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United States Senate election in Washington, 2016

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2016 U.S. Senate Election in Washington
General Election Date
November 8, 2016
Primary Date
August 2, 2016
November 8 Election Winner:
Patty MurrayDemocratic Party
Incumbent prior to election:
Patty MurrayDemocratic Party
Patty Murray.jpg
Race Ratings
Cook Political Report:Solid D[1]
Sabato's Crystal Ball:Safe D[2]
Rothenberg & Gonzales:Safe D[3]
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Voters inWashingtonelected one member to theU.S. Senate in theelection on November 8, 2016.

Heading into the election, BallotpediaratedWashington's U.S. Senate race as safely Democratic. IncumbentPatty Murray (D) won re-election in 2016. She defeatedChris Vance (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Murray and Vance defeated 15 other candidates to win the primary on August 2, 2016. In Washington, all candidates run in the same primary and the two candidates who receive the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.[4][5]

Candidate Filing DeadlinePrimary ElectionGeneral Election
May 20, 2016
August 2, 2016
November 8, 2016

Primary: Washington uses atop-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot, for congressional and state-level elections. The top two vote-getters move on to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. In states that do not use a top-two system, all parties are usually able to put forward a candidate for the general election if they choose to.[6][7]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, seethis article.


Incumbent: The election filled theClass 3 Senate seat held byPatty Murray (D). She was first elected in 1992.

Election results

General election

U.S. Senate, Washington General Election, 2016
PartyCandidateVote %Votes
    DemocraticGreen check mark transparent.pngPatty MurrayIncumbent59%1,913,979
    Republican Chris Vance41%1,329,338
Total Votes3,243,317
Source:Washington Secretary of State

Primary election

U.S. Senate, Washington General Primary, 2016
PartyCandidateVote %Votes
    DemocraticGreen check mark transparent.pngPatty MurrayIncumbent53.8%745,421
    RepublicanGreen check mark transparent.pngChris Vance27.5%381,004
    Republican Eric John Makus4.2%57,825
    Democratic Phil Cornell3.4%46,460
    Republican Scott Nazarino3%41,542
    Libertarian Mike Luke1.5%20,988
    Democratic Mohammad Said1%13,362
    Conservative Donna Rae Lands0.8%11,472
    Independent Ted Cummings0.8%11,028
    Human Rights Sam Wright0.8%10,751
    Republican Uncle Mover0.6%8,569
    System Reboot Party Jeremy Teuton0.6%7,991
    Democratic Thor Amundson0.6%7,906
    Independent Chuck Jackson0.5%6,318
    Lincoln Caucus Pano Churchill0.4%5,150
    Independent Zach Haller0.4%5,092
    Standupamerica Alex Tsimerman0.3%4,117
Total Votes1,384,996
Source:Washington Secretary of State

Candidates

General election candidates:

Democratic PartyPatty MurrayApproveda
Republican PartyChris Vance

Primary candidates:

Democratic PartyPatty Murray - Incumbent[4]Approveda
Democratic PartyPhil Cornell[8]
Democratic PartyMohammad Said[4]
Democratic PartyThor Amundson[4]
Republican PartyChris Vance[9]Approveda
Republican PartyUncle Mover[4]
Republican PartyEric John Makus[4]
Republican PartyScott Nazarino[4]
Libertarian PartyMike Luke (Libertarian)[10]
Grey.pngSam Wright (Human Rights Party)[4]
Grey.pngZach Haller (Independent)[4]
Darkred.pngDonna Rae Lands (Conservative)[4]
Grey.pngAlex Tsimerman (Standupamerica Party)[4]
Grey.pngPano Churchill (Lincoln Caucus Party)[4]
Grey.pngTed Cummings (Independent)[4]
Grey.png Chuck Jackson (Independent)[4]
Grey.pngJeremy Teuton (System Reboot Party)[4]


Election history

2012

See also:United States Senate elections in Washington, 2012

Maria Cantwell won re-election to theUnited States Senate in 2012.

U.S. Senate, Washington, General Election, 2012
PartyCandidateVote %Votes
    DemocraticGreen check mark transparent.pngMaria CantwellIncumbent60.5%1,855,493
    Republican Michael Baumgartner39.5%1,213,924
Total Votes3,069,417
Source:Washington Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010

On November 2, 2010, Patty Murray won re-election to theUnited States Senate. She defeated Dino Rossi (R) in the general election.[11]

U.S. Senate, Washington General Election, 2010
PartyCandidateVote %Votes
    DemocraticGreen check mark transparent.pngPatty Murrayincumbent52.4%1,314,930
    Republican Dino Rossi47.6%1,196,164
Total Votes2,511,094

Important dates and deadlines

See also:Washington elections, 2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Washington in 2016.

Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016
DeadlineEvent typeEvent description
January 11, 2016Campaign financeMonthly C-4 and C-3 due, if required
February 10, 2016Campaign financeMonthly C-4 and C-3 due, if required
March 10, 2016Campaign financeMonthly C-4 and C-3 due, if required
April 11, 2016Campaign financeMonthly C-4 and C-3 due, if required
May 10, 2016Campaign financeMonthly C-4 and C-3 due, if required
May 20, 2016Ballot accessFiling deadline for all candidates
June 10, 2016Campaign financeMonthly C-4 due, if required
July 12, 2016Campaign finance21-day pre-primary C-4 due
July 15, 2016Ballot accessFiling deadline for write-in primary candidates
July 26, 2016Campaign finance7-day pre-primary C-4 due
August 2, 2016Election datePrimary election
September 12, 2016Campaign financePost-primary C-4 due
October 18, 2016Campaign finance21-day pre-general C-4 due
October 21, 2016Ballot accessFiling deadline for write-in general election candidates
November 1, 2016Campaign finance7-day pre-general C-4 due
November 8, 2016Election dateGeneral election
December 12, 2016Campaign financePost-general C-4 due (and C-3, if required)
January 10, 2017Campaign financeEnd of election cycle C-4 due (and C-3, if required)
Note: Beginning June 1, 2016, C-3 reports must be filed weekly for deposits made during the previous seven days.
Sources:Washington Secretary of State, "2016 Elections Calendar," accessed June 12, 2015
Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "2016 Key Reporting Dates for Candidates," accessed November 25, 2015

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑Cook Political Report, "2016 Senate Race Ratings for July 11, 2016," accessed July 19, 2016
  2. ↑Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2016 Senate," accessed July 18, 2016
  3. ↑Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, "Senate Ratings," accessed July 19, 2016
  4. ↑4.004.014.024.034.044.054.064.074.084.094.104.114.124.134.14Washington Secretary of State, "Unofficial List of Candidates in Ballot Order," accessed May 23, 2016
  5. ↑Politico, "Washington House Primaries Results," August 2, 2016
  6. ↑Washington State Legislature, "Wash. Rev. Code § 29A.52.112," accessed December 2, 2025
  7. ↑Washington State Legislature, "Wash. Rev. Code § 29A.60.221," accessed December 2, 2025
  8. ↑Phil Cornell for Senate, "Home," accessed May 5, 2016
  9. ↑The Seattle Times, "Former GOP chair Chris Vance to challenge Sen. Patty Murray," September 7, 2015
  10. ↑Libertarian Party of Washington, "2016 Candidates," accessed April 30, 2016
  11. ↑U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
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For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see:Public policy in the 2016 elections!


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
Democratic Party (10)
Republican Party (2)