2008 Washington State Auditor election

2008 Washington State Auditor election

←  2004 November 4, 2008 2012  →

Nominee Brian Sonntag Richard "Dick" McEntee Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,770,977 1,016,396 Percentage 63.54% 36.46%

County results Congressional district results Sonntag:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% McEntee:      50–60%

State Auditor before election Brian Sonntag Democratic Elected State Auditor Brian Sonntag Democratic

The 2008 Washington State Auditor election was held on November 4, 2008, to elect the Washington State Auditor, 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.

Four-term incumbent Democratic State Auditor Brian Sonntag was re-elected to his fifth and final term in office, defeating Republican Ricard "Dick" McEntee with 64% of the vote. ^[1] As of 2025, this is the last election where the Democratic candidate for State Auditor received over 60% of the vote.

The top-two primary was held on August 19.

Primary election

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

• Brian Sonntag, incumbent state auditor (1993–2013) ^[2]

Republican Party

Advanced to general

• Richard "Dick" McEntee ^[3]

Constitution Party

Eliminated in primary

• Glenn Freeman, chairman of the Washington Constitution Party ^[4]

Endorsements

Brian Sonntag (D)

Newspapers

• The Seattle Times ^[5]

Results

Blanket primary results by county

  Sonntag

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

  McEntee

•   40–50%
•   50–60%

Blanket primary results ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brian Sonntag (incumbent)	812,352	59.48
	Republican	J. Richard (Dick) McEntee	459,327	33.63
	Constitution	Glenn Freeman	94,148	6.89
Total votes			1,365,827	100.00

General election

Results

2008 Washington State Auditor election ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brian Sonntag (incumbent)	1,770,977	63.54
	Republican	J. Richard (Dick) McEntee	1,016,396	36.46
Total votes			2,787,373	100.00
	Democratic hold

By county

County results

County [8]	Brian Sonntag Democratic		J. Richard (Dick) McEntee Republican		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	1,935	43.44%	2,519	56.56%	-584	-13.11%	4,454
Asotin	4,559	50.18%	4,527	49.82%	32	0.35%	9,086
Benton	30,868	45.25%	37,356	54.75%	-6,488	-9.51%	68,224
Chelan	15,101	50.79%	14,632	49.21%	469	1.58%	29,733
Clallam	19,974	56.66%	15,279	43.34%	4,695	13.32%	35,253
Clark	94,216	55.61%	75,201	44.39%	19,015	11.22%	169,417
Columbia	960	46.92%	1,086	53.08%	-126	-6.16%	2,046
Cowlitz	25,017	59.81%	16,811	40.19%	8,206	19.62%	41,828
Douglas	6,940	49.01%	7,219	50.99%	-279	-1.97%	14,159
Ferry	1,596	49.49%	1,629	50.51%	-33	-1.02%	3,225
Franklin	8,550	45.75%	10,140	54.25%	-1,590	-8.51%	18,690
Garfield	548	43.56%	710	56.44%	-162	-12.88%	1,258
Grant	11,150	43.54%	14,458	56.46%	-3,308	-12.92%	25,608
Grays Harbor	18,257	66.28%	9,288	33.72%	8,969	32.56%	27,545
Island	22,550	58.30%	16,131	41.70%	6,419	16.59%	38,681
Jefferson	13,108	70.48%	5,490	29.52%	7,618	40.96%	18,598
King	605,331	73.85%	214,326	26.15%	391,005	47.70%	819,657
Kitsap	72,292	61.86%	44,569	38.14%	27,723	23.72%	116,861
Kittitas	8,763	53.53%	7,606	46.47%	1,157	7.07%	16,369
Klickitat	5,075	54.54%	4,230	45.46%	845	9.08%	9,305
Lewis	16,552	51.36%	15,673	48.64%	879	2.73%	32,225
Lincoln	2,459	45.13%	2,990	54.87%	-531	-9.74%	5,449
Mason	17,052	63.81%	9,670	36.19%	7,382	27.63%	26,722
Okanogan	8,258	53.16%	7,276	46.84%	982	6.32%	15,534
Pacific	6,867	66.83%	3,409	33.17%	3,458	33.65%	10,276
Pend Oreille	2,980	48.96%	3,107	51.04%	-127	-2.09%	6,087
Pierce	200,319	64.97%	107,998	35.03%	92,321	29.94%	308,317
San Juan	6,851	70.72%	2,836	29.28%	4,015	41.45%	9,687
Skagit	31,459	60.57%	20,475	39.43%	10,984	21.15%	51,934
Skamania	2,851	56.60%	2,186	43.40%	665	13.20%	5,037
Snohomish	191,555	64.00%	107,751	36.00%	83,804	28.00%	299,306
Spokane	111,063	54.83%	91,503	45.17%	19,560	9.66%	202,566
Stevens	9,179	44.34%	11,521	55.66%	-2,342	-11.31%	20,700
Thurston	80,844	68.36%	37,410	31.64%	43,434	36.73%	118,254
Wahkiakum	1,274	60.26%	840	39.74%	434	20.53%	2,114
Walla Walla	11,402	50.43%	11,209	49.57%	193	0.85%	22,611
Whatcom	56,309	61.19%	35,712	38.81%	20,597	22.38%	92,021
Whitman	9,060	56.63%	6,939	43.37%	2,121	13.26%	15,999
Yakima	37,853	52.18%	34,684	47.82%	3,169	4.37%	72,537
Totals	1,770,977	63.54%	1,016,396	36.46%	754,581	27.07%	2,787,373

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Columbia (largest city: Dayton)
• Douglas (largest city: East Wenatchee)
• Ferry (largest city: Republic)
• Pend Oreille (largest city: Newport)

By congressional district

Sonntag won eight of nine congressional districts, including two that elected Republicans. ^[9]

District	Sonntag	McEntee	Representative
1st	67%	33%	Jay Inslee
2nd	61%	39%	Rick Larsen
3rd	59%	41%	Brian Baird
4th	49%	51%	Doc Hastings
5th	53%	47%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th	66%	34%	Norm Dicks
7th	85%	15%	Jim McDermott
8th	63%	37%	Dave Reichert
9th	66%	34%	Adam Smith

References

1. https://www.historylink.org/file/8896
2. "2008 Primary Candidates Who Have Filed". eledataweb.votewa.gov. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
3. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2008/jul/19/eastern-washington-candidates-vie-for-state/
4. Raderstrong, Jeff (August 4, 2008). "Third parties say top-two primary hurts their chances". The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2025. 'We didn't have to have a separate convention to get signatures,' said Freeman, who is running for state auditor.
5. Editorial Board, The Seattle Times (August 6, 2008). "Re-elect Brian Sonntag". The Seattle Times . Retrieved October 26, 2025.
6. Reed, Sam (August 19, 2008). "State Auditor". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on May 2, 2025. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
7. Reed, Sam (November 4, 2008). "State Auditor". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on March 19, 2025. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
8. Reed, Sam (November 4, 2008). "State Auditor - County Results". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on March 18, 2025. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
9. "2008 General Data". sos.wa.gov. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024.