2024 Washington Attorney General election

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2024 Washington Attorney General election
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←  2020 November 5, 20242028 →
  Nicholas W. Brown, U.S. Attorney official (cropped).jpg Pete Serrano.png
Nominee Nick Brown Pete Serrano
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote2,093,5701,669,884
Percentage55.58%44.33%
2024 Washington attorney general election results map by county.svg
2024 Washington Gov by congressional district.svg
WA Attorney General 2024.svg
Brown:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Serrano:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Tie:     40–50%     50%     No votes
Attorney General before election

Bob Ferguson
Democratic

Elected Attorney General

Nicholas Brown
Democratic

The 2024 Washington Attorney General election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the next attorney general of Washington, concurrently with the 2024 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 eligible to seek re-election to a fourth term but had chosen instead to run successfully for governor. [1] U.S. Attorney Nick Brown, a Democrat, won the election against Pasco Mayor Pete Serrano, a Republican. [2]

Contents

Background

This the first open attorney general race since 2012, when Bob Ferguson first ran for the office. The primary election was expected to split the Democratic vote as Democrats Nick Brown and Manka Dhingra were on the primary ballot. Both Brown and Dhingra campaigned on similar issues like protecting access to abortion in the state, upholding gun control laws and ensuring public safety. [3] [4] Once Brown advanced to the general election, he advocated for similar measures along with "policy improvements" the Attorney General position can utilize to counter various issues like illicit drugs. [5] Republican Pete Serrano campaigned on stopping human trafficking, making communities safer, and government accountability. [6] Serrano opposed gun control and had previously expressed personal opposition to abortion, [3] but said he would uphold Washington's current abortion laws if elected, describing abortion as a "settled issue". [5] However, Serrano indicated he would not enforce the Washington Shield Law enacted in 2023, which protects Washington residents from criminal and civil actions in other states that restrict abortion. [7]

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

Eliminated in primary

Republican Party

Advanced to general

  • Pete Serrano, mayor of Pasco (2022–present) and director of conservative legal nonprofit [10]

Primary election

Endorsements

Manka Dhingra (D)
Organizations
Pete Serrano (R)
Political parties

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		Nick
Brown (D)		Manka
Dhingra (D)		Pete
Serrano (R)		Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D) [18] [A] July 24–25, 2024581 (LV)± 4.0%17%15%38%30%
Public Policy Polling (D) [19] [A] May 15–16, 2024615 (LV)± 4.0%9%10%36%45%
Public Policy Polling (D) [20] [A] February 13–14, 2024789 (LV)± 3.5%19%12%35%34%

Debate

2024 Washington Attorney General primary debate
No.DateHostModeratorLink Democratic Democratic Republican
Key:
 P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
Nick Brown Manka Dhingra Pete Serrano
1Jun. 18, 2024 League of Women Voters of Washington
& Benton-Franklin Counties
Northwest Public Broadcasting 		Matt Loveless [21] PPP

Results

Blanket primary results by county Serrano 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% Brown 30-40% 40-50% 2024 Washington Attorney General election primary.svg
Blanket primary results by county
  Serrano
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Brown
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
Blanket primary election results [22]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Pete Serrano 814,372 42.11%
Democratic Nick Brown 682,360 35.28%
Democratic Manka Dhingra 435,91922.54%
Write-in 1,2840.07%
Total votes1,933,935 100.00%

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [23] Safe DJuly 25, 2024

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [b] 		Margin
of error		Nick
Brown (D)		Pete
Serrano (R)		Undecided
ActiVote [24] October 3–29, 2024400 (LV)± 4.9%57%43%–
Public Policy Polling (D) [18] [A] October 16–17, 2024571 (LV)± 4.1%46%39%15%
Strategies 360 [25] October 11–16, 2024600 (RV)± 4.0%48%38%13%
Cascade PBS/Elway Research [26] October 8–12, 2024401 (LV)± 5.0%47%29%24%

Debates

2024 Washington Attorney General debates
No.DateHostModeratorLink Democratic Republican
Key:
 P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
Nick Brown Pete Serrano
1Sep. 18, 2024Association of Washington BusinessPaul Reed TVW PP
2Sep. 19, 2024Seattle CityClub
Washington State Debate Coalition		 YouTube PP

Results

2024 Washington Attorney General election [27]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Nick Brown 2,093,570 55.58% Decrease2.svg 0.85%
Republican Pete Serrano1,669,88444.33%Increase2.svg 0.86%
Write-in 3,6160.10%Steady2.svg
Total votes3,767,070 100.00% N/A
Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Brown won six of 10 congressional districts, with the remaining four going to Serrano, including two that elected Democrats. [28]

DistrictBrownSerranoRepresentative
1st 60%40% Suzan DelBene
2nd 58%42% Rick Larsen
3rd 46%54% Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
4th 36%64% Dan Newhouse
5th 41%59% Cathy McMorris Rodgers (118th Congress)
Michael Baumgartner (119th Congress)
6th 56%44% Derek Kilmer (118th Congress)
Emily Randall (119th Congress)
7th 84%16% Pramila Jayapal
8th 48%51% Kim Schrier
9th 67%33% Adam Smith
10th 56%44% Marilyn Strickland

Notes

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

Partisan clients

  1. 1 2 3 4 Poll conducted for The Cascadia Advocate

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References

  1. ↑ "Ferguson wins WA governor's race". The Seattle Times. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Former U.S. attorney beats Pasco mayor to become next WA attorney general". The Seattle Times. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Santos, Melissa (August 1, 2024). "How Washington AG candidates compare on policing, drug laws and more". Axios. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  4. ↑ Demkovich, Laurel (August 7, 2024). "Serrano, Brown poised to advance in Washington attorney general race • Washington State Standard". Washington State Standard. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Key takeaways from the WA attorney general debates". The Seattle Times. September 20, 2024. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Issues – Pete Serrano for Attorney General" . Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Gun control, abortion take center stage in race for Washington's next attorney general | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  8. ↑ Cornfield, Jerry (July 12, 2023). "A second Democrat enters race for state attorney general". Washington State Standard.
  9. ↑ Cornfield, Jerry (May 9, 2023). "The race begins for Washington attorney general". Washington State Standard. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  10. ↑ Cornfield, Jerry (January 6, 2024). "The Republican who wants to be Washington's next attorney general". Washington State Standard.
  11. ↑ Minnis, Glenn (July 20, 2023). "Gov. Inslee endorses Nick Brown for Washington state attorney general". The Center Square . Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  12. ↑ "The Seattle Times editorial board recommends: Nick Brown for Washington attorney general | Editorial". The Seattle Times. May 31, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  13. ↑ "The Stranger's Endorsements for the August, 6, 2024 Primary Election". July 31, 2024.
  14. ↑ "EMILYs List Endorses Manka Dhingra for Washington State Attorney General". EMILYs List. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Our 2024 Endorsements". National Women's Political Caucus of Washington. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  16. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=822191769943547&set=a.218149473681116
  17. ↑ Villenueve, Andrew (April 21, 2024). "Here's who the Republican Party endorsed for statewide office at its 2024 convention in Spokane". The Cascadia Advocate . Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  18. 1 2 Public Policy Polling (D)
  19. ↑ Public Policy Polling (D)
  20. ↑ Public Policy Polling (D)
  21. ↑ YouTube
  22. ↑ "Certification of Results" (PDF). Washington Secretary of State.
  23. ↑ Jacobson, Louis (January 31, 2024). "This Year's Key Attorney General and Secretary of State Races". University of Virginia Center for Politics .
  24. ↑ ActiVote
  25. ↑ Strategies 360
  26. ↑ Cascade PBS/Elway Research
  27. ↑ "Official Canvass of the Returns" (PDF). Secretary of State of Washington . Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  28. ↑ 2024Gen Results by Congressional District (PDF). sos.wa.gov (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 28, 2024.

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