2016 Washington Attorney General election

For related races, see 2016 United States attorney general elections.

2016 Washington Attorney General election

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Nominee Bob Ferguson Joshua Trumbull Party Democratic Libertarian Popular vote 2,000,804 979,105 Percentage 67.14% 32.86%

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

Attorney General before election Bob Ferguson Democratic Elected Attorney General Bob Ferguson Democratic

The 2016 Washington Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the attorney general of Washington, concurrently with the 2016 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. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson was re-elected to a second term in office, defeating Libertarian challenger Joshua Trumbull. ^[1]

Background

Ferguson was first elected in 2012 against Republican King County Councilor Reagan Dunn, winning 53% of the vote to succeed Republican Rob McKenna. ^[2] He ran for re-election to a second term. ^[3]

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.

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

• Bob Ferguson, incumbent attorney general (2013–2025) ^[3]

Libertarian Party

Advanced to general

• Joshua Trumbull, attorney ^[3]

Primary election

Results

Blanket primary results by county

  Ferguson

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

Blanket primary election results ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Ferguson (incumbent)	906,493	72.61
	Libertarian	Joshua Trumbull	341,932	27.39
Total votes			1,248,425	100.00

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking
Governing [5]	Safe D

Endorsements

Bob Ferguson (D)

Newspapers

• The Seattle Times ^[6]

Results

2016 Washington Attorney General election ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Ferguson (incumbent)	2,000,804	67.14
	Libertarian	Joshua Trumbull	979,105	32.86
Total votes			2,979,909	100.00
	Democratic hold

By county

County results

County [8]	Bob Ferguson Democratic		Joshua Trumbull Libertarian		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	2,247	54.34%	1,888	45.66%	359	8.68%	4,135
Asotin	4,803	54.43%	4,021	45.57%	782	8.86%	8,824
Benton	41,461	55.22%	33,618	44.78%	7,843	10.45%	75,079
Chelan	17,507	58.85%	12,244	41.15%	5,263	17.69%	29,751
Clallam	21,809	60.32%	14,346	39.68%	7,463	20.64%	36,155
Clark	111,601	60.66%	72,392	39.34%	39,209	21.31%	183,993
Columbia	984	50.85%	951	49.15%	33	1.71%	1,935
Cowlitz	24,289	58.48%	17,247	41.52%	7,042	16.95%	41,536
Douglas	7,725	55.61%	6,166	44.39%	1,559	11.22%	13,891
Ferry	1,695	52.51%	1,533	47.49%	162	5.02%	3,228
Franklin	12,544	56.15%	9,795	43.85%	2,749	12.31%	22,339
Garfield	585	54.07%	497	45.93%	88	8.13%	1,082
Grant	12,879	50.29%	12,728	49.71%	151	0.59%	25,607
Grays Harbor	16,893	63.65%	9,646	36.35%	7,247	27.31%	26,539
Island	25,660	64.50%	14,123	35.50%	11,537	29.00%	39,783
Jefferson	13,919	72.69%	5,229	27.31%	8,690	45.38%	19,148
King	724,608	78.30%	200,826	21.70%	523,782	56.60%	925,434
Kitsap	75,893	65.30%	40,324	34.70%	35,569	30.61%	116,217
Kittitas	10,209	60.35%	6,707	39.65%	3,502	20.70%	16,916
Klickitat	5,436	56.35%	4,211	43.65%	1,225	12.70%	9,647
Lewis	16,418	52.85%	14,646	47.15%	1,772	5.70%	31,064
Lincoln	2,396	47.26%	2,674	52.74%	-278	-5.48%	5,070
Mason	16,174	61.90%	9,957	38.10%	6,217	23.79%	26,131
Okanogan	8,799	56.68%	6,726	43.32%	2,073	13.35%	15,525
Pacific	6,188	63.71%	3,525	36.29%	2,663	27.42%	9,713
Pend Oreille	3,121	50.10%	3,109	49.90%	12	0.19%	6,230
Pierce	208,334	64.19%	116,240	35.81%	92,094	28.37%	324,574
San Juan	7,393	73.88%	2,614	26.12%	4,779	47.76%	10,007
Skagit	32,906	63.87%	18,615	36.13%	14,291	27.74%	51,521
Skamania	2,847	56.54%	2,188	43.46%	659	13.09%	5,035
Snohomish	212,974	65.41%	112,640	34.59%	100,334	30.81%	325,614
Spokane	121,452	57.37%	90,240	42.63%	31,212	14.74%	211,692
Stevens	9,632	47.21%	10,770	52.79%	-1,138	-5.58%	20,402
Thurston	83,338	68.21%	38,845	31.79%	44,493	36.42%	122,183
Wahkiakum	1,195	57.93%	868	42.07%	327	15.85%	2,063
Walla Walla	13,403	58.06%	9,681	41.94%	3,722	16.12%	23,084
Whatcom	68,377	67.84%	32,418	32.16%	35,959	35.68%	100,795
Whitman	9,894	62.43%	5,955	37.57%	3,939	24.85%	15,849
Yakima	43,216	59.92%	28,902	40.08%	14,314	19.85%	72,118
Totals	2,000,804	67.14%	979,105	32.86%	1,021,699	34.29%	2,979,909

References

1. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/washington-state-attorney-general-bob-ferguson-joshua-trumbull/
2. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/ferguson-pulls-in-strong-support-over-dunn/
3. O'Sullivan, Joseph (May 20, 2016). "More than Trump: Candidate field gets set for Washington voters". The Seattle Times . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
4. Wyman, Kim (August 2, 2016). "Attorney General". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on July 15, 2025. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
5. "4 States Have Competitive Attorney General Races in 2016". governing.com. March 14, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
6. Editorial Board, The Seattle Times (October 3, 2016). "The Times recommends: Bob Ferguson for attorney general". The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
7. "2016 General Data". sos.wa.gov. Archived from the original on March 15, 2025.
8. Wyman, Kim (November 8, 2016). "Attorney General - County Results". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on June 27, 2025. Retrieved October 22, 2025.