2008 Washington Secretary of State election

2008 Washington secretary of state election

←  2004 November 4, 2008 2012  →

Nominee Sam Reed Jason Osgood Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,644,587 1,175,086 Percentage 58.33% 41.67%

County results Congressional district results Reed:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Osgood:     50–60%

Secretary of State before election Sam Reed Republican Elected Secretary of State Sam Reed Republican

The 2008 Washington Secretary of State election was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to elect the Washington Secretary of State, 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. 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.

Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed was re-elected to a third term in office, defeated Democratic challenger Jason Osgood in a landslide. ^[1] As of 2025, this is the last time a Republican won the Secretary of State position by over 10%.

Candidates

Republican Party

Advanced to general

• Sam Reed, incumbent secretary of state (2001–2013) ^[2]

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

• Jason Osgood, computer programmer ^[2]

Third-party and independent candidates

Eliminated in primary

• Mark Greene (Party of Commons), perennial candidate ^[2]
• Marilyn Montgomery (Constitution) ^[2]

Primary election

Endorsements

Sam Reed (R)

Newspapers

• The Seattle Times ^[3]

Results

Blanket primary results by county

  Reed

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

Blanket primary election results ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Reed (incumbent)	816,171	59.40
	Democratic	Jason Osgood	446,222	32.48
	Constitution	Marilyn Montgomery	88,728	6.46
	Independent	Mark Greene	22,800	1.66
Total votes			1,373,921	100.00

General election

Results

2008 Washington Secretary of State election ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Reed (incumbent)	1,644,587	58.33%
	Democratic	Jason Osgood	1,175,086	41.67%
Total votes			2,819,673	100.00%
	Republican hold

By county

County results

County [6]	Sam Reed Republican		Jason Osgood Democratic		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	3,372	74.60%	1,148	25.40%	2,224	49.20%	4,520
Asotin	5,727	62.64%	3,416	37.36%	2,311	25.28%	9,143
Benton	49,619	71.96%	19,330	28.04%	30,289	43.93%	68,949
Chelan	20,913	69.70%	9,093	30.30%	11,820	39.39%	30,006
Clallam	22,048	61.12%	14,025	38.88%	8,023	22.24%	36,073
Clark	97,002	57.02%	73,119	42.98%	23,883	14.04%	170,121
Columbia	1,558	75.08%	517	24.92%	1,041	50.17%	2,075
Cowlitz	22,850	53.90%	19,543	46.10%	3,307	7.80%	42,393
Douglas	10,207	71.12%	4,145	28.88%	6,062	42.24%	14,352
Ferry	2,070	63.34%	1,198	36.66%	872	26.68%	3,268
Franklin	13,009	68.84%	5,889	31.16%	7,120	37.68%	18,898
Garfield	964	76.57%	295	23.43%	669	53.14%	1,259
Grant	17,968	68.83%	8,138	31.17%	9,830	37.65%	26,106
Grays Harbor	15,940	57.67%	11,698	42.33%	4,242	15.35%	27,638
Island	24,352	62.20%	14,802	37.80%	9,550	24.39%	39,154
Jefferson	9,447	50.06%	9,423	49.94%	24	0.13%	18,870
King	432,277	51.88%	400,964	48.12%	31,313	3.76%	833,241
Kitsap	68,976	58.89%	48,153	41.11%	20,823	17.78%	117,129
Kittitas	11,120	66.42%	5,621	33.58%	5,499	32.85%	16,741
Klickitat	5,402	57.09%	4,060	42.91%	1,342	14.18%	9,462
Lewis	22,415	68.40%	10,354	31.60%	12,061	36.81%	32,769
Lincoln	4,147	74.64%	1,409	25.36%	2,738	49.28%	5,556
Mason	16,933	62.55%	10,140	37.45%	6,793	25.09%	27,073
Okanogan	9,818	62.60%	5,865	37.40%	3,953	25.21%	15,683
Pacific	5,423	52.96%	4,817	47.04%	606	5.92%	10,240
Pend Oreille	4,014	65.56%	2,109	34.44%	1,905	31.11%	6,123
Pierce	183,413	59.80%	123,283	40.20%	60,130	19.61%	306,696
San Juan	4,750	48.43%	5,058	51.57%	-308	-3.14%	9,808
Skagit	32,077	61.18%	20,355	38.82%	11,722	22.36%	52,432
Skamania	2,833	55.79%	2,245	44.21%	588	11.58%	5,078
Snohomish	172,173	57.13%	129,193	42.87%	42,980	14.26%	301,366
Spokane	129,876	62.62%	77,532	37.38%	52,344	25.24%	207,408
Stevens	14,077	67.30%	6,839	32.70%	7,238	34.61%	20,916
Thurston	79,212	65.94%	40,915	34.06%	38,297	31.88%	120,127
Wahkiakum	1,260	59.10%	872	40.90%	388	18.20%	2,132
Walla Walla	16,195	70.24%	6,863	29.76%	9,332	40.47%	23,058
Whatcom	53,006	56.49%	40,820	43.51%	12,186	12.99%	93,826
Whitman	10,058	62.04%	6,154	37.96%	3,904	24.08%	16,212
Yakima	48,086	65.18%	25,686	34.82%	22,400	30.36%	73,772
Totals	1,644,587	58.33%	1,175,086	41.67%	469,501	16.65%	2,819,673

By congressional district

Reed won eight of nine congressional districts, including five that elected Democrats. ^[7]

District	Reed	Osgood	Representative
1st	57%	43%	Jay Inslee
2nd	58%	42%	Rick Larsen
3rd	59%	41%	Brian Baird
4th	68%	32%	Doc Hastings
5th	64%	36%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th	58%	42%	Norm Dicks
7th	40%	60%	Jim McDermott
8th	63%	37%	Dave Reichert
9th	59%	41%	Adam Smith

References

1. https://www.historylink.org/file/8896
2. "2008 Primary Candidates Who Have Filed". eledataweb.votewa.gov. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
3. Editorial Board, The Seattle Times (August 5, 2008). "Easy choice: Reed for secretary of state". The Seattle Times . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
4. Reed, Sam (August 19, 2008). "Secretary of State". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on September 2, 2025. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
5. Reed, Sam (November 4, 2008). "Secretary of State". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on April 24, 2025. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
6. Reed, Sam (November 4, 2008). "Secretary of State - County Results". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on March 18, 2025. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
7. "2008 General Data". sos.wa.gov. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024.