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Washington Auditor Election

Primary Date: August 2, 2016

General Election Date: November 8, 2016

November Election Winner: Pat McCarthy (D)

Incumbent Prior to Election: Troy Kelley (D)

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Washingtonheld an election forauditor onNovember 8, 2016, with a primary onAugust 2.Pat McCarthy (D) defeatedMark Miloscia (R), keeping the auditor's office inDemocratic hands.

Overview

Prior to the election, Washington voters had electedDemocratic auditors since 1932, often by considerable margins. In the 2012 election, longtime incumbent AuditorBrian Sonntag (D) retired. Fellow DemocratTroy Kelley won the election by over 5 percent of the vote, which was a larger margin of victory than Democratic gubernatorial candidateJay Inslee won in the same year.

Kelley's margin of victory was much smaller than the 20 to 30 percent margins of victory that Sonntag had consistently won since 1996.^[1] Democrats distanced themselves from Kelley after he was investigated andindicted by a federal grand jury.^[2] The jury acquitted Kelley of one charge and was hung on the remaining 13, but he did not run for re-election.

The soleRepublican candidate to file—state SenatorMark Miloscia—served in the state house as aDemocrat for 14 years before his 2014 election to the state senate as a Republican. The 2016 election for auditor may have beenRepublicans' best chance in decades to regain control of the seat. Miloscia and formerPierce County supervisorPat McCarthy placed first and second respectively in the August primary election and competed in the general election. McCarthy defeated Miloscia onNovember 8, 2016.

Washington had adivided government both before and after the election. Ballotpedia identified both chambers of the state legislature asbattleground chambers in the 2016 elections, but control of the chambers did not change. After the election, Democrats held the governorship and a majority in thestate house; Republicans held a majority in thestate senate due to a Democratic senator who decided to caucus with the Republicans.

Candidates

Pat McCarthy(D) Most recent position:Pierce County Supervisor, 2008-2016 Past experience:Pierce County Auditor[3]

Mark Miloscia(R) Most recent position:Washington State Senator (2015-present) Past experience:Washington State Representative (D), 1999-2013

Click [show] to the right to view candidates who were defeated in the primary election.
Jeff Sprung(D) Most recent position: Attorney Past experience: Assistant U.S. Attorney[4] Other candidates Ballotpedia uses avariety of standards to determine which candidates will feature prominently in a given race. David Golden(Unaffiliated) Mark Wilson (Ind.)-Certified Professional Accountant

Results

General election

Pat McCarthy defeatedMark Miloscia in the Washington auditor election.

Washington Auditor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Pat McCarthy	52.31%	1,597,011
	Republican	Mark Miloscia	47.69%	1,455,771
Total Votes				3,052,782
Source:Washington Secretary of State

Primary election

Note: Washington utilizes a mail-in ballot system. Results were not finalized until 14 days after the primary election.^[5]

Mark Miloscia andPat McCarthy defeatedJeff Sprung,Mark Wilson, andDavid Golden in the Washington primary for auditor.

Washington primary for auditor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mark Miloscia	36.71%	481,910
	Democratic	Pat McCarthy	29.09%	381,828
	Democratic	Jeff Sprung	23.94%	314,290
	Independent	Mark Wilson	7.39%	96,972
	Unaffiliated	David Golden	2.87%	37,727
Total Votes				1,312,727
Source:Washington Secretary of State

Context of the 2016 election

Primary election

Aprimary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should appear on the general election ballot. Primaries usually take place several months before a general election. Washington utilizes atop-two primary, in which a single primary election is held for each office wherein all candidates running for that office, regardless of party affiliation, compete in the same election. The two candidates receiving the most votes move on to the general election; all voters may vote in the primary for any candidate. In this type of primary, it is possible for both candidates in the general election to belong to the same political party. The general election also mimics a runoff election in that the two candidates who compete already competed against each other in the primary election.^[6][7][8]

Washington's primary elections took place onAugust 2, 2016. The state utilizes a mail-in ballot system, and all ballots were required to be postmarked or left in a designated dropbox by 8 p.m. on election day. Ballots were mailed to registered voters 18 days prior to the election, and preliminary results were released at 8 p.m. on election day. While some races were called by the media on election day, official results were not certified by theWashington secretary of state until 14 days after the election, which, in 2016, was on August 16.^[9]

Incumbent

See also:Troy Kelley

Troy Kelley (D) was elected auditor in 2012 by a close, but comfortable margin of about 5 percent. In March 2015, Kelley became the subject of a federal investigation into his past business dealings. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 16, 2015, on a total of 15 counts, including possession of stolen property, as well as false declaration in and attempted obstruction of a civil lawsuit. Within 24 hours of his indictment, top officials in the state, including fellow DemocratsAttorney General Bob Ferguson andState Treasurer Jim McIntire called for his resignation.^[2] Although he did not resign, Kelley announced that he would not seek re-election in 2016.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Kelley pleaded not guilty to the charges but took a leave of absence from May 4th to December 18th to mount his legal defense.^[12][14][15] On April 26, 2016, a federal jury acquitted Kelley of one of the charges and could not agree on verdicts for the other 14 counts. Prosecutors announced that they would retry Kelley on the counts on which the jury deadlocked; however, the trial date was set for after Kelley's term as auditor expired.^[16]

Party control

Washington had a divided government entering the 2016 election. Democrats controlled the governorship and also held a two-seat majority in thestate house. Republicans gained control of thestate senate in the 2014 elections by a one-seat majority, which ended a seven-year Democratic trifecta. Ballotpedia identified both chambers of the state legislature asbattleground chambers in the 2016 elections. Party control of state government had the potential to shift after the November elections, but did not. Democrats retained control of the governorship and the state house. Democrats also gained a one-seat majority in the state senate, but did not take control of the chamber due to a Democratic senator who decided to caucus with the Republicans. Republicans thereby maintained control of the state senate, which resulted in the continuation of the state's divided government.

Democratic candidatePat McCarthy defeatedMark Miloscia (R) to win the state auditor's office in 2016. The state of Washington had not had a Republican auditor since longtime Auditor C.W. Clausen was defeated in his bid for re-election by Cliff Yelle (D) in 1932. However, during the 80 years of Democratic control between 1933 and 2013, the office was only held by three individuals: Cliff Yelle (1933-1965), Robert V. Graham (1965-1993), andBrian Sonntag (1993-2013). In the 2016 election, Democrats did not have the incumbency advantage that they had in most auditor elections since 1936.^[1]

Neither Democratic candidate for the state auditor position had previously held a state-level public office.Republican candidateMark Miloscia was a 16-year member of thestate legislature prior to the election. He had served in thestate house as a Democrat for 14 years before winning election to thestate senate as aRepublican in 2014.

IncumbentTroy Kelley (D), who did not seek re-election in 2016, received a federal indictment on 14 counts, which included perjury and possession of stolen property. Kelley declined to step down from office after calls for his resignation came from Democratic officials across the state, including from GovernorJay Inslee (D). In April 2016, he was acquitted of one charge; the jury deadlocked on the other 13. Prosecutors announced plans to retry Kelley after his term as auditor concluded.

Campaigns

Race background

Candidate field

Before incumbentTroy Kelley had formally announced that he would not seek re-election, fellow DemocratsJeff Sprung andPat McCarthy announced their candidacies for the office. Sprung was an attorney based inSeattle. McCarthy was thePierce County executive and the former county auditor.^[17]

State SenatorMark Miloscia was the onlyRepublican candidate running for auditor in the 2016 election. Elected to the state Senate in 2014, Miloscia had previously served in thestate House as aDemocrat since 1999. He also previously ran for auditor in2012 as a Democrat, but failed to move on to the general election, receiving only 9.8 percent of the votes in the 2012 primary. He changed party affiliation for his 2014 senatorial bid.

Sen. Miloscia had been a leading critic of AuditorTroy Kelley since the federal government began investigating Kelley in 2015. As the investigation continued, Miloscia called for greater transparency, saying, "The people and voters of this state deserve an explanation so we can understand the reason for these events and be able to make our own decisions about what it means or choose to investigate further. This must happen very quickly if we’re going to keep public trust in our government."^[18] Since Kelley was acquitted, Miloscia proposed to defund the auditor's office for as long as Kelley remained in charge.^[19]

Mark Wilson filed to run for auditor as an Independent Party candidate. Wilson is an accountant who specializes in fraud examination and financial investigation. In explaining his decision to run as an independent, Wilson said:

David Golden also filed to run for auditor, but unlike the other candidates, he did not state a party preference.^[22]

Campaign finance

General election candidates

Primary candidates

Endorsements

Campaign media

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any?Tell us!

Democrats Pat McCarthy (D)    Jeff Sprung (D)

Republicans Mark Miloscia (R)

Mark Wilson (Ind.)

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About the office

See also:Washington State Auditor

Incumbent

The incumbent wasTroy Kelley (D).Jan Jutte had previously assumed the office on an interim basis on May 4, 2015, as Kelley (D) went on unpaid leave to fight federal charges. Kelley returned to work in December 2015 despite objections from state officials. His trial began on March 14, 2016.^[14] First elected in 2012, Kelley began serving as auditor in January 2013. Although he was acquitted on one charge and the jury was deadlocked on the other 14 charges, Kelley did not run for re-election in 2016.^[10][26]

Authority

Article 3 of thestate constitution establishes the state's executive offices.

Article III, Section 2:

QualificationsArticle 3, Section 25 of thestate constitution establishes the qualifications of the office:

• a citizen of the United States
• a qualified elector in Washington

Past elections

Washington state government organizational chart

In Washington, thegovernor,lieutenant governor,secretary of state,treasurer,auditor,attorney general,superintendent of public instruction andcommissioner of public lands are elected every four years. Elections are held in November and winners assume office the following January, serving until their successors are elected and qualified. Washington elects their state executives in presidential years including 2016, 2020 and 2024.

To view the electoral history dating back to 2000 for the office of Washington Auditor, click [show] to expand the section.

2012 See also:Washington down ballot state executive elections, 2012 Troy Kelley (D) defeatedJames Watkins (R) for the open seat ofWashington State Auditor in the general election on November 6, 2012. 2012 General Election Results for Washington Auditor Washington State Auditor General Election, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Troy Kelley 52.9% 1,512,620      Republican James Watkins 47.1% 1,344,137 Total Votes 2,856,757 Election results viaWashington Secretary of State 2008 On November 4, 2008,Brian Sonntag won re-election to the office of Washington Auditor. He defeated J. Richard (Dick) McEntee (R) in the general election. Washington Auditor, 2008 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Brian SonntagIncumbent 63.5% 1,770,977      Republican J. Richard (Dick) McEntee 36.5% 1,016,396 Total Votes 2,787,373 Election results viaWashington Secretary of State. 2004 On November 2, 2004,Brian Sonntag won re-election to the office of Washington Auditor. He defeated Will Baker (R) and Jason G. Bush (L) in the general election. Washington Auditor, 2004 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Brian SonntagIncumbent 63.9% 1,668,575      Republican Will Baker 32.2% 841,772      Libertarian Jason G. Bush 3.9% 101,161 Total Votes 2,611,508 Election results viaWashington Secretary of State. 2000 On November 7, 2000,Brian Sonntag won re-election to the office of Washington Auditor. He defeated Richard McEntee (R) and Chris Caputo (L) in the general election. Washington Auditor, 2000 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Brian SonntagIncumbent 57.6% 1,295,745      Republican Richard McEntee 36.9% 829,458      Libertarian Chris Caputo 5.5% 123,058 Total Votes 2,248,261 Election results viaWashington Secretary of State.

Recent news

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See also

External links

Suggest a link

• Washington Office of the State Auditor

Footnotes