The 2016 Washington state auditor election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Washington state auditor, concurrently with the 2016 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 Democratic state auditor Troy Kelley retired. Democratic Pierce County executive Pat McCarthy narrowly defeated Republican state senator Mark Miloscia to succeed Kelley.

The top-two primary was held on August 2.

Background Kelley was elected in 2012 against Republican James Watkins, winning 53% of the vote to succeed conservative Democrat Brian Sonntag. He was indicted over federal charges of felony theft and money laundering. Several attempts to remove him from office, including a threat of impeachment by the legislature, proved unsuccessful. Kelley did not file to run for a second term.

Primary election

Democratic Party

Advanced to general Pat McCarthy, Pierce County executive (2009–2017)https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article60745171.html

Eliminated in primary Jeff Sprung, attorneyhttps://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-attorney-joins-race-washington-state-auditor/

Declined Troy Kelley, incumbent state auditor (2013–2017)

Republican Party

Advanced to general Mark Miloscia, state senator (2015–2019)

Third-party and independent candidates Eliminated in primary David Golden (Independent), engineer Mark Wilson (Independent), forensic accountanthttps://komonews.com/news/local/candidates-for-state-auditor-vow-to-restore-offices-credibility

Endorsements

Results Two Democratic, one Republican and two independent candidates competed in the primary. Mark Miloscia (R) and Pat McCarthy (D) finished as the top two and advanced to the general election.

By county +CountyPat McCarthy DemocraticMark Miloscia RepublicanJeff Sprung DemocraticVarious candidates IndependentMarginTotal votes#%#%#%#%#%Adams34218.97%1,12662.45%925.10%24313.48%78443.48%1,803Asotin1,20828.87%1,94746.53%44210.56%58714.03%73917.66%4,184Benton6,93522.79%16,00052.59%3,06510.07%4,42514.54%9,06529.79%30,425Chelan3,28623.45%7,41852.93%1,71512.24%1,59511.38%4,13229.48%14,014Clallam5,16529.17%7,42341.93%3,06917.33%2,04811.57%2,25812.75%17,705Clark19,70127.75%30,14242.46%12,50817.62%8,63412.16%10,44114.71%70,985Columbia18919.61%53355.29%788.09%16417.01%34435.68%964Cowlitz5,19829.61%7,35241.88%2,36913.49%2,63815.03%2,15412.27%17,557Douglas1,38421.12%3,76657.48%5678.65%83512.74%2,38236.36%6,552Ferry39022.41%87450.23%1709.77%30617.59%48427.82%1,740Franklin1,86522.85%4,53955.60%6628.11%1,09713.44%2,67432.76%8,163Garfield12421.99%34561.17%284.96%6711.88%22139.18%564Grant2,10920.00%6,07157.58%8037.62%1,56014.80%3,96237.58%10,543Grays Harbor4,11933.08%4,61337.05%1,76314.16%1,95715.72%4943.97%12,452Island5,49626.68%8,48741.20%4,46921.69%2,14910.43%2,99114.52%20,601Jefferson3,29933.47%2,63226.61%2,93229.75%1,00310.18%-367-3.72%9,857King117,04628.16%105,88025.48%164,70239.63%27,9656.73%-47,656-11.47%415,593Kitsap15,98630.88%19,63637.93%9,93219.19%6,21512.01%3,6507.05%51,769Kittitas1,81424.48%3,70650.02%94812.80%94112.70%1,89225.54%7,409Klickitat1,02623.99%2,06048.16%61014.26%58113.58%1,03424.18%4,277Lewis2,74019.38%7,98456.46%1,2959.16%2,12115.00%5,24437.09%14,140Lincoln45517.54%1,56160.18%1545.94%42416.35%1,10642.64%2,594Mason4,17931.78%5,51241.92%1,66112.63%1,79613.66%1,33310.14%13,148Okanogan1,81322.74%3,84548.24%1,21415.23%1,09913.79%2,03225.49%7,971Pacific1,69132.99%1,98938.80%68313.32%76314.88%2985.81%5,126Pend Oreille75323.81%1,49747.34%34310.85%56917.99%74423.53%3,162Pierce51,94836.98%56,29740.07%19,84814.13%12,3958.82%4,3493.10%140,488San Juan1,61731.66%1,43628.12%1,60631.45%4488.77%-11-0.22%5,107Skagit6,88629.22%9,79341.55%4,47719.00%2,41110.23%2,90712.34%23,567Skamania55026.10%1,01948.36%28613.57%25211.96%46922.26%2,107Snohomish41,79230.77%52,08338.35%26,42119.45%15,51911.43%10,2917.58%135,815Spokane26,37328.59%38,95642.23%12,84313.92%14,07315.26%12,58313.64%92,245Stevens2,13220.68%5,60654.38%7797.56%1,79117.37%3,47433.70%10,308Thurston17,93330.78%19,97234.27%14,86825.52%5,4989.44%2,0393.50%58,271Wahkiakum28628.46%47246.97%12011.94%12712.64%18618.51%1,005Walla Walla2,47423.19%4,98446.72%1,44813.57%1,76216.52%2,51023.53%10,668Whatcom12,46827.30%17,73538.83%11,55525.30%3,9108.56%5,26711.53%45,668Whitman1,71927.07%2,75143.32%95014.96%93114.66%1,03216.25%6,351Yakima7,33726.36%13,87749.87%2,81510.12%3,80013.65%6,54023.50%27,829Totals381,82829.09%481,91036.71%314,29023.94%134,69910.26%100,0827.62%1,312,727

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Clallam (largest city: Port Angeles) Island (largest city: Oak Harbor) Skagit (largest city: Mount Vernon) Spokane (largest city: Spokane) Whatcom (largest city: Bellingham)

By congressional district District McCarthy Miloscia Sprung Representative 27% 41% 23%Suzan DelBene 31% 35% 23%Rick Larsen 27% 44% 15%Jaime Herrera Beutler 23% 53% 10%Dan Newhouse 27% 44% 13%Cathy McMorris Rodgers 34% 36% 18%Derek Kilmer 27% 15% 52%Jim McDermott 26% 46% 18%Dave Reichert 32% 28% 33%Adam Smith 34% 37% 19%Denny Heck

General election

Post-primary endorsements

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin PatMcCarthy (D) MarkMiloscia (R) UndecidedElway PollElway PollOctober 20–22, 2016502 (RV)± 4.5%39%29%32%Elway PollElway PollAugust 9–13, 2016500 (RV)± 4.5%37%29%34%

Results

By county +CountyPat McCarthy DemocraticMark Miloscia RepublicanMarginTotal votes#%#%#%Adams1,44932.42%3,02067.58%-1,571-35.15%4,469Asotin3,60438.77%5,69361.23%-2,089-22.47%9,297Benton27,67535.65%49,95764.35%-22,282-28.70%77,632Chelan12,28539.13%19,10960.87%-6,824-21.74%31,394Clallam17,49346.68%19,98053.32%-2,487-6.64%37,473Clark89,61846.78%101,96253.22%-12,344-6.44%191,580Columbia61629.98%1,43970.02%-823-40.05%2,055Cowlitz19,79945.70%23,52254.30%-3,723-8.59%43,321Douglas4,98033.65%9,82166.35%-4,841-32.71%14,801Ferry1,24236.38%2,17263.62%-930-27.24%3,414Franklin9,01138.95%14,12561.05%-5,114-22.10%23,136Garfield32827.99%84472.01%-516-44.03%1,172Grant8,55731.52%18,59068.48%-10,033-36.96%27,147Grays Harbor13,45549.62%13,66050.38%-205-0.76%27,115Island19,66646.89%21,39552.11%-1,729-4.21%41,061Jefferson12,42063.88%7,02336.12%5,39727.76%19,443King591,70863.66%337,75436.34%253,95427.32%929,462Kitsap60,57250.56%59,22349.44%1,3491.13%119,795Kittitas7,13939.98%10,71760.02%-3,578-20.04%17,856Klickitat4,35442.40%5,91457.60%-1,560-15.19%10,268Lewis10,81333.06%21,89666.94%-11,083-33.88%32,709Lincoln1,42225.99%4,05074.01%-2,628-48.03%5,472Mason12,66146.99%14,28453.01%-1,623-6.02%26,945Okanogan6,76141.48%9,54058.52%-2,779-17.05%16,301Pacific4,90448.79%5,14751.21%-243-2.42%10,051Pend Oreille2,29535.17%4,23064.83%-1,935-29.66%6,525Pierce171,82351.02%164,97148.98%6,8522.03%336,794San Juan6,82166.81%3,38833.19%3,43333.63%10,209Skagit25,43347.49%28,11952.51%-2,686-5.02%53,552Skamania2,34344.17%2,96255.83%-619-11.67%5,305Snohomish167,96750.94%161,75249.06%6,2151.88%329,719Spokane95,68943.70%123,27956.30%-27,590-12.60%218,968Stevens6,61730.28%15,23669.72%-8,619-39.44%21,853Thurston66,93154.04%56,91845.96%10,0138.08%123,849Wahkiakum89741.82%1,24858.18%-351-16.36%2,145Walla Walla9,86840.84%14,29259.16%-4,424-18.31%24,160Whatcom57,66954.88%47,40945.12%10,2609.76%105,078Whitman7,77947.07%8,74852.93%-969-5.86%16,527Yakima32,34743.29%42,38256.71%-10,035-13.43%74,729Totals1,597,01152.31%1,455,77147.69%141,2404.63%3,052,782

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Cowlitz (largest city: Longview) Grays Harbor (largest city: Aberdeen) Pacific (largest city: Raymond)

By congressional district McCarthy won five of ten congressional districts, with the remaining five going to Miloscia, including one that elected a Democrat. District McCarthy Miloscia Representative 48% 52%Suzan DelBene 55% 45%Rick Larsen 45% 55%Jaime Herrera Beutler 38% 62%Dan Newhouse 42% 58%Cathy McMorris Rodgers 53% 47%Derek Kilmer74%26%Jim McDermottPramila Jayapal 44% 56%Dave Reichert 63% 37%Adam Smith 53% 47%Denny Heck

References