2000 Washington gubernatorial election
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The 2000 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Democratic governor Gary Locke defeated the Republican candidate John Carlson for his second term in a landslide.
As of 2022[update], this was the earliest gubernatorial election in Washington in which both candidates are currently still living. This is the last time a Democratic nominee for governor outperformed the Democratic nominee for president in Washington.
This would also be the last gubernatorial election in Washington in which the margin of victory was in double digits and in which any counties in Eastern Washington voted for a Democrat until Jay Inslee's 2020 landslide victory. This is the last and the most recent Washington gubernatorial election in which the winning candidate carried a majority of Washington's counties.
Primary election
Candidates
Democratic
- Gary Locke, incumbent Governor of Washington
- Meta Heller
Republican
- John Carlson, talk radio host on KVI-AM
- Harold Hochstatter, state senator
Libertarian
- Steve W. LePage
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gary Locke | 701,929 | 54.32% | |
| Republican | John Carlson | 446,142 | 34.52% | |
| Republican | Harold Hochstatter | 93,467 | 7.23% | |
| Democratic | Meta Heller | 28,578 | 2.21% | |
| Libertarian | Steve W. LePage | 22,186 | 1.72% | |
| Total votes | 1,292,302 | 100.00% | ||
General election
Candidates
- Gary Locke (D), incumbent Governor of Washington
- John Carlson (R), talk radio host on KVI-AM
Debates
- Complete video of debate, September 28, 2000 - C-SPAN
- Complete video of debate, October 11, 2000 - C-SPAN
- Complete video of debate, October 23, 2000 - C-SPAN
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gary Locke (incumbent) | 1,441,973 | 58.38 | ||
| Republican | John Carlson | 980,060 | 39.68 | ||
| Libertarian | Steve LePage | 47,819 | 1.94 | ||
| Total votes | 2,469,852 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Clallam (largest city: Port Angeles)
- Pend Oreille (Largest city: Newport)
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Kittias (Largest city: Ellensburg)
