2008 Washington Public Lands Commissioner election

2008 Washington Public Lands Commissioner election

←  2004 November 4, 2008 2012  →

Candidate Peter J. Goldmark Doug Sutherland Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,416,904 1,385,903 Percentage 50.55% 49.45%

County results Congressional district results Goldmark:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Sutherland:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Public Lands Commissioner before election Doug Sutherland Republican Elected Public Lands Commissioner Peter J. Goldmark Democratic

The 2008 Washington Public Lands Commissioner election was held on November 4, 2008, to elect the Washington Public Lands Commissioner, concurrently with the 2008 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the U.S. Senate and various state and local elections, including for U.S. House and governor of Washington.

Democrat Peter J. Goldmark narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland. ^[1]

Candidates

Washington is one of two states that holds a top-two primary, meaning that all candidates are listed on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation, and the top two move on to the general election.

Republican Party

Advanced to general

• Doug Sutherland, incumbent public lands commissioner (2001–2009) ^[2]

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

• Peter J. Goldmark, rancher and nominee for Washington's 5th congressional district in 2006 ^[3]

Results

Blanket primary results by county

  Sutherland

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

  Goldmark

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

Blanket primary election results ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Doug Sutherland (incumbent)	691,145	51.13
	Democratic	Peter J. Goldmark	660,714	48.87
Total votes			1,351,859	100.00

General election

Endorsements

Peter J. Goldmark (D)

Newspapers

• The Seattle Times ^[5]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Doug Sutherland (R)	Peter Goldmark (D)	Undecided
SurveyUSA [6]	October 30 – November 2, 2008	663 (LV)	± 3.9%	48%	42%	10%
SurveyUSA [7]	October 26–27, 2008	630 (LV)	± 4.0%	45%	43%	12%
SurveyUSA [8]	October 12–13, 2008	544 (LV)	± 4.3%	47%	38%	15%

Results

2008 Washington Public Lands Commissioner election ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Peter J. Goldmark	1,416,904	50.55
	Republican	Doug Sutherland (incumbent)	1,385,903	49.45
Total votes			2,802,807	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

By county

County results

County [10]	Doug Sutherland Republican		Peter J. Goldmark Democratic		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	3,077	68.50%	1,415	31.50%	-1,662	-37.00%	4,492
Asotin	5,180	56.78%	3,943	43.22%	-1,237	-13.56%	9,123
Benton	45,384	66.96%	22,392	33.04%	-22,992	-33.92%	67,776
Chelan	18,318	61.24%	11,596	38.76%	-6,722	-22.47%	29,914
Clallam	20,349	56.12%	15,913	43.88%	-4,436	-12.23%	36,262
Clark	88,956	52.92%	79,143	47.08%	-9,813	-5.84%	168,099
Columbia	1,423	68.71%	648	31.29%	-775	-37.42%	2,071
Cowlitz	21,964	52.36%	19,988	47.64%	-1,976	-4.71%	41,952
Douglas	8,942	62.95%	5,262	37.05%	-3,680	-25.91%	14,204
Ferry	1,908	57.78%	1,394	42.22%	-514	-15.57%	3,302
Franklin	12,157	65.12%	6,513	34.88%	-5,644	-30.23%	18,670
Garfield	913	72.46%	347	27.54%	-566	-44.92%	1,260
Grant	16,502	64.28%	9,170	35.72%	-7,332	-28.56%	25,672
Grays Harbor	16,852	60.53%	10,988	39.47%	-5,864	-21.06%	27,840
Island	20,547	52.61%	18,511	47.39%	-2,036	-5.21%	39,058
Jefferson	7,700	41.18%	10,997	58.82%	3,297	17.63%	18,697
King	314,993	38.12%	511,295	61.88%	196,302	23.76%	826,288
Kitsap	59,942	51.46%	56,552	48.54%	-3,390	-2.91%	116,494
Kittitas	9,874	59.71%	6,663	40.29%	-3,211	-19.42%	16,537
Klickitat	5,208	55.18%	4,231	44.82%	-977	-10.35%	9,439
Lewis	22,365	67.84%	10,602	32.16%	-11,763	-35.68%	32,967
Lincoln	3,489	62.36%	2,106	37.64%	-1,383	-24.72%	5,595
Mason	15,407	56.97%	11,635	43.03%	-3,772	-13.95%	27,042
Okanogan	8,028	49.74%	8,112	50.26%	84	0.52%	16,140
Pacific	5,685	55.04%	4,643	44.96%	-1,042	-10.09%	10,328
Pend Oreille	3,666	59.14%	2,533	40.86%	-1,133	-18.28%	6,199
Pierce	170,256	54.79%	140,483	45.21%	-29,773	-9.58%	310,739
San Juan	3,633	37.29%	6,110	62.71%	2,477	25.42%	9,743
Skagit	28,222	54.01%	24,032	45.99%	-4,190	-8.02%	52,254
Skamania	2,738	54.13%	2,320	45.87%	-418	-8.26%	5,058
Snohomish	147,375	49.32%	151,459	50.68%	4,084	1.37%	298,834
Spokane	106,492	51.93%	98,569	48.07%	-7,923	-3.86%	205,061
Stevens	13,064	61.66%	8,123	38.34%	-4,941	-23.32%	21,187
Thurston	63,028	53.40%	55,008	46.60%	-8,020	-6.79%	118,036
Wahkiakum	1,242	58.78%	871	41.22%	-371	-17.56%	2,113
Walla Walla	14,152	62.72%	8,412	37.28%	-5,740	-25.44%	22,564
Whatcom	45,234	48.53%	47,978	51.47%	2,744	2.94%	93,212
Whitman	8,377	52.01%	7,731	47.99%	-646	-4.01%	16,108
Yakima	43,261	59.69%	29,216	40.31%	-14,045	-19.38%	72,477
Totals	1,385,903	49.45%	1,416,904	50.55%	31,001	1.11%	2,802,807

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Okanogan (largest city: Omak)

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Sutherland won seven of nine congressional districts, including four that elected Democrats. ^[11]

District	Sutherland	Goldmark	Representative
1st	47%	53%	Jay Inslee
2nd	51%	49%	Rick Larsen
3rd	54%	46%	Brian Baird
4th	63%	37%	Doc Hastings
5th	54%	46%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th	53%	47%	Norm Dicks
7th	23%	77%	Jim McDermott
8th	53%	47%	Dave Reichert
9th	52%	48%	Adam Smith

References

1. Heffter, Emily; Cornwall, Warren (November 7, 2008). "Goldmark declares victory in lands-commissioner race, Sutherland won't concede". The Seattle Times . Retrieved October 29, 2025.
2. https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/democrats-considering-run-against-lands-1241663.php
3. https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/rancher-goldmark-seeks-a-harvest-of-votes-1251391.php
4. Reed, Sam (August 19, 2008). "Commissioner of Public Lands". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on May 2, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
5. Editorial Board, The Seattle Times (October 20, 2008). "Goldmark for Public Lands commissioner". The Seattle Times . Retrieved October 29, 2025.
6. SurveyUSA
7. SurveyUSA
8. SurveyUSA
9. Reed, Sam (November 4, 2008). "Commissioner of Public Lands". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on March 7, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
10. Reed, Sam (November 4, 2008). "Commissioner of Public Lands - County Results". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on March 18, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
11. "2008 General Data". sos.wa.gov. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024.