2018 United States Senate election in Washington

2018 United States Senate election in Washington

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Nominee Maria Cantwell Susan Hutchison Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,803,364 1,282,804 Percentage 58.43% 41.57%

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

U.S. senator before election Maria Cantwell Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell Democratic

The 2018 United States Senate election in Washington took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Washington. Incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell won election to a fourth term over television news journalist Susan Hutchison, a Republican.

Nonpartisan blanket primary

Candidates

The primary election featured 30 candidates. ^[1]

Democratic Party

Declared

• Maria Cantwell, incumbent senator ^[2]
• George H. Kalberer
• Don L. Rivers ^[3]
• Mohammad Said
• Clint Tannehill ^[4]

Republican Party

Declared

• Dave Bryant
• Art Coday
• Rocky De La Fuente, businessman and former presidential candidate ^[5]
• Joey Gibson, activist and founder of Patriot Prayer ^[6]
• Goodspaceguy, perennial candidate ^[7]
• Matt Hawkins
• Matthew D. Heines
• Susan Hutchison, former chair of the Washington State Republican Party ^[8]
• John Orlinski
• Tim Owen
• RC Smith
• Glen Stockwell
• Keith Swank

Withdrawn

• Ron Higgins (withdrew May 19, 2018 ^[9] )

Endorsements

Susan Hutchison

Individuals

• Jaime Herrera Beutler, U.S. representative ^[10]
• Slade Gorton, former U.S. senator ^[11]
• Dan Newhouse, U.S. representative ^[12]
• Cathy McMorris Rodgers, U.S. representative ^[13]
• J. T. Wilcox, Washington State House of Representatives Minority Leader ^[14]
• Kim Wyman, Secretary of State ^[15]

Organizations

• Hunters Heritage Council ^[16]
• Washington Farm Bureau ^[17]

Independents

Declared

• Thor Amundson
• Jon Butler
• Jennifer "GiGi" Ferguson ^{[18] [19]}
• Charlie R. Jackson
• Dave Strider ^[20]

Write-in

• Clay Johnson, activist ^[19]

Minor parties

In Washington, primary candidates may declare a preference for any party, and their party preference does not imply that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the party. Candidates may also declare a preference for new or single-candidate parties.

Declared

• Brad Chase (FDFR Party ^[a] ), communications strategist ^[1]
• James Robert "Jimmie" Deal (Green Party)
• Steve Hoffman (Freedom Socialist Party), union organizer ^{[21] [22]}
• Mike Luke (Libertarian Party) ^[23]
• Alex Tsimerman (StandupAmerica) ^[24]
• Sam Wright (The Human Rights Party)

Notes

1. According to Chase, FDFR stands for "Fuck Democrats Fuck Republicans". ^[1]

Results

Results by county:

  Cantwell—60–70%

  Cantwell—50–60%

  Cantwell—40–50%

  Cantwell—30–40%

  Hutchinson—30–40%

  Hutchinson—40–50%

Blanket primary election results ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Maria Cantwell (incumbent)	929,961	54.68%
	Republican	Susan Hutchison	413,317	24.30%
	Republican	Keith Swank	39,818	2.34%
	Republican	Joey Gibson	38,676	2.27%
	Democratic	Clint Tannehill	35,770	2.10%
	Republican	Dave Bryant	33,962	2.00%
	Republican	Art Coday	30,654	1.80%
	Independent	Jennifer Gigi Ferguson	25,224	1.48%
	Republican	Tim Owen	23,167	1.36%
	Republican	Matt Hawkins	13,324	0.78%
	Democratic	Don L. Rivers	12,634	0.74%
	Libertarian	Mike Luke	12,302	0.72%
	Republican	Glen R. Stockwell	11,611	0.68%
	Independent	Thor Amundson	9,393	0.55%
	Democratic	Mohammad Said	8,649	0.51%
	Republican	Matthew D. Heines	7,737	0.45%
	Freedom Socialist	Steve Hoffman	7,390	0.43%
	Republican	GoodSpaceGuy	7,057	0.41%
	Republican	John Orlinski	6,905	0.41%
	Independent	Dave Strider	6,821	0.40%
	Republican	Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente	5,724	0.34%
	Green	James Robert "Jimmie" Deal	3,849	0.23%
	The Human Rights Party	Sam Wright	3,761	0.22%
	FDFR Party	Brad Chase	2,655	0.16%
	Democratic	George H. Kalberer	2,448	0.14%
	Independent	Charlie R. Jackson	2,411	0.14%
	Republican	R. C. Smith	2,238	0.13%
	Independent	Jon Butler	2,016	0.12%
	StandUpAmerica	Alex Tsimerman	1,366	0.08%
Total votes			1,700,840	100.00%

General election

Debates

2022 United States Senate election in Washington debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican
Key:  P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Maria Cantwell	Susan Hutchison
1	Oct. 8, 2018	KOMO-TV Pacific Lutheran University	Mary Nam Essex Porter	[26]	P	P
2	Oct. 20, 2018	Community Colleges of Spokane Gonzaga University Eastern Washington University University of Washington Washington State University Spokane Whitworth University	Hayley Guenthner Jane McCarthy	[27]	P	P

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report [28]	Safe D	October 26, 2018
Inside Elections [29]	Safe D	November 1, 2018
Sabato's Crystal Ball [30]	Safe D	November 5, 2018
Fox News [31]	Likely D	July 9, 2018
CNN [32]	Safe D	July 12, 2018
RealClearPolitics [33]	Safe D	November 5, 2018

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Maria Cantwell (D)	Susan Hutchison (R)	Undecided
Elway/Crosscut [34]	October 4–9, 2018	405 (RV)	± 5.0%	53%	39%	9%
Public Policy Polling (D) [35] [A]	May 22–23, 2018	675 (LV)	± 3.8%	52%	36%	12%

Hypothetical polling

Maria Cantwell vs. Rob McKenna

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Maria Cantwell (D)	Rob McKenna (R)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D) [36] [A]	June 27–28, 2017	887 (LV)	± 3.3%	53%	40%	6%

Results

United States Senate election in Washington, 2018 ^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Maria Cantwell (incumbent)	1,803,364	58.43%	−2.02%
	Republican	Susan Hutchison	1,282,804	41.57%	+2.02%
Total votes			3,086,168	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

By county

By county

County [38] Maria Cantwell Democratic Susan Hutchison Republican Total % # % # Adams 32.25% 1,365 67.75% 2,867 4,232 Asotin 41.82% 3,809 58.18% 5,298 9,107 Benton 37.52% 28,187 62.48% 46,938 75,125 Chelan 44.06% 14,787 55.94% 18,775 33,562 Clallam 50.67% 20,036 49.33% 19,504 39,540 Clark 52.96% 102,619 47.04% 91,153 193,772 Columbia 33.24% 731 66.76% 1,468 2,199 Cowlitz 46.29% 20,485 53.71% 23,773 44,258 Douglas 36.17% 5,390 63.83% 9,512 14,902 Ferry 38.10% 1,329 61.90% 2,159 3,488 Franklin 40.26% 8,983 59.74% 13,329 22,312 Garfield 33.58% 445 66.42% 880 1,325 Grant 30.80% 8,159 69.20% 18,333 26,492 Grays Harbor 47.81% 13,605 52.19% 14,851 28,456 Island 53.18% 22,341 46.82% 19,672 42,013 Jefferson 68.79% 14,331 31.21% 6,502 20,833 King 74.15% 708,654 25.85% 247,071 955,725 Kitsap 56.47% 67,847 43.53% 52,308 120,155 Kittitas 43.10% 8,330 56.90% 10,996 19,326 Klickitat 45.84% 4,889 54.16% 5,776 10,665 Lewis 32.71% 11,078 67.29% 22,793 33,871 Lincoln 28.76% 1,604 71.24% 3,974 5,578 Mason 47.84% 13,220 52.16% 14,416 27,636 Okanogan 43.44% 7,231 56.56% 9,414 16,645 Pacific 50.90% 5,527 49.10% 5,332 10,859 Pend Oreille 36.13% 2,477 63.87% 4,379 6,856 Pierce 53.36% 174,097 46.64% 152,177 326,274 San Juan 72.60% 8,016 27.40% 3,026 11,042 Skagit 51.49% 28,122 48.51% 26,498 54,620 Skamania 47.71% 2,663 52.29% 2,919 5,582 Snohomish 57.39% 184,218 42.61% 136,749 320,967 Spokane 49.23% 112,000 50.77% 115,508 227,508 Stevens 32.23% 7,274 67.77% 15,296 22,570 Thurston 58.54% 72,677 41.46% 51,472 124,149 Wahkiakum 44.66% 1,082 55.34% 1,341 2,423 Walla Walla 46.35% 11,862 53.65% 13,731 25,593 Whatcom 59.77% 65,043 40.23% 43,781 108,824 Whitman 54.35% 9,375 45.65% 7,875 17,250 Yakima 41.85% 29,476 58.15% 40,958 70,434 Total 58.43% 1,803,364 41.57% 1,282,804 3,086,168 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Cowlitz (largest city: Longview) Grays Harbor (largest city: Aberdeen) Klickitat (largest city: Goldendale) Mason (largest city: Shelton) Skamania (largest city: Carson) Yakima (largest city: Yakima) Wahkiakum (largest city: Puget Island) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Whitman (largest city: Pullman)

Swing by county

Legend

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

Trend relative to the state by county

Legend

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

By congressional district

Cantwell won seven of ten congressional districts. ^[39]

District	Cantwell	Hutchison	Representative
1st	57%	43%	Suzan DelBene
2nd	61%	39%	Rick Larsen
3rd	49%	51%	Jaime Herrera Beutler
4th	38%	62%	Dan Newhouse
5th	47%	53%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th	57%	43%	Derek Kilmer
7th	84%	16%	Pramila Jayapal
8th	51%	49%	Kim Schrier
9th	73%	27%	Adam Smith
10th	56%	44%	Denny Heck

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Partisan clients

1. This poll was sponsored by the Northwest Progressive Institute

References

1. Camden, Jim (May 19, 2018). "U.S. Senate primary: Cantwell and 29 challengers". The Spokesman-Review . Retrieved July 23, 2018.
2. CANTWELL, MARIA
3. RIVERS, DON L MR
4. TANNEHILL, CLINT RONALD
5. "Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente".
6. Kavanaugh, Shane Dixon (February 25, 2018). "Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson plans U.S. Senate run in Washington". Oregon Live. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
7. "Who has filed - King County". King County. May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
8. O'Sullivan, Joseph; Brunner, Jim (May 18, 2018). "Former State Republican Party chair Susan Hutchison challenging Sen. Maria Cantwell". The Seattle Times . Retrieved May 21, 2018.
9. "2018 Candidates Who Have Filed" . Retrieved June 29, 2018.
10. Susan Hutchison. "I'm honored to be endorsed by @JaimeforUSRep, a fierce advocate for Southwest Washington! Let's have a strong showing from Republican voters all across the state today!". Twitter.
11. Susan Hutchison. "Proudly Endorsed by Former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton". Twitter.
12. Susan Hutchison. "Thank you to Congressman Dan Newhouse for his endorsement of our campaign! Proud to call him a friend and appreciate all he does for #WA04. Remember to return your ballots by Aug 7 and vote #Susan4Senate!". Twitter.
13. Susan Hutchison. "Yet another important early endorsement for our campaign: Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Republicans all across Washington are rallying behind our campaign for US Senate; be sure to return your ballot by August 7th! #Susan4Senate". Facebook.
14. Susan Hutchison. "Honored to have the endorsement of my friend and next WA House Speaker, @jtwilcox111". Twitter.
15. Susan Hutchison. "WA Secretary of State @KimWyman12 endorses @Susan4Senate. Grateful that our state's favorite elected official knows who's best for US Senate! #susan4senate". Twitter.
16. Susan Hutchison. "The 45,000-strong Hunters Heritage Council has endorsed @susan4senate! #susan4senate #hunting #waelex". Twitter.
17. Susan Hutchison. "I am proud to be endorsed by the Washington Farm Bureau, and will always fight to protect our private property and water rights from burdensome federal regulations. #Susan4Senate". Twitter.
18. Details for Candidate ID : S8WA00202
19. Coleman, Miles (July 5, 2017). "2018 Senate Race Ratings - July 2017". Decision Desk HQ. Archived from the original on June 29, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
20. STRIDER, DAVID LEE
21. McNamara, Neal (February 26, 2018). "Patriot Prayer Founder Joey Gibson Will Run Against Cantwell". Seattle Patch. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
22. "Campaign Kickoff Party: Steve Hoffman for U.S. Senate". Freedom Socialist Party. February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
23. "Mike Luke (L) for Senate". Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
24. TSIMERMAN, ALEX
25. "United States Senate primary election in Washington, 2018". Office of the Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
26. C-SPAN
27. C-SPAN
28. "2018 Senate Race Ratings for October 26, 2018". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
29. "2018 Senate Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
30. "2018 Crystal Ball Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
31. "2018 Senate Power Rankings". Fox News . Retrieved July 10, 2018.
32. "Key Races: Senate" . Retrieved July 15, 2018.
33. "Battle for the Senate 2018" . Retrieved July 15, 2018.
34. Elway/Crosscut
35. Public Policy Polling (D)
36. Public Policy Polling (D)
37. "November 6, 2018 General Election Results - U.S. Senator".
38. Wyman, Kim (November 6, 2018). "U.S. Senator - County Results". Secretary of State of Washington . Archived from the original on April 20, 2024. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
39. "2018 General Data". sos.wa.gov. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023.

External links

• Candidates at Vote Smart
• Candidates at Ballotpedia
• Campaign finance at FEC
• Campaign finance at OpenSecrets

Official campaign websites

• Maria Cantwell (D) for Senate
• Susan Hutchison (R) for Senate