2016 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election

2016 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election

← 2012 November 8, 2016 2020 →

Nominee Cyrus Habib Marty McClendon Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,698,297 1,424,277 Percentage 54.39% 45.61%

County results Congressional district results Habib:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% McClendon:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Lieutenant Governor of Washington before election Brad Owen Democratic Elected Lieutenant Governor of Washington Cyrus Habib Democratic

The 2016 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016. The top-two primary was held on August 2. 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 lieutenant governor Brad Owen, first elected to the office in 1996, announced that he would not seek a sixth term.^[1][2] Democratic state senator Cyrus Habib defeated Republican radio host Marty McClendon to succeed Owen.^[3]

Candidates

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

• Cyrus Habib, state senator^[4]

Eliminated in primary

• Karen Fraser, state senator^[5]
• Steve Hobbs, state senator^[6]
• Karen Wallace^[7]

Declined

• Brad Owen, incumbent lieutenant governor (1997–2017)^[1]

Republican Party

Advanced to general

• Marty McClendon, radio host and candidate of Washington's 6th congressional district in 2014^[7]

Eliminated in primary

• Javier Figueroa, University Place city councilor^[8]
• Bill Penor^[8]
• Phillip Yin, journalist^[9]

Third-party and independent candidates

Eliminated in primary

• Paul Addis (Libertarian), business analyst for Alaska Airlines^[10]
• Daniel Davies (Independent)^[7]
• Mark Greene (Citizens), perennial candidate^[7]

Primary election

Endorsements

Steve Hobbs (D)

Executive branch officials

• Gary Locke, former United States Secretary of Commerce (2009–2011) and governor of Washington (1997–2005)^[11]

State legislators

• Mark Mullet, state senator from the 5th district (2012–2025)^[11]
• Larry Springer, state representative from the 45th district (2005–present)^[11]

Labor unions

• Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council^[11]
• Washington Realtors^[11]

Newspapers

• The Seattle Times^[12]

Karen Fraser (D)

State officials

• James McIntire, state treasurer of Washington (2009–2017)^[11]

State legislators

• Jim Moeller, speaker pro tempore of the Washington House of Representatives (2011–2017) from the 49th district (2003–2017)^[11]

Trade unions

• Washington Federation of State Employees^[11]
• Washington State Nurses Association^[11]
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77^[11]

Organizations

• EMILYs List^[11]

Newspapers

• The News Tribune^[11]

Cyrus Habib (D)

U.S. representatives

• Norm Dicks, former WA-06 (1997–2013)^[11]

State officials

• Bob Ferguson, attorney general of Washington (2013–2025)^[11]

State legislators

• Steve Bergquist, state representative from the 11th district (2013–present)^[11]

Labor unions

• Washington Federation of Teachers^[11]
• Washington Education Association^[11]
• Washington State Council of County & City Employees^[11]

Organizations

• League of Conservation Voters^[11]

Javier Figueroa (R)

State officials

• Rob McKenna, former attorney general of Washington (2005–2013)^[11]

Phillip Yin (R)

State legislators

• Brian Dansel, state senator from the 7th district (2013–2017)^[11]

Organizations

• Mainstream Republicans of Washington^[11]

Results

Four Democrats (three of whom were state senators), four Republicans, two third-party candidates, and one independent competed in the primary election. Cyrus Habib (D) and Marty McClendon (R) finished as top two and advanced to the general election.

Blanket primary results by county

  Habib

•   20–30%
•   30–40%

  McClendon

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%

  Fraser

•   30–40%

  Hobbs

•   20–30%

Blanket primary election results^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Cyrus Habib	294,641	22.26
	Republican	Marty McClendon	253,714	19.17
	Democratic	Karen Fraser	207,271	15.66
	Democratic	Steve Hobbs	202,427	15.29
	Republican	Phillip Yin	141,680	10.70
	Democratic	Karen Wallace	59,175	4.47
	Republican	Javier Figueroa	56,214	4.25
	Republican	Bill Penor	52,986	4.00
	Libertarian	Paul Addis	26,304	1.99
	Independent	Daniel Davies	16,491	1.25
	Citizens Party	Mark Greene	12,692	0.96
Total votes			1,323,595	100.00

General election

Endorsements

Marty McClendon (R)

Organizations

• Washington Farm Bureau^[14]
• Human Life Washington^[14]
• National Rifle Association^[15]

Declined to endorse

Newspapers

• The Seattle Times (endorsed Hobbs in the primary)^[16]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Cyrus Habib (D)	Marty McClendon (R)	Undecided
Elway Poll[17]	October 20–22, 2016	502 (RV)	± 4.5%	38%	37%	25%
Elway Poll[18]	August 9–13, 2016	500 (RV)	± 4.5%	38%	33%	29%

Results

2016 Washington lieutenant gubernatorial election^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Cyrus Habib	1,698,297	54.39	+0.71
	Republican	Marty McClendon	1,424,277	45.61	–0.71
Total votes			3,122,574	100.00	N/A
	Democratic hold

By county

County results

County[20]	Cyrus Habib Democratic		Marty McClendon Republican		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	1,317	29.34%	3,171	70.66%	-1,854	-41.31%	4,488
Asotin	3,365	35.65%	6,074	64.35%	-2,709	-28.70%	9,439
Benton	26,988	34.08%	52,203	65.92%	-25,215	-31.84%	79,191
Chelan	12,451	38.37%	19,997	61.63%	-7,546	-23.26%	32,448
Clallam	18,184	47.45%	20,140	52.55%	-1,956	-5.10%	38,324
Clark	91,829	47.14%	102,989	52.86%	-11,160	-5.73%	194,818
Columbia	543	26.02%	1,544	73.98%	-1,001	-47.96%	2,087
Cowlitz	18,783	42.23%	25,698	57.77%	-6,915	-15.55%	44,481
Douglas	4,807	31.81%	10,303	68.19%	-5,496	-36.37%	15,110
Ferry	1,189	34.25%	2,283	65.75%	-1,094	-31.51%	3,472
Franklin	8,721	37.19%	14,732	62.81%	-6,011	-25.63%	23,453
Garfield	296	24.79%	898	75.21%	-602	-50.42%	1,194
Grant	7,882	28.51%	19,769	71.49%	-11,887	-42.99%	27,651
Grays Harbor	13,202	47.23%	14,748	52.77%	-1,546	-5.53%	27,950
Island	21,090	50.18%	20,935	49.82%	155	0.37%	42,025
Jefferson	13,065	65.57%	6,861	34.43%	6,204	31.14%	19,926
King	670,754	70.13%	285,689	29.87%	385,065	40.26%	956,443
Kitsap	63,739	52.00%	58,842	48.00%	4,897	3.99%	122,581
Kittitas	7,249	39.70%	11,012	60.30%	-3,763	-20.61%	18,261
Klickitat	4,332	41.49%	6,109	58.51%	-1,777	-17.02%	10,441
Lewis	10,473	31.22%	23,077	68.78%	-12,604	-37.57%	33,550
Lincoln	1,267	22.74%	4,305	77.26%	-3,038	-54.52%	5,572
Mason	12,489	45.23%	15,123	54.77%	-2,634	-9.54%	27,612
Okanogan	6,483	39.08%	10,107	60.92%	-3,624	-21.84%	16,590
Pacific	4,950	47.90%	5,385	52.10%	-435	-4.21%	10,335
Pend Oreille	2,161	32.57%	4,473	67.43%	-2,312	-34.85%	6,634
Pierce	171,252	50.17%	170,097	49.83%	1,155	0.34%	341,349
San Juan	7,398	69.94%	3,179	30.06%	4,219	39.89%	10,577
Skagit	27,001	49.27%	27,803	50.73%	-802	-1.46%	54,804
Skamania	2,333	43.28%	3,058	56.72%	-725	-13.45%	5,391
Snohomish	181,853	53.82%	156,067	46.18%	25,786	7.63%	337,920
Spokane	94,838	42.55%	128,052	57.45%	-33,214	-14.90%	222,890
Stevens	6,133	27.65%	16,047	72.35%	-9,914	-44.70%	22,180
Thurston	69,735	55.21%	56,566	44.79%	13,169	10.43%	126,301
Wahkiakum	868	39.33%	1,339	60.67%	-471	-21.34%	2,207
Walla Walla	9,758	39.72%	14,806	60.28%	-5,048	-20.55%	24,564
Whatcom	60,786	56.51%	46,775	43.49%	14,011	13.03%	107,561
Whitman	8,179	48.37%	8,729	51.63%	-550	-3.25%	16,908
Yakima	30,554	40.28%	45,292	59.72%	-14,738	-19.43%	75,846
Totals	1,698,297	54.39%	1,424,277	45.61%	274,020	8.78%	3,122,574

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Clallam (largest city: Port Angeles)
• Cowlitz (largest city: Longview)
• Grays Harbor (largest city: Aberdeen)
• Mason (largest city: Shelton)
• Pacific (largest city: Raymond)
• Skagit (largest city: Mount Vernon)
• Wahkiakum (largest city: Puget Island)

Swing by county

Legend

•   Democratic — +>15%
•   Democratic — +7.5-10%
•   Democratic — +5-7.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5-5%
•   Republican — +0-2.5%
•   Republican — +2.5-5%
•   Republican — +5-7.5%
•   Republican — +7.5-10%
•   Republican — +10-12.5%
•   Republican — +12.5-15%
•   Republican — +>15%

Trend relative to the state by county

Legend

•   Democratic — +>15%
•   Democratic — +12.5-15%
•   Democratic — +7.5-10%
•   Democratic — +2.5-5%
•   Democratic — +0-2.5%
•   Republican — +0-2.5%
•   Republican — +2.5-5%
•   Republican — +5-7.5%
•   Republican — +7.5-10%
•   Republican — +10-12.5%
•   Republican — +12.5-15%
•   Republican — +>15%

County flips

Legend

• Democratic   Hold

  Republican   Hold   Gain from Democratic

By congressional district

Habib won six of ten congressional districts.^[19]

District	Habib	McClendon	Representative
1st	53%	47%	Suzan DelBene
2nd	58%	42%	Rick Larsen
3rd	44%	56%	Jaime Herrera Beutler
4th	36%	64%	Dan Newhouse
5th	41%	59%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th	53%	47%	Derek Kilmer
7th	81%	19%	Jim McDermott
			Pramila Jayapal
8th	46%	54%	Dave Reichert
9th	69%	31%	Adam Smith
10th	53%	47%	Denny Heck

References

1. O'Sullivan, Joseph (March 8, 2016). "Brad Owen won't seek re-election as lieutenant governor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
2. "Lt. Governor Owen announces he will retire when his fifth term ends" (Press release). Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Washington. March 8, 2016. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
3. Young, Bob (November 8, 2016). "Cyrus Habib defeats McClendon in lieutenant governor's race". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
4. https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/state-senator-announces-hes-running-for-lieutenant-governor
5. Press, The Associated (October 6, 2015). "Sen. Karen Fraser announces run for lieutenant governor". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
6. https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/northwest/lt-governor-race-draws-high-interest-11-candidates/article_4c2e2ada-4aad-11e6-a3a0-8b4b906331b4.html
7. La Corte, Rachel (June 18, 2016). "Crowded field in race for Washington lieutenant governor". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
8. https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article88077797.html
9. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-01/22/content_23206831.htm
10. O'Sullivan, Joseph (July 29, 2016). "Third-party candidates make headway in Washington state but face steep odds". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
11. "Primary & General Election Endorsements for the Washington Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2016". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
12. Editorial Board, The Seattle Times (July 10, 2016). "The Times recommends: Steve Hobbs for lieutenant governor". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
13. Wyman, Kim (August 2, 2016). "Lt. Governor". Secretary of State of Washington. Archived from the original on July 15, 2025. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
14. "Marty McClendon on VoteSmart". VoteSmart. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
15. "NRA Endorses Marty McClendon for Washington Lieutenant Governor". NRA-PVF. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
16. Editorial Board, The Seattle Times (October 20, 2016). "The Times offers no recommendation in lieutenant governor race". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
17. Elway Poll
18. Elway Poll
19. "2016 General Data". sos.wa.gov. Archived from the original on March 15, 2025.
20. Wyman, Kim (November 8, 2016). "Lt. Governor - County Results". Secretary of State of Washington. Archived from the original on May 1, 2025. Retrieved November 2, 2025.