States Senate election in Washington

November 8, 2016

Nominee Patty Murray Chris Vance Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,913,979 1,329,338 Percentage 59.0% 41.0%

County results Murray:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Vance:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Patty Murray Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Patty Murray Democratic

The election took place concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Under Washington's nonpartisan blanket primary law, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the August 2 primary, voters had the choice to vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. The top two finishers—regardless of party—advance to the general election in November, even if a candidate manages to receive a majority of the votes cast in the primary election. California is the only other state with this system, a so-called "top two primary" (Louisiana has a similar "jungle primary", but there is no general election if one candidate receives 50% plus one vote of all votes cast in the primary).

Primary election

Declared

• Thor Amundson[2]
• Phil Cornell, retired communications technician[3]
• Patty Murray, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Mohammed Said[2]

Declared

• Eric John Makus[2]
• Uncle Mover[2]
• Scott Nazarino[2]
• Chris Vance, former state representative and former chair of the Washington State Republican Party[4]

Declined

• Bill Bryant, Seattle Port Commissioner (running for governor)[5][6]
• Andy Hill, state senator[5]
• Jaime Herrera Beutler, U.S. Representative[7]
• Steve Litzow, state senator[5]
• Rob McKenna, former attorney general of Washington and nominee for governor in 2012[8]
• Cathy McMorris Rodgers, U.S. Representative[7]
• Dave Reichert, U.S. Representative (running for re-election)[5][9][10]
• Dino Rossi, former state senator, nominee for Governor of Washington in 2004 and 2008, and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2010[5]

Declared

• Pano Churchill (Lincoln Caucus)[2]
• Ted Cummings (Independent)[2]
• Zach Haller (Independent)[2]
• Chuck Jackson (Independent)[2]
• Donna Rae Lands (Conservative)[2]
• Mike Luke (Libertarian)[2]
• Jeremy Teuton (System Reboot)[2]
• Alex Tsimerman (StandUpAmerica)[2]
• Sam Wright (Human Rights)[2]

Results

Blanket primary election results[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Patty Murray (incumbent)	745,421	53.82%
	Republican	Chris Vance	381,004	27.51%
	Republican	Eric John Makus	57,825	4.18%
	Democratic	Phil Cornell	46,460	3.35%
	Republican	Scott Nazarino	41,542	3.00%
	Libertarian	Mike Luke	20,988	1.52%
	Democratic	Mohammad Said	13,362	0.96%
	Independent	Donna Rae Lands	11,472	0.83%
	Independent	Ted Cummings	11,028	0.80%
	Independent	Sam Wright	10,751	0.78%
	Republican	Uncle Mover	8,569	0.62%
	Independent	Jeremy Teuton	7,991	0.58%
	Democratic	Thor Amundson	7,906	0.57%
	Independent	Chuck Jackson	6,318	0.46%
	Independent	Pano Churchill	5,150	0.37%
	Independent	Zach Haller	5,092	0.37%
	Independent	Alex Tsimerman	4,117	0.30%
Total votes			1,384,996	100.00%

General election

Debates

Dates	Location	Murray	Vance	Link
October 16, 2016	Seattle, Washington	Participant	Participant	Full debate - C-SPAN
October 23, 2016	Redmond, Washington	Participant	Participant	Full debate - C-SPAN

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[12]	Safe D	September 9, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	September 19, 2016
Rothenberg Political Report[14]	Safe D	September 2, 2016
Daily Kos[15]	Safe D	September 16, 2016
Real Clear Politics[16]	Safe D	September 15, 2016

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Patty Murray (D)	Chris Vance (R)	Other	Undecided
SurveyMonkey	November 1–7, 2016	1,451	± 4.6%	59%	37%	—	4%
Insights West	November 4–6, 2016	402	± 4.9%	53%	37%	—	11%
SurveyMonkey	October 31–November 6, 2016	1,292	± 4.6%	59%	37%	—	4%
SurveyMonkey	October 28–November 3, 2016	944	± 4.6%	61%	36%	—	3%
SurveyUSA	October 31–November 2, 2016	667	± 3.9%	53%	41%	—	6%
SurveyMonkey	October 27–November 2, 2016	807	± 4.6%	61%	36%	—	3%
SurveyMonkey	October 26–November 1, 2016	698	± 4.6%	61%	36%	—	3%
SurveyMonkey	October 25–31, 2016	745	± 4.6%	61%	36%	—	3%
Elway Poll	October 20–22, 2016	502	± 4.5%	58%	34%	—	8%
KCTS 9/YouGov	October 6–13, 2016	750	± 4.4%	55%	39%	—	16%
Strategies 360/KOMO News	September 29–October 3, 2016	500	± 4.4%	57%	36%	—	6%
Emerson College	September 25–26, 2016	700	± 3.6%	48%	41%	3%	8%
Insights West	September 12–14, 2016	505	± 4.4%	46%	25%	2%	27%
Elway Poll	August 9–13, 2016	500	± 4.5%	52%	34%	—	14%
Elway Poll	April 14–17, 2016	503	± 3.5%	50%	32%	—	18%
Elway Poll	October 13–15, 2015	500	± 4.5%	44%	23%	—	33%

Results

At 1,913,979 votes, Murray made history by receiving the most votes in a United States Senate election in Washington state.

United States Senate election in Washington, 2016 [17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Patty Murray (incumbent)	1,913,979	59.01%	+6.65%
	Republican	Chris Vance	1,329,338	40.99%	-6.65%
Total votes			3,243,317	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

See also

• United States Senate elections, 2016

References

1. Brunner, Jim (February 9, 2014). "Patty Murray to seek fifth Senate term in 2016". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
2. Camden, Jim (May 23, 2016). "Final list of candidates in the August primary". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
3. http://www.philcornell4ussenate.org Archived May 17, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Phil Cornell (D) for Senate
4. Pathé, Simone (September 8, 2015). "Former Washington GOP Chairman to Challenge Patty Murray". Roll Call. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
5. Pathe, Simone (May 8, 2015). "GOP Searches for Patty Murray Challenger". Roll Call. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
6. Brunner, Jim (May 14, 2015). "Port Commissioner Bill Bryant announces run for governor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
7. "Washington Voters Grow Further In Support of Gay Marriage, Marijuana, Background Checks" (PDF) (Press release). Public Policy Polling. May 20, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
8. Rosenthal, Brian (February 19, 2013). "Former AG McKenna joins law firm". Yakima Herald. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
9. Joseph, Cameron (August 9, 2013). "Rep. Reichert 'thinking about' run for Senate, governor in Washington". The Hill. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
10. Brunner, Jim (October 16, 2015). "Dave Reichert won't run against Jay Inslee for governor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
11. "August 2, 2016 Primary Results - U.S. Senator". Washington Secretary of State. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
12. "2016 Senate Race Ratings for September 9, 2016". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
13. "2016 Senate". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
14. "2016 Senate Ratings (September 2, 2016)". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
15. "Election Outlook: 2016 Race Ratings". Daily Kos. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
16. "Battle for the Senate 2016". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
17. "November 8, 2016 General Election Results". Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved December 3, 2016.

External links

Official campaign websites (Archived)

• Patty Murray (D) for Senate
• Chris Vance (R) for Senate