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 County results Gorton: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Sims: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Washington |
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The 1994 United States Senate election in Washington was held November 8, 1994. Incumbent Senator Slade Gorton won re-election to a second consecutive term. As of 2025, this was the last time a Republican or a man or Non-Catholic won a U.S. Senate election in Washington.
Incumbent Slade Gorton was first elected U.S. Senator from Washington in 1980. Gorton narrowly lost his re-election bid in 1986. In 1988, Gorton successfully ran for the state's other Senate seat.
Leading up to the 1994 U.S. Senate elections, Gorton was considered one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents. Democrats had swept the statewide elections in 1992—winning the presidential, gubernatorial, and U.S. Senate races. [1]
Many prominent Washington Democrats declined to contest the seat. Campaign analyst Charlie Cook of The Cook Political Report wrote that "the real top-notch folks just aren't running." Seattle mayor Norm Rice was encouraged by President Bill Clinton to run, but opted to stay in his position as mayor. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee unsuccessfully urged members of the state's U.S. House delegation to run. [1]
Ron Sims, King County Councilman, won the crowded Democratic primary with 18% of the vote. News anchor Mike James came in second with 15%; all other candidates received less than 5%. [2]
Incumbent Slade Gorton faced no serious competition for the Republican nomination. Gorton won the primary with 52% of the vote. No other Republican candidate received any significant amount of support. [2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Slade Gorton (incumbent) | 492,251 | 52.95% | |
| Democratic | Ron Sims | 162,382 | 17.47% | |
| Democratic | Mike James | 138,005 | 14.85% | |
| Democratic | Scott Hardman | 29,973 | 3.32% | |
| Republican | Warren E. Hanson | 26,628 | 2.86% | |
| Democratic | Jesse Wineberry | 24,698 | 2.66% | |
| Total votes | 873,937 | 100.00% | ||
Despite serving 12 years in the U.S. Senate, Gorton campaigned in 1994 as an outsider candidate. [3] [4] He told crowds at campaign rallies: "If you want more of what you're getting from Washington, D.C., send one of my opponents. If you want a different direction, give a voice to balance by sending me back to the Senate." [5] He gained support among agricultural, logging, and mining groups in Eastern Washington for his criticism of federal regulations. Gorton called for opening up more federal forests to logging and changes to the Endangered Species Act. [5]
Sims campaigned in support of the Clinton administration. He accused Gorton of obstructing President Clinton's healthcare and crime reforms. [2] The Sims campaign also attempted to portray Gorton as out of touch with the average Washingtonian. [4] Sims was the first African American U.S. Senate candidate in state history to advance to the general election, although the issue of race was rarely addressed during the campaign. [4]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Slade Gorton (incumbent) | 947,821 | 55.75% | +4.71% | |
| Democratic | Ron Sims | 752,352 | 44.25% | −4.61% | |
| Majority | 195,469 | 11.5% | +155,293 | ||
| Turnout | 1,700,173 | −148,369 | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | ||||
Maria Ellen Cantwell is an American politician who is the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Washington House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993, and in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995.
Michael Edward Lowry was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of Washington from 1993 to 1997. His political career ended when his deputy press secretary, Susanne Albright, made accusations of sexual misconduct against him. A member of the Democratic Party, Lowry served as a United States Representative from Washington's 7th congressional district from 1979 to 1989, and unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 1983 and 1988.
Thomas Slade Gorton III was an American lawyer and politician from Washington. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1981 to 1987, and again from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's U.S. Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice, first in 1986 by Brock Adams and again in 2000 by Maria Cantwell following a recount, becoming the last Republican senator to date for each seat.
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The 1980 United States Senate election in Washington was held on November 4, 1980. Longtime incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Warren Magnuson, the Senate President pro tempore, ran for a seventh term in office but lost re-election to Republican State Attorney General Slade Gorton. Magnuson was the most senior U.S. senator to lose re-election until Ted Stevens' defeat in 2008. Gorton was one of the dozen Republicans who beat Democrats to seize control of the Senate fueled by Ronald Reagan's landslide victory. This was the only time since 1926 that Republicans won Washington's Class 3 Senate seat and after losing re-election to this seat in 1986, Gorton later won Washington's other Senate seat in 1988 and 1994 before losing re-election again in 2000.
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The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, while Republicans retained control of Congress. This marked the first time Republicans won or held unified control of the presidency and Congress since 2004, and would not do so again until 2024.
The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, to elect the ten U.S. representatives from the state of Washington, one from each of the state's 10 congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, other elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The state certified the results on December 4. The nonpartisan blanket primary election was held on August 5, with the top two candidates for each position advancing to the general election.
The 2016 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Maryland took place on November 6, 2018, in order to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Maryland. It was held concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Cardin was re-elected to a third and ultimately final term by a landslide margin of almost 35 points, the largest margin in any election for this seat since Maryland began holding direct elections for Senate in 1913.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Washington took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Washington. Incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell won election to a fourth term over television news journalist Susan Hutchison, a Republican.
The 1926 United States Senate election in Washington was held on November 2, 1926. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Wesley Livsey Jones was re-elected to a fourth term in office over Seattle attorney A. Scott Bullitt.
General elections were held in the U.S. state of Washington on November 3, 2020. A primary was held on August 4.
The 2000 House elections in Washington occurred on November 7, 2000, to elect the members of the State of Washington's delegation to the United States House of Representatives. Washington has nine seats in the House, apportioned according to the 1990 United States census. This election saw the Democrats flip one Republican-held open seat. These elections occurred alongside Al Gore's victory in the state over George W. Bush in the presidential election.
The 2024 Washington State Senate elections were held on November 5, 2024, with a nonpartisan blanket primary election held on August 6, 2024. Voters in 25 of the 49 state legislative districts elected Senators to the Washington State Senate. The elections will coincide with other elections for federal, state, and local offices.
