The 2012 Washington Secretary of State election took place on November 6, 2012. Republican Kim Wyman was narrowly elected Secretary of State to succeed incumbent Republican Sam Reed, who did not seek re-election.

Primary election The primary election took place in August. Under Washington's top-two primary system, introduced in the early 2000s, the primary was designed to narrow the field of candidates to two, rather than select specific party nominees, and candidates could designate themselves as affiliated with any political party, whether it existed or not.

Seven candidates contested the primary: Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman ran under the Republican Party designation. Karen Murray ran under the Constitution Party designation. Sam Wright ran under the Human Rights Party designation. David J. Anderson ran as an independent candidate. Former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels, state senator Jim Kastama, and former state legislator Kathleen Drew, all ran under the Democratic Party designation.

Wyman and Drew scored the most votes in the primary contest, thereby becoming the two candidates to advance to the general election. Wyman received 39.75-percent of the vote and Drew 21.73-percent.

Endorsements

Results

By county +CountyKim Wyman RepublicanKathleen Drew DemocraticGreg Nickels DemocraticJim Kastama DemocraticVarious candidates Other partiesMarginTotal votes#%#%#%#%#%#%Adams1,41658.78%2148.88%2038.43%1486.14%42817.77%1,20249.90%2,409Asotin2,14446.08%82017.62%54111.63%3968.51%75216.16%1,32428.45%4,653Benton16,15553.75%4,13013.74%2,2777.58%2,6578.84%4,83516.09%12,02540.01%30,054Chelan8,33850.99%1,97912.10%2,20313.47%1,4048.59%2,42814.85%6,13537.52%16,352Clallam8,32943.26%3,86620.08%3,00815.62%1,8539.62%2,19611.41%4,46323.18%19,252Clark30,55446.27%12,67919.20%7,35011.13%7,70511.67%7,74711.73%17,87527.07%66,035Columbia61558.18%11010.41%787.38%908.51%16415.52%50547.78%1,057Cowlitz7,28440.64%3,65520.39%2,08311.62%2,34813.10%2,55414.25%3,62920.25%17,924Douglas4,01955.72%83511.58%91412.67%4976.89%94813.14%3,10543.05%7,213Ferry80048.34%28517.22%1247.49%1509.06%29617.89%51531.12%1,655Franklin4,85655.01%1,12412.73%6927.84%6987.91%1,45716.51%3,73242.28%8,827Garfield35362.26%5710.05%488.47%468.11%6311.11%29652.20%567Grant6,52954.83%1,40611.81%1,20310.10%8347.00%1,93516.25%5,12343.03%11,907Grays Harbor4,79034.69%2,44617.71%3,14422.77%1,51410.96%1,91413.86%1,64611.92%13,808Island9,43841.99%4,50420.04%4,05918.06%2,38010.59%2,0989.33%4,93421.95%22,479Jefferson3,34229.57%3,53631.29%2,21419.59%1,1249.95%1,0859.60%-194-1.72%11,301King120,09729.64%116,89928.85%82,98020.48%68,13816.81%17,1244.23%3,1980.79%405,238Kitsap23,47740.69%12,05920.90%10,63818.44%7,01312.15%4,5167.83%11,41819.79%57,703Kittitas3,98448.92%1,20814.83%1,12113.76%83510.25%99612.23%2,77634.09%8,144Klickitat1,84746.48%81620.53%3097.78%42110.59%58114.62%1,03125.94%3,974Lewis8,31653.89%1,70811.07%2,03713.20%1,1917.72%2,17914.12%6,27940.69%15,431Lincoln1,76959.62%31410.58%1896.37%2317.79%46415.64%1,45549.04%2,967Mason5,88539.68%2,56717.31%2,82719.06%1,63811.04%1,91612.92%3,05820.62%14,833Okanogan3,81247.61%1,32116.50%83710.45%7429.27%1,29416.16%2,49131.11%8,006Pacific2,15436.68%1,23721.07%1,00217.06%71312.14%76613.04%91715.62%5,872Pend Oreille1,47544.33%53916.20%38811.66%2487.45%67720.35%93628.13%3,327Pierce57,88440.06%22,03315.25%18,69812.94%36,26625.10%9,6016.65%21,61814.96%144,482San Juan1,68532.33%1,59730.64%96618.53%56010.74%4047.75%881.69%5,212Skagit11,17342.20%4,60217.38%4,79618.11%3,01811.40%2,88710.90%6,37724.09%26,476Skamania95844.13%45420.91%1657.60%26312.11%33115.25%50423.22%2,171Snohomish56,47741.96%29,16521.67%22,36016.61%17,03112.65%9,5747.11%27,31220.29%134,607Spokane42,24344.19%18,67719.54%10,58911.08%9,3029.73%14,78015.46%23,56624.65%95,591Stevens5,36551.19%1,36213.00%7647.29%9218.79%2,06819.73%4,00338.20%10,480Thurston27,94648.92%11,99921.00%8,26114.46%5,2139.12%3,7116.50%15,94727.91%57,130Wahkiakum49342.10%23219.81%14812.64%13411.44%16414.01%26122.29%1,171Walla Walla6,27752.15%1,79814.94%1,1209.30%1,1469.52%1,69614.09%4,47937.21%12,037Whatcom18,39642.89%11,23226.19%6,54615.26%3,3137.72%3,4057.94%7,16416.70%42,892Whitman3,32348.58%1,29518.93%6539.55%6469.44%92313.49%2,02829.65%6,840Yakima14,75649.25%4,29214.33%3,29711.01%2,5988.67%5,01616.74%10,46434.93%29,959Totals528,75439.75%289,05221.73%210,83215.85%185,42513.94%115,9738.72%239,70218.02%1,330,036

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Clallam (largest city: Port Angeles) Cowlitz (largest city: Longview) Grays Harbor (largest city: Aberdeen) Island (largest city: Oak Harbor) Jefferson (largest city: Port Townsend) King (largest city: Seattle) Kitsap (largest city: Bremerton) Mason (largest city: Shelton) Pacific (largest city: Raymond) Pierce (largest city: Tacoma) San Juan (largest city: Friday Harbor) Skagit (largest city: Mount Vernon) Snohomish (largest city: Everett) Wahkiakum (largest city: Puget Island) Whatcom (largest city: Bellingham)

By congressional district District Wyman Drew Nickels Kastama Representative 45% 20% 16% 13%Suzan DelBene 39% 24% 18% 11%Rick Larsen 46% 18% 12% 11%Jaime Herrera Beutler 52% 14% 9% 8%Doc Hastings 46% 18% 10% 10%Cathy McMorris Rodgers 38% 21% 18% 14%Norm Dicks 19% 37% 24% 17%Jim McDermott 47% 16% 14% 15%Dave Reichert 31% 25% 21% 19%Adam Smith 43% 17% 13% 20%Denny Heck

General election

Republican Kim Wyman won the general election in a close-fought contest, and was the only Republican elected to statewide office in Washington.

With Wyman's victory, Republicans extended their control of the office of Secretary of State of Washington to 48 consecutive years, having won each of the preceding 12 elections.

Post-primary endorsements

Polling Graphical summary

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin KimWyman (R) KathleenDrew (D) UndecidedElway ResearchElway ResearchOctober 18–21, 2012451 (RV)± 4.5%34%34%32%Elway ResearchElway ResearchSeptember 9–12, 2012405 (RV)± 5.0%32%40%28%

Results

By county +CountyKim Wyman RepublicanKathleen Drew DemocraticMarginTotal votes#%#%#%Adams3,23571.94%1,26228.06%1,97343.87%4,497Asotin5,56060.00%3,70640.00%1,85420.01%9,266Benton50,31868.00%23,68432.00%26,63435.99%74,002Chelan19,28264.35%10,68135.65%8,60128.71%29,963Clallam19,69955.09%16,05844.91%3,64110.18%35,757Clark98,25155.06%80,18044.94%18,07110.13%178,431Columbia1,53673.28%56026.72%97646.56%2,096Cowlitz21,88652.21%20,03647.79%1,8504.41%41,922Douglas9,65568.66%4,40731.34%5,24837.32%14,062Ferry2,02362.63%1,20737.37%81625.26%3,230Franklin14,27565.88%7,39434.12%6,88131.76%21,669Garfield86673.14%31826.86%54846.28%1,184Grant18,06469.33%7,99030.67%10,07438.67%26,054Grays Harbor13,66550.09%13,61549.91%500.18%27,280Island21,37654.26%18,02045.74%3,3568.52%39,396Jefferson7,50740.18%11,17559.82%-3,668-19.63%18,682King345,26839.05%538,98660.95%-193,718-21.91%884,254Kitsap59,48851.17%56,77448.83%2,7142.33%116,262Kittitas10,18361.08%6,48838.92%3,69522.16%16,671Klickitat5,47756.66%4,18943.34%1,28813.33%9,666Lewis21,52067.04%10,57832.96%10,94234.09%32,098Lincoln4,05473.43%1,46726.57%2,58746.86%5,521Mason14,62354.56%12,18145.44%2,4429.11%26,804Okanogan9,61160.25%6,34239.75%3,26920.49%15,953Pacific4,73448.16%5,09651.84%-362-3.68%9,830Pend Oreille4,05064.40%2,23935.60%1,81128.80%6,289Pierce168,77352.69%151,55647.31%17,2175.37%320,329San Juan3,68937.03%6,27462.97%-2,585-25.95%9,963Skagit27,81553.76%23,92046.24%3,8957.53%51,735Skamania2,73153.66%2,35846.34%3737.33%5,089Snohomish153,51349.75%155,03050.25%-1,517-0.49%308,543Spokane121,35258.10%87,49941.90%33,85316.21%208,851Stevens14,20067.55%6,82232.45%7,37835.10%21,022Thurston70,37458.40%50,13341.60%20,24116.80%120,507Wahkiakum1,18555.74%94144.26%24411.48%2,126Walla Walla15,09264.61%8,26835.39%6,82429.21%23,360Whatcom46,49148.32%49,72251.68%-3,231-3.36%96,213Whitman9,12257.66%6,69942.34%2,42315.32%15,821Yakima44,19860.37%29,01339.63%15,18520.74%73,211Totals1,464,74150.38%1,442,86849.62%21,8730.75%2,907,609

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Jefferson (largest city: Port Townsend) King (largest city: Seattle) Pacific (largest city: Raymond) Snohomish (largest city: Everett) Whatcom (largest city: Bellingham)

By congressional district

Wyman won six of ten congressional districts, including two that elected Democrats. District Wyman Podlodowski Representative 53% 47%Suzan DelBene 47% 53%Rick Larsen 56% 44%Jaime Herrera Beutler 65% 35%Doc Hastings 60% 40%Cathy McMorris Rodgers 49.9% 50.1%Derek Kilmer28%72%Jim McDermott 57% 43%Dave Reichert 40% 60%Adam Smith 55% 45%Denny Heck

References