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It's All Up to You
Since Washington became a state in 1889, its citizens have voted in 34 presidential elections, beginning in 1892 when they chose Republican Benjamin Harrison, who lost to Grover Cleveland. In 1896, they chose William Jennings Bryan, who lost to William McKinley. President McKinley won again in 1900, and this time he carried the state.
State voters sided with the nation again when they chose Teddy Roosevelt in 1904 and William Howard Taft in 1908. After November 8, 1910, women voters joined in, and Roosevelt once again got the state nod in 1912, but lost to Woodrow Wilson, who won a second term with state support in 1916. For the next four decades, Washington matched the nation by choosing Warren G. Harding in 1920; Calvin Coolidge in 1924; Herbert Hoover in 1928; Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944; Harry Truman in 1948, and Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956,
The winning streak ended in 1960, when Washingtonians opted for Richard Nixon, who lost to John F. Kennedy. State voters won with Lyndon Johnson in 1964, but in 1968 they chose Hubert Humphrey, who lost to Nixon. President Nixon won the state in 1972, but in 1976, state voters went for Gerald Ford, who lost to Jimmy Carter.
Ronald Reagan won state support in 1980 and 1984, which is the last time a Republican carried Washington in a presidential election. Since then Washington voted for Michael Dukakis over George H. W. Bush in 1988, Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, and Al Gore and John Kerry in 2000 and 2004 respectively, both times over George W. Bush. Washington supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Hillary Clinton carried the state in 2016, and in 2020 Washingtonians voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden. In all, there have been 23 presidential elections in which state voters sided with the candidate who received the most electoral votes.
When Counties Were New
In the 1800s, Washington citizens began choosing where to place the "seat" of each county's government as boundaries were being drawn. Sometimes these decisions came into question as populations began to shift, as was the case in Pierce County, where voters originally chose Steilacoom. On November 2, 1880, residents voted to move the seat to Tacoma, home to the Northern Pacific Railroad's West Coast terminus. And on November 3, 1896, voters in Lincoln County -- which was created on November 1, 1883 -- opted for Davenport over Sprague.
On November 2, 1886, Douglas County moved its seat from waterless Okanogan to Waterville, but the fight didn't end there. On November 3, 1914, the city of Okanogan -- by then part of Okanogan County -- wrested that county's seat away from Conconully in a countywide election. And on November 5, 1912, Benton County voters unsuccessfully tried to unseat Prosser, following a bitter rivalry with Benton City and Kennewick.
