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| Turnout | 75.46% | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Cantwell: 40–50% 50–60% Gorton: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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The2000 United States Senate election in Washington was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Republican U.S. SenatorSlade Gorton was seeking reelection to a third consecutive term, and a fourth overall, but he was unseated for a second time by a very narrow margin (the first time being in1986) by former CongresswomanMaria Cantwell. The race was the most expensive contest in the state's history at the time.[1]
By a margin of 0.09%, this election was the closest race of the 2000 Senate election cycle. Cantwell's victory was credited to her strength in thePuget Sound suburbs of Seattle, where she performed well. The campaign proved an expensive affair, with Cantwell spending almost $10 million of her own money she made atRealNetworks on her campaign.[2]
Maria Cantwell's inauguration on January 3, 2001 marked the first time since 1981 that Democrats held both Senate seats from Washington. This is the last time a Senator from Washington lost re-election.
Two major Democratic candidates entered the Senate race: Cantwell, a former member of Congress, and Senn, Washington's insurance commissioner. Cantwell was generally considered the more moderate of the two, and touted her private sector success in Seattle'sbooming technology industry. Senn was considered as apopulist, and campaigned as a staunch critic of the insurance industry.[3][4]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | Slade Gorton (R) | Maria Cantwell (D) | Deborah Senn (D) | Other/Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elway Poll[5] | July 2000 | 400 (RV) | – | 42% | 21% | 12% | 25% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Slade Gorton (incumbent) | 560,787 | 43.57% | |
| Democratic | Maria Cantwell | 472,609 | 36.71% | |
| Democratic | Deborah Senn | 168,110 | 13.06% | |
| Republican | Warren E. Hanson | 17,782 | 1.38% | |
| Libertarian | Jeff Jared | 16,247 | 1.26% | |
| Democratic | Barbara Lampert | 15,150 | 1.18% | |
| Democratic | Robert Tilden Medley | 14,009 | 1.09% | |
| Republican | Ken McCandless | 12,089 | 0.94% | |
| Republican | June Riggs | 10,455 | 0.81% | |
| Total votes | 1,287,238 | 100.00% | ||
In the general election, Cantwell campaigned as a modern candidate with experience in high tech who understood the modern economy; she accused Gorton of offering "19th-century solutions to 21st-century problems".[7] Gorton criticized Cantwell for spending millions on her own campaign, arguing she was trying to buy her way into the Senate.[1]
Newspapers
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Slade Gorton (R) | Maria Cantwell (D) | Other/Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA[9] | October 31 – November 1, 2000 | 500 (LV) | – | 48% | 46% | 6% |
| Elway Poll[10] | October 18–20, 2000 | 400 (RV) | – | 48% | 45% | 7% |
The victor of the race was at first unclear due to the amount of absentee ballots; the certified count on November 22 reported that Cantwell was ahead by 1,953 votes.[7] Following the recount, Cantwell was certified the winner of the election by 2,229 votes out of more than 2.4 million.[11] Cantwell carried only five of the state's 39 counties, but wonKing County (home toSeattle) by more than a 150,000-vote margin.[11] The result was the second loss in Gorton's political career, after he lost re-election to a second Senate term in1986.[7]
Approximately 26,000 ballots were rejected during the recount for various issues.[12]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Maria Cantwell | 1,199,437 | 48.73% | +4.48% | |
| Republican | Slade Gorton (incumbent) | 1,197,208 | 48.64% | −7.11% | |
| Libertarian | Jeff Jared | 64,734 | 2.63% | +2.6% | |
| Total votes | 2,461,379 | 100.00% | +761,206 | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
After her victory, Cantwell announced that there was only "One Washington"; she also said she would work to make sure the entire state benefited from thePuget Sound region's prosperity, and that each year she would visit each of the state's 39 counties, interpreted as a gesture to the counties which she had lost.[11] Her victory meant that both of Washington's senators were female (the other beingPatty Murray); it was at that time one of three states to hold the distinction, along with California and Maine.[7][11] Cantwell also became the thirteenth woman to serve in the Senate at the same time.[11]
Cantwell's election also meant that Democrats and Republicans would have a 50–50 tie in the Senate.[7][14] At the time the race was called, it was still unclear whetherDick Cheney orJoe Lieberman would beVice President and thus cast the tie-breaking vote.[7][11] At the time, it was noted that if theGore-Lieberman ticket were victorious, then Connecticut'sRepublican governor would appoint Senator Lieberman's replacement, thereby giving Republicans a majority in the chamber; if theBush-Cheney ticket were elected (the ultimate outcome), with Cantwell the winner of her race, there would be a tie in the chamber.[7]
In a January 2002 appearance onC-Span'sBooknotes,Ralph Nader (the 2000Green Partypresidential nominee) stated that when he met with Democratic SenatorHarry Reid after the election, Reid had credited his candidacy with aiding Cantwell's victory; Nader had received 103,000 votes in the state, and since the party didn't run a Senate candidate, his supporters backed Cantwell down the ballot.[14]
We endorsed Cantwell six years ago...
And I met with Senator Harry Reid, the number two Democrat in the Senate. And he acknowledged that the Green spillover votes elected Maria Cantwell. She won by 2,300 votes. I got 103,000 in Washington state, and there was no Green Party Senate candidate. And these folks were overwhelmingly for her.
Official campaign websites (archived)
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