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 County results Ray: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Spellman: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1976 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1976. This election was especially significant in that Washington elected its first female governor,Dixy Lee Ray.Wesley C. Uhlman andJohn Patric unsuccessfully ran in the blanket primary.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dixy Lee Ray | 205,232 | 24.09% | |
| Democratic | Wesley C. Uhlman | 198,336 | 23.28% | |
| Republican | John D. Spellman | 185,439 | 21.77% | |
| Democratic | Marvin Durning | 136,290 | 16.00% | |
| Republican | Harley Hoppe | 111,957 | 13.14% | |
| Democratic | Duke Stockton | 5,588 | 0.66% | |
| Republican | Emmett Watson | 4,798 | 0.56% | |
| Republican | Carl D. Ricketts | 2,636 | 0.31% | |
| Republican | John Patric | 1,654 | 0.19% | |
| Total votes | 851,930 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dixy Lee Ray | 821,797 | 53.14% | +10.32% | |
| Republican | John D. Spellman | 687,039 | 44.43% | −6.36% | |
| American Independent | Art Manning | 12,406 | 0.80% | ||
| OWL | Red Kelly | 12,400 | 0.80% | ||
| Socialist Labor | Henry Killman | 4,137 | 0.27% | +0.08% | |
| Libertarian | Maurice Willey | 4,133 | 0.27% | ||
| Socialist Workers | Patricia A. Bethard | 3,106 | 0.20% | −0.11% | |
| U.S. Labor | Evelyn Olafson | 1,364 | 0.09% | ||
| Majority | 134,758 | 8.71% | |||
| Total votes | 1,546,382 | 100.00% | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | Swing | +16.67% | |||
Dixy Lee Ray was the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate to carryIsland County andKlickitat County sinceClarence D. Martin in1936. This is the most recent gubernatorial election in which a Democrat has carriedBenton County andFranklin County.
| County[4] | Dixy Lee Ray Democratic | John D. Spellman Republican | Art Manning AIP | Red Kelly OWL | All Others Various | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 2,112 | 44.01% | 2,524 | 52.59% | 110 | 2.29% | 28 | 0.58% | 25 | 0.52% | -412 | -8.59% | 4,799 |
| Asotin | 2,493 | 42.63% | 3,231 | 55.25% | 66 | 1.13% | 24 | 0.41% | 34 | 0.58% | -738 | -12.62% | 5,848 |
| Benton | 23,006 | 65.98% | 11,367 | 32.60% | 220 | 0.63% | 133 | 0.38% | 141 | 0.40% | 11,639 | 33.38% | 34,867 |
| Chelan | 8,278 | 44.70% | 9,926 | 53.60% | 118 | 0.64% | 111 | 0.60% | 84 | 0.45% | -1,648 | -8.90% | 18,517 |
| Clallam | 10,234 | 55.58% | 7,514 | 40.81% | 294 | 1.60% | 201 | 1.09% | 171 | 0.93% | 2,720 | 14.77% | 18,414 |
| Clark | 32,038 | 52.64% | 27,222 | 44.73% | 678 | 1.11% | 507 | 0.83% | 418 | 0.69% | 4,816 | 7.91% | 60,863 |
| Columbia | 965 | 47.68% | 1,027 | 50.74% | 24 | 1.19% | 7 | 0.35% | 1 | 0.05% | -62 | -3.06% | 2,024 |
| Cowlitz | 14,930 | 54.70% | 11.504 | 42.14% | 534 | 1.96% | 154 | 0.56% | 176 | 0.64% | 3,429 | 12.56% | 27,295 |
| Douglas | 4,263 | 50.13% | 4,134 | 48.61% | 61 | 0.72% | 28 | 0.33% | 18 | 0.21% | 129 | 1.52% | 8,504 |
| Ferry | 805 | 48.85% | 773 | 46.91% | 43 | 2.61% | 11 | 0.67% | 16 | 0.97% | 32 | 1.94% | 1,648 |
| Franklin | 6,187 | 60.81% | 3,826 | 37.61% | 65 | 0.64% | 30 | 0.29% | 66 | 0.65% | 2,361 | 23.21% | 10,174 |
| Garfield | 579 | 37.43% | 951 | 61.47% | 13 | 0.84% | 1 | 0.06% | 3 | 0.19% | -372 | -24.05% | 1,547 |
| Grant | 8,148 | 47.37% | 8,589 | 49.93% | 201 | 1.17% | 92 | 0.53% | 171 | 0.99% | -441 | -2.56% | 17,201 |
| Grays Harbor | 13,567 | 55.60% | 10,072 | 41.28% | 240 | 0.98% | 301 | 1.23% | 220 | 0.90% | 3,495 | 14.32% | 24,400 |
| Island | 7,408 | 53.12% | 6,358 | 45.59% | 66 | 0.47% | 53 | 0.38% | 62 | 0.44% | 1,050 | 7.53% | 13,947 |
| Jefferson | 3,121 | 52.28% | 2,644 | 44.29% | 65 | 1.09% | 67 | 1.12% | 73 | 1.22% | 477 | 7.99% | 5,970 |
| King | 277,502 | 50.87% | 254,945 | 46.73% | 3,117 | 0.57% | 4,813 | 0.88% | 5,141 | 0.94% | 22,557 | 4.13% | 545,518 |
| Kitsap | 30,399 | 59.31% | 19,626 | 38.29% | 401 | 0.78% | 312 | 0.61% | 513 | 1.00% | 10,773 | 21.02% | 51,251 |
| Kittitas | 4,878 | 49.83% | 4,733 | 48.35% | 47 | 0.48% | 70 | 0.72% | 62 | 0.63% | 145 | 1.48% | 9,790 |
| Klickitat | 3,016 | 54.03% | 2,411 | 43.19% | 86 | 1.54% | 37 | 0.66% | 32 | 0.57% | 605 | 10.84% | 5,582 |
| Lewis | 13,109 | 61.43% | 7,633 | 35.77% | 352 | 1.65% | 138 | 0.65% | 107 | 0.50% | 5,476 | 25.66% | 21,339 |
| Lincoln | 2,153 | 41.73% | 2,907 | 56.35% | 49 | 0.95% | 29 | 0.56% | 21 | 0.41% | -754 | -14.62% | 5,159 |
| Mason | 6,984 | 61.57% | 4,052 | 35.72% | 126 | 1.11% | 104 | 0.92% | 77 | 0.68% | 2,932 | 25.85% | 11,343 |
| Okanogan | 5,543 | 48.67% | 5,462 | 47.96% | 212 | 1.86% | 93 | 0.82% | 79 | 0.69% | 81 | 0.71% | 11,389 |
| Pacific | 4,474 | 60.52% | 2,656 | 35.93% | 77 | 1.04% | 99 | 1.34% | 86 | 1.16% | 1,818 | 24.59% | 7,392 |
| Pend Oreille | 1,641 | 52.03% | 1,438 | 45.59% | 32 | 1.01% | 24 | 0.76% | 19 | 0.60% | 203 | 6.44% | 3,154 |
| Pierce | 99,527 | 63.27% | 54,543 | 34.67% | 884 | 0.56% | 835 | 0.53% | 1,523 | 0.97% | 44,984 | 28.60% | 157,312 |
| San Juan | 1,658 | 45.21% | 1,907 | 52.00% | 27 | 0.74% | 42 | 1.15% | 33 | 0.90% | -249 | -6.79% | 3,667 |
| Skagit | 14,750 | 54.74% | 11,486 | 42.62% | 286 | 1.06% | 224 | 0.83% | 201 | 0.75% | 3,264 | 12.11% | 26,947 |
| Skamania | 1,403 | 54.34% | 1,126 | 43.61% | 18 | 0.70% | 21 | 0.81% | 14 | 0.54% | 277 | 10.73% | 2,582 |
| Snohomish | 66,369 | 57.26% | 46,946 | 40.50% | 1,072 | 0.92% | 812 | 0.70% | 715 | 0.62% | 19,423 | 16.76% | 115,914 |
| Spokane | 61,494 | 47.67% | 64,044 | 49.65% | 1,374 | 1.07% | 1,336 | 1.04% | 750 | 0.58% | -2,550 | -1.98% | 128,998 |
| Stevens | 4,177 | 45.50% | 4,556 | 49.62% | 276 | 3.01% | 91 | 0.99% | 81 | 0.88% | -379 | -4.13% | 9,181 |
| Thurston | 23,957 | 54.11% | 18,984 | 42.88% | 297 | 0.67% | 686 | 1.55% | 348 | 0.79% | 4,973 | 11.23% | 44,272 |
| Wahkiakum | 938 | 56.13% | 692 | 41.41% | 23 | 1.38% | 9 | 0.54% | 9 | 0.54% | 246 | 14.72% | 1,671 |
| Walla Walla | 7,562 | 41.93% | 10,177 | 56.43% | 66 | 0.37% | 92 | 0.51% | 139 | 0.77% | -2,615 | -14.50% | 18,036 |
| Whatcom | 21,599 | 53.32% | 17,688 | 43.67% | 272 | 0.67% | 408 | 1.01% | 539 | 1.33% | 3,911 | 9.66% | 40,506 |
| Whitman | 5,875 | 38.99% | 8,679 | 57.60% | 163 | 1.08% | 202 | 1.34% | 150 | 1.00% | -2,804 | -18.61% | 15,069 |
| Yakima | 24,655 | 45.41% | 28,689 | 52.84% | 351 | 0.65% | 175 | 0.32% | 422 | 0.78% | -4,034 | -7.43% | 54,292 |
| Totals | 821,797 | 53.14% | 687,039 | 44.43% | 12,406 | 0.80% | 12,400 | 0.80% | 12,740 | 0.82% | 134,758 | 8.71% | 1,546,382 |
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