2018 United States Senate election in Washington

2018 United States Senate election in Washington
	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]
Don L. Rivers^[3]
Clint Tannehill^[4]
George H. Kalberer
Mohammad Said

Republican Party

Declared

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

Withdrawn

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

Endorsements

Susan Hutchison

Kim Wyman, Secretary of State^[10]
Jaime Herrera Beutler, U.S. Representative^[11]
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, U.S. Representative^[12]
Dan Newhouse, U.S. Representative^[13]
Slade Gorton, former U.S. Senator^[14]
J. T. Wilcox, Washington State House of Representatives Minority Leader^[15]
Hunters Heritage Council^[16]
Washington Farm Bureau^[17]

Independents

Declared

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

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

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

Notes

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

Results

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

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)

By congressional district

Cantwell won 7 of 10 congressional districts.^[38]

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

^ ^a ^b Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

Partisan clients

^ ^a ^b This poll was sponsored by the Northwest Progressive Institute

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Camden, Jim (May 19, 2018). "U.S. Senate primary: Cantwell and 29 challengers". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
^ CANTWELL, MARIA
^ RIVERS, DON L MR
^ TANNEHILL, CLINT RONALD
^ Kavanaugh, Shane Dixon (February 25, 2018). "Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson plans U.S. Senate run in Washington". Oregon Live. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "Who has filed - King County". King County. May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
^ 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.
^ "Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente".
^ "2018 Candidates Who Have Filed". Retrieved June 29, 2018.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Susan Hutchison. "Proudly Endorsed by Former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton". Twitter.
^ Susan Hutchison. "Honored to have the endorsement of my friend and next WA House Speaker, @jtwilcox111". Twitter.
^ Susan Hutchison. "The 45,000-strong Hunters Heritage Council has endorsed @susan4senate! #susan4senate #hunting #waelex". Twitter.
^ 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.
^ Details for Candidate ID : S8WA00202
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ STRIDER, DAVID LEE
^ "Mike Luke (L) for Senate". Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
^ TSIMERMAN, ALEX
^ McNamara, Neal (February 26, 2018). "Patriot Prayer Founder Joey Gibson Will Run Against Cantwell". Seattle Patch. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "Campaign Kickoff Party: Steve Hoffman for U.S. Senate". Freedom Socialist Party. February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "United States Senate primary election in Washington, 2018". Office of the Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
^ C-SPAN
^ C-SPAN
^ "2018 Senate Race Ratings for October 26, 2018". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
^ "2018 Senate Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
^ "2018 Crystal Ball Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
^ "2018 Senate Power Rankings". Fox News. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
^ "Key Races: Senate". Retrieved July 15, 2018.
^ "Battle for the Senate 2018". Retrieved July 15, 2018.
^ Elway/Crosscut
^ Public Policy Polling (D)
^ Public Policy Polling (D)
^ "November 6, 2018 General Election Results - U.S. Senator".
^ Results. sos.wa.gov (Report). Archived from the original on June 28, 2023.

External links

Official campaign websites

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

[Key-35] Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

[NPI-38] This poll was sponsored by the Northwest Progressive Institute

[Camden-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] Kavanaugh, Shane Dixon (February 25, 2018). "Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson plans U.S. Senate run in Washington". Oregon Live. Retrieved February 26, 2018.

[goodspaceguy-6] "Who has filed - King County". King County. May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2018.

[7] 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.

[8] "Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente".

[9] "2018 Candidates Who Have Filed". Retrieved June 29, 2018.

[10] 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.

[11] 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.

[12] 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.

[13] 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.

[14] Susan Hutchison. "Proudly Endorsed by Former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton". Twitter.

[15] Susan Hutchison. "Honored to have the endorsement of my friend and next WA House Speaker, @jtwilcox111". 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

[DDHQ-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] "Mike Luke (L) for Senate". Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.

[23] TSIMERMAN, ALEX

[24] McNamara, Neal (February 26, 2018). "Patriot Prayer Founder Joey Gibson Will Run Against Cantwell". Seattle Patch. Retrieved February 26, 2018.

[25] "Campaign Kickoff Party: Steve Hoffman for U.S. Senate". Freedom Socialist Party. February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.

[primary_election_results-26] "United States Senate primary election in Washington, 2018". Office of the Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved June 6, 2019.

[27] C-SPAN

[28] C-SPAN

[29] "2018 Senate Race Ratings for October 26, 2018". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.

[30] "2018 Senate Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.

[31] "2018 Crystal Ball Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 11, 2017.

[32] "2018 Senate Power Rankings". Fox News. Retrieved July 10, 2018.

[33] "Key Races: Senate". Retrieved July 15, 2018.

[34] "Battle for the Senate 2018". Retrieved July 15, 2018.

[36] Elway/Crosscut

[37] Public Policy Polling (D)

[39] Public Policy Polling (D)

[40] "November 6, 2018 General Election Results - U.S. Senator".

[41] Results. sos.wa.gov (Report). Archived from the original on June 28, 2023.

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