The 2008 Washington Secretary of State election was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to elect the Washington Secretary of State, concurrently with the 2008 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. 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.

Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed was re-elected to a third term in office, defeating Democratic challenger Jason Osgood in a landslide.https://www.historylink.org/file/8896 Along with the concurrent attorney general election, this is the last time King County voted Republican in a statewide election against a Democratic opponent.

Candidates Republican Party Advanced to general Sam Reed, incumbent secretary of state (2001–2013)

Democratic Party Advanced to general Jason Osgood, computer programmer

Third-party and independent candidates Eliminated in primary Mark Greene (Party of Commons), perennial candidate Marilyn Montgomery (Constitution)

Primary election Endorsements

Results

By county +CountySam Reed RepublicanJason Osgood DemocraticVarious candidates Other partiesMarginTotal votes#%#%#%#%Adams1,89672.84%44317.02%26410.14%1,45355.82%2,603Asotin2,99956.86%1,67531.76%60011.38%1,32425.10%5,274Benton26,56269.16%8,32221.67%3,5229.17%18,24047.49%38,406Chelan11,62368.35%3,92623.09%1,4578.57%7,69745.26%17,006Clallam13,11759.69%7,06632.15%1,7938.16%6,05127.53%21,976Clark41,60557.14%24,56833.74%6,6459.13%17,03723.40%72,818Columbia1,00869.23%29019.92%15810.85%71849.31%1,456Cowlitz11,34752.35%8,15637.63%2,17410.03%3,19114.72%21,677Douglas5,86269.27%1,86021.98%7408.74%4,00247.29%8,462Ferry1,20560.16%54026.96%25812.88%66533.20%2,003Franklin7,37367.21%2,51722.94%1,0809.85%4,85644.27%10,970Garfield53670.53%14418.95%8010.53%39251.58%760Grant9,66165.05%3,46423.32%1,72711.63%6,19741.73%14,852Grays Harbor9,71356.71%6,00235.04%1,4148.26%3,71121.67%17,129Island14,65760.78%7,56231.36%1,8957.86%7,09529.42%24,114Jefferson6,18548.71%5,50143.32%1,0127.97%6845.39%12,698King193,39856.58%128,28437.53%20,1275.89%65,11419.05%341,809Kitsap38,16858.64%21,73833.40%5,1787.96%16,43025.24%65,084Kittitas6,27864.73%2,50125.79%9209.49%3,77738.94%9,699Klickitat2,81654.53%1,80534.95%54310.52%1,01119.58%5,164Lewis12,80366.57%4,27022.20%2,16011.23%8,53344.37%19,233Lincoln2,69370.66%71218.68%40610.65%1,98151.98%3,811Mason10,28260.76%5,19330.69%1,4478.55%5,08930.07%16,922Okanogan5,35261.90%2,35227.20%94210.90%3,00034.70%8,646Pacific3,42951.47%2,60739.13%6269.40%82212.34%6,662Pend Oreille2,20258.22%1,02627.13%55414.65%1,17631.09%3,782Pierce87,43459.92%47,05732.25%11,4377.84%40,37727.67%145,928San Juan3,24549.93%2,73242.04%5228.03%5137.89%6,499Skagit17,92460.33%9,32031.37%2,4648.29%8,60428.96%29,708Skamania1,29353.19%88536.40%25310.41%40816.78%2,431Snohomish80,85657.13%48,95734.59%11,7158.28%31,89922.54%141,528Spokane62,02558.27%32,51430.55%11,90011.18%29,51127.73%106,439Stevens7,66561.64%2,87023.08%1,90015.28%4,79538.56%12,435Thurston43,83067.55%16,67925.71%4,3776.75%27,15141.84%64,886Wahkiakum82260.13%42330.94%1228.92%39929.19%1,367Walla Walla8,95167.05%3,19523.93%1,2049.02%5,75643.12%13,350Whatcom27,30457.59%16,70535.24%3,4007.17%10,59922.36%47,409Whitman5,09162.63%2,36929.14%6698.23%2,72233.49%8,129Yakima26,96166.09%9,99224.49%3,8439.42%16,96941.59%40,796Totals816,17159.40%446,22232.48%111,5288.12%369,94926.93%1,373,921

By congressional district District Reed Osgood Representative 58% 35%Jay Inslee 58% 34%Rick Larsen 60% 31%Brian Baird 67% 24%Doc Hastings 60% 29%Cathy McMorris Rodgers 58% 34%Norm Dicks 49% 46%Jim McDermott 64% 30%Dave Reichert 61% 32%Adam Smith

General election Results

By county +CountySam Reed RepublicanJason Osgood DemocraticMarginTotal votes#%#%#%Adams3,37274.60%1,14825.40%2,22449.20%4,520Asotin5,72762.64%3,41637.36%2,31125.28%9,143Benton49,61971.96%19,33028.04%30,28943.93%68,949Chelan20,91369.70%9,09330.30%11,82039.39%30,006Clallam22,04861.12%14,02538.88%8,02322.24%36,073Clark97,00257.02%73,11942.98%23,88314.04%170,121Columbia1,55875.08%51724.92%1,04150.17%2,075Cowlitz22,85053.90%19,54346.10%3,3077.80%42,393Douglas10,20771.12%4,14528.88%6,06242.24%14,352Ferry2,07063.34%1,19836.66%87226.68%3,268Franklin13,00968.84%5,88931.16%7,12037.68%18,898Garfield96476.57%29523.43%66953.14%1,259Grant17,96868.83%8,13831.17%9,83037.65%26,106Grays Harbor15,94057.67%11,69842.33%4,24215.35%27,638Island24,35262.20%14,80237.80%9,55024.39%39,154Jefferson9,44750.06%9,42349.94%240.13%18,870King432,27751.88%400,96448.12%31,3133.76%833,241Kitsap68,97658.89%48,15341.11%20,82317.78%117,129Kittitas11,12066.42%5,62133.58%5,49932.85%16,741Klickitat5,40257.09%4,06042.91%1,34214.18%9,462Lewis22,41568.40%10,35431.60%12,06136.81%32,769Lincoln4,14774.64%1,40925.36%2,73849.28%5,556Mason16,93362.55%10,14037.45%6,79325.09%27,073Okanogan9,81862.60%5,86537.40%3,95325.21%15,683Pacific5,42352.96%4,81747.04%6065.92%10,240Pend Oreille4,01465.56%2,10934.44%1,90531.11%6,123Pierce183,41359.80%123,28340.20%60,13019.61%306,696San Juan4,75048.43%5,05851.57%-308-3.14%9,808Skagit32,07761.18%20,35538.82%11,72222.36%52,432Skamania2,83355.79%2,24544.21%58811.58%5,078Snohomish172,17357.13%129,19342.87%42,98014.26%301,366Spokane129,87662.62%77,53237.38%52,34425.24%207,408Stevens14,07767.30%6,83932.70%7,23834.61%20,916Thurston79,21265.94%40,91534.06%38,29731.88%120,127Wahkiakum1,26059.10%87240.90%38818.20%2,132Walla Walla16,19570.24%6,86329.76%9,33240.47%23,058Whatcom53,00656.49%40,82043.51%12,18612.99%93,826Whitman10,05862.04%6,15437.96%3,90424.08%16,212Yakima48,08665.18%25,68634.82%22,40030.36%73,772Totals1,644,58758.33%1,175,08641.67%469,50116.65%2,819,673

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Cowlitz (largest city: Longview) Jefferson (largest city: Port Townsend) King (largest city: Seattle) Pacific (largest city: Raymond)

By congressional district Reed won eight of nine congressional districts, including five that elected Democrats. District Reed Osgood Representative 57% 43%Jay Inslee 58% 42%Rick Larsen 59% 41%Brian Baird 68% 32%Doc Hastings 64% 36%Cathy McMorris Rodgers 58% 42%Norm Dicks 40% 60%Jim McDermott 63% 37%Dave Reichert 59% 41%Adam Smith

References

Notes