2020 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election

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2020 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election
Flag of Washington.svg
  2016 November 3, 2020 2024  
  Denny Heck official (cropped).jpg Marko Liias 2011.jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Denny Heck Marko Liias Write–in
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote1,658,4051,218,548759,076
Percentage45.6%33.5%20.9%

2020 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
WA-20-ltg-districts.svg
WA Lieutenant Governor 2020.svg
Heck:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Liias:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Write-in:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Tie:     30–40%     40–50%     50%     No data

Lieutenant Governor before election

Cyrus Habib
Democratic

Elected Lieutenant Governor

Denny Heck
Democratic

The 2020 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the lieutenant governor of Washington concurrently with the 2020 Washington elections. The top-two primary was held on August 4, and Democrats Denny Heck and Marko Liias advanced to the general election, which Heck won. [1]

Contents

Incumbent Cyrus Habib surprised the state by announcing he was foregoing a run for re-election in order to join the Society of Jesus. [2] The position was of special importance due to speculation that the incumbent governor, Jay Inslee, could have been appointed to a position in a Democratic presidential cabinet after winning his third term. [3]

Background

Habib's retirement came after Gov. Inslee dropped out of the presidential election, [4] [5] which caused many potential statewide candidates in Washington to change their plans and drop exploratory bids.

At the time of Habib's announcement former Seattle City Council candidate Ann Davison Sattler and former US House candidate Joseph Brumbles had already been running as Republicans. [6] [7] On the day of his retirement, State Senator Steve Hobbs announced his second campaign for the office of lieutenant governor, [7] after losing in the 2016 primary to then-State Senator Habib. [8]

Nonpartisan blanket primary

Democratic Party candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Denny Heck

State politicians

Steve Hobbs (withdrawn)

State politicians

Republican Party candidates

Minor party candidates

Declared

  • Jared Frerichs (Libertarian), former Candidate for Walla Walla County Commission, consultant [18]
  • Mark Greene (Revived Citizens Party), perennial candidate [19]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size [a]
Margin
of error
Joseph
Brumbles (R)
Ann
Sattler (R)
Denny
Heck (D)
Steve
Hobbs (D)
Marko
Liias (D)
Other / undecided
SurveyUSA/KING 5 [20] July 22–27, 2020513 (LV)± 5.4%14%10%34%14%29% [b]
SurveyUSA/KING 5 [21] May 16–19, 2020650 (LV)± 5.6%10%9%15%10%6%50% [c]

Results

A top-two primary took place on August 4. All candidates were listed on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation, and the top two advanced to the general election in November.

2020 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election [22]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Denny Heck 596,289 25.01
Democratic Marko Liias 441,791 18.53
Republican Ann Davison Sattler 285,59711.98
Republican Marty McClendon271,99511.41
Republican Dick Muri 241,93910.15
Democratic Michelle Jasmer212,3878.91
Republican Joseph Brumbles174,8237.33
Democratic James R. Rafferty57,4052.41
Republican Bill Penor49,2252.06
Libertarian Matt Seymour27,1251.14
Libertarian Jared Frerichs20,8470.87
Write-in 5,2050.22
Total votes2,384,628 100

General election

After being eliminated in the August 4th gubernatorial primary, Joshua Freed announced that he would be running for lieutenant governor as a write-in candidate. [23] [24] A debate between Heck and Liias was held on October 22. [25]

Candidates

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size [a]
Margin
of error
Denny
Heck (D)
Marko
Liias (D)
Undecided
PPP/NPI [26] October 14–15, 2020610 (LV)± 4%32%16%52%
SurveyUSA/KING-TV [27] October 8–10, 2020591 (LV)± 5.2%31%18%52%

Results

2020 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election [28]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Denny Heck 1,658,405 45.61%
Democratic Marko Liias 1,218,54833.51%
Write-in 759,07620.88%
Total votes3,636,029 100.00%
Democratic hold

By congressional district

Heck won 9 of 10 congressional districts. [29]

DistrictHeckLiiasWrite-inRepresentative
1st 43%33%24% Suzan DelBene
2nd 44%36%20% Rick Larsen
3rd 43%30%27% Jaime Herrera Beutler
4th 37%28%34% Dan Newhouse
5th 41%32%27% Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th 51%30%19% Derek Kilmer
7th 47%48%5% Pramila Jayapal
8th 45%29%26% Kim Schrier
9th 51%39%10% Adam Smith
10th 52%27%21% Denny Heck
Marilyn Strickland

Notes

  1. 1 2 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. "Some other candidate" with 5%; Undecided with 24%
  3. Undecided with 50%

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References

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  2. 1 2 "Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib: Why I am giving up elected office and joining the Jesuits". America Magazine. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
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  6. 1 2 "Former Seattle council candidate switching parties, running for lieutenant governor". MyNorthwest.com. January 31, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib will not run for reelection, says he plans to join Jesuit religious order". The Seattle Times. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
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  9. Drew, James (April 3, 2020). "U.S. Rep. Heck files paperwork to run for state Lieutenant Governor". The News Tribune. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
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  11. Cornfield, Jerry (March 24, 2020). "Sen. Marko Liias to launch campaign for lieutenant governor". HeraldNet.com. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
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  13. 1 2 Mar 20, Rich Smith •; Am, 2020 at 11:28. "As Cyrus Habib Joins the Priesthood, a Handful of People Say They're Running for Lt. Gov". The Stranger. Retrieved March 21, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  19. "public". apollo.pdc.wa.gov. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  20. SurveyUSA/KING 5
  21. SurveyUSA/KING 5
  22. "Certification of the 2020 Primary Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of Washington . Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  23. 1 2 "Former Bothell Mayor Joshua Freed announces write-in campaign for lieutenant governor". www.seattletimes.com. Seattle Times. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  24. 1 2 "Joshua Freed official write-in candidate for WA state Lt. Governor race". www.lynnwoodtimes.com. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  25. "Washington Gov. Inslee, Republican challenger Culp agree to televised debate Oct.7". www.opb.org. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  26. PPP/NPI
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  28. "Official Canvass of the Returns" (PDF). Secretary of State of Washington . Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  29. Results. sos.wa.gov (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 24, 2020.

Official campaign websites