2012 Washington Attorney General election

2012 Washington Attorney General election

←  2008 November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) 2016  →

Nominee Bob Ferguson Reagan Dunn Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,564,443 1,361,010 Percentage 53.5% 46.5%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Ferguson:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Dunn:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Tie:      50%     No votes

Attorney General before election Rob McKenna Republican Elected Attorney General Bob Ferguson Democratic

The 2012 Washington Attorney General election was held on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the other statewide elections and the gubernatorial election. Incumbent Republican State Attorney General Rob McKenna retired to run for governor. Democratic King County Councilmember Bob Ferguson won the general election over Republican King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn.

Primary election

Blanket primary results by county

  Ferguson

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%

  Dunn

•   40–50%
•   50–60%

Democratic candidates

• Bob Ferguson, King County Councilmember ^[1]

Republican candidates

• Reagan Dunn, King County Councilmember ^[2]
• Stephen Pidgeon, attorney and anti-gay activist ^[3]

Results

Primary election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Ferguson	685,346	51.68
	Republican	Reagan Dunn	506,524	38.20
	Republican	Stephen Pidgeon	134,185	10.12
Total votes			1,326,055	100.00

General election

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Reagan Dunn (R)	Bob Ferguson (D)	Undecided
Washington Poll [4]	October 18–31, 2012	632 (LV)	± 3.9%	34%	45%	21%
Elway Research [5]	October 18–21, 2012	451 (RV)	± 4.5%	36%	38%	25%
Elway Research [6]	September 9–12, 2012	405 (RV)	± 5.0%	27%	40%	33%
SurveyUSA [7]	September 7–9, 2012	524 (RV)	± 4.4%	33%	42%	24%
Elway Research [8]	June 13–16, 2012	408 (RV)	± 5.0%	28%	26%	46%
Public Policy Polling (D) [9]	February 22, 2012	1,264 (RV)	± 2.8%	34%	32%	34%
SurveyUSA [10]	September 26, 2011	529 (RV)	± 4.3%	34%	39%	26%

Results

General election results ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Ferguson	1,564,443	53.48
	Republican	Reagan Dunn	1,361,010	46.52
Total votes			2,925,453	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

By county

County results

County [12]	Reagan Dunn Republican		Bob Ferguson Democratic		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	3,130	69.37%	1,382	30.63%	-1,748	-38.74%	4,512
Asotin	5,433	58.32%	3,883	41.68%	-1,550	-16.64%	9,316
Benton	50,660	68.08%	23,756	31.92%	-26,904	-36.15%	74,416
Chelan	18,195	60.23%	12,014	39.77%	-6,181	-20.46%	30,209
Clallam	18,094	50.40%	17,810	49.60%	-284	-0.79%	35,904
Clark	94,162	53.42%	82,101	46.58%	-12,061	-6.84%	176,263
Columbia	1,496	71.14%	607	28.86%	-889	-42.27%	2,103
Cowlitz	20,499	49.33%	21,056	50.67%	557	1.34%	41,555
Douglas	9,111	64.33%	5,052	35.67%	-4,059	-28.66%	14,163
Ferry	1,972	61.28%	1,246	38.72%	-726	-22.56%	3,218
Franklin	14,216	65.44%	7,508	34.56%	-6,708	-30.88%	21,724
Garfield	804	68.37%	372	31.63%	-432	-36.73%	1,176
Grant	17,530	67.26%	8,534	32.74%	-8,996	-34.52%	26,064
Grays Harbor	12,203	44.67%	15,116	55.33%	2,913	10.66%	27,319
Island	19,992	50.51%	19,587	49.49%	-405	-1.02%	39,579
Jefferson	6,722	35.97%	11,968	64.03%	5,246	28.07%	18,690
King	312,409	34.83%	584,503	65.17%	272,094	30.34%	896,912
Kitsap	54,999	47.12%	61,733	52.88%	6,734	5.77%	116,732
Kittitas	10,071	59.93%	6,733	40.07%	-3,338	-19.86%	16,804
Klickitat	5,242	54.75%	4,333	45.25%	-909	-9.49%	9,575
Lewis	19,831	61.72%	12,301	38.28%	-7,530	-23.43%	32,132
Lincoln	3,915	70.57%	1,633	29.43%	-2,282	-41.13%	5,548
Mason	13,048	48.57%	13,817	51.43%	769	2.86%	26,865
Okanogan	9,119	57.54%	6,729	42.46%	-2,390	-15.08%	15,848
Pacific	4,537	45.72%	5,386	54.28%	849	8.56%	9,923
Pend Oreille	3,865	61.19%	2,451	38.81%	-1,414	-22.39%	6,316
Pierce	157,121	48.60%	166,160	51.40%	9,039	2.80%	323,281
San Juan	3,392	34.09%	6,559	65.91%	3,167	31.83%	9,951
Skagit	25,820	49.57%	26,264	50.43%	444	0.85%	52,084
Skamania	2,624	52.22%	2,401	47.78%	-223	-4.44%	5,025
Snohomish	142,285	45.72%	168,912	54.28%	26,627	8.56%	311,197
Spokane	118,707	56.60%	91,030	43.40%	-27,677	-13.20%	209,737
Stevens	13,856	65.72%	7,226	34.28%	-6,630	-31.45%	21,082
Thurston	52,151	43.87%	66,732	56.13%	14,581	12.27%	118,883
Wahkiakum	1,049	50.70%	1,020	49.30%	-29	-1.40%	2,069
Walla Walla	15,149	64.44%	8,358	35.56%	-6,791	-28.89%	23,507
Whatcom	43,606	45.20%	52,872	54.80%	9,266	9.60%	96,478
Whitman	8,701	55.45%	6,991	44.55%	-1,710	-10.90%	15,692
Yakima	45,294	61.54%	28,307	38.46%	-16,987	-23.08%	73,601
Totals	1,361,010	46.52%	1,564,443	53.48%	203,433	6.95%	2,925,453

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Cowlitz (largest city: Longview)
• Grays Harbor (largest city: Aberdeen)
• King (largest city: Seattle)
• Kitsap (largest city: Bremerton)
• Mason (largest city: Shelton)
• Pacific (largest city: Raymond)
• Pierce (largest city: Tacoma)
• Skagit (largest city: Mount Vernon)
• Snohomish (largest city: Everett)
• Thurston (largest city: Lacey)
• Whatcom (largest city: Bellingham)

Swing by county

Legend

•   Democratic — +>15%
•   Democratic — +12.5-15%
•   Democratic — +10–12.5%
•   Democratic — +7.5–10%
•   Democratic — +5–7.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5–5%
•   Democratic — +0–2.5%

Trend relative to the state by county

Legend

•   Democratic — +10-12.5%
•   Democratic — +5–7.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5–5%
•   Democratic — +0–2.5%
•   Republican — +0–2.5%
•   Republican — +5–7.5%
•   Republican — +7.5–10%
•   Republican — +10–12.5%
•   Republican — +12.5-15%
•   Republican — +>15%

County flips

Legend

• Democratic   Hold   Gain from Republican

  Republican   Hold

By congressional district

Ferguson won six of ten congressional districts. ^[13]

District	Dunn	Ferguson	Representative
1st	49%	51%	Suzan DelBene
2nd	43%	57%	Rick Larsen
3rd	53%	47%	Jaime Herrera Beutler
4th	65%	35%	Doc Hastings
5th	58%	42%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th	45%	55%	Norm Dicks
			Derek Kilmer
7th	23%	77%	Jim McDermott
8th	54%	46%	Dave Reichert
9th	36%	64%	Adam Smith
10th	46%	54%	Denny Heck

References

1. Rosenthal, Brian M. (August 7, 2012). "AG hopeful Bob Ferguson: Primary a "dream start"". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
2. Young, Bob (October 11, 2012). "Attorney general's race: Republican Dunn carves his own path". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
3. "Snub claim a sign of discord among gay-marriage foes". February 20, 2012.
4. Washington Poll
5. Elway Research
6. Elway Research
7. SurveyUSA
8. Elway Research
9. Public Policy Polling (D)
10. SurveyUSA
11. "November 06, 2012 General Election Results: Attorney General". Washington State Secretary of State. November 27, 2012. Archived from the original on August 31, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
12. Reed, Sam (November 6, 2012). "Attorney General - County Results". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on August 31, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
13. "2012 General Data". sos.wa.gov. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024.