# 1972 Washington gubernatorial election

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The 1972 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Governor of Washington Daniel J. Evans, who was first elected eight years earlier, and then re-elected in 1968, was eligible for re-election, as Washington does not have gubernatorial term limits.
On election day, Evans defeated former governor Albert D. Rosellini by a comfortable margin of 51% to 43% in a rematch of the 1964 contest. Businessman Vick Gould, who ran with the Taxpayers Party, a third party of Gould's own creation, also received 5.9% of the vote. Evans was the first governor of Washington to be elected to a third consecutive term.

## Primary election

A total of nine candidates filed for the blanket primary on September 19, 1972. Evans and Rosellini won their party's nominations, receiving 24.66% and 30.27% of the votes in the primary, respectively.

### Candidates
#### Republican Party

* Daniel J. Evans, incumbent Governor
* L. R. Kemore, candidate for governor in 1948
* Earl Monaghan
* John "Hugo Frye" Patric, perennial candidate
* Perry B. Woodall, State Senator

#### Democratic Party

* Martin J. Durkan, State Senator
* James A. McDermott, psychiatrist and State Representative
* Albert D. Rosellini, former governor
* Rudolfo Valdez

### Results

Blanket primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Albert D. Rosellini | 276,121 | 30.27% |
| | Republican | Daniel J. Evans (incumbent) | 224,953 | 24.66% |
| | Democratic | Martin J. Durkan | 195,931 | 21.48% |
| | Republican | Perry B. Woodall | 100,372 | 11.00% |
| | Democratic | James A. McDermott | 99,155 | 10.87% |
| | Democratic | Earl Monaghan | 5,201 | 0.57% |
| | Democratic | Rudolfo Valdez | 4,440 | 0.49% |
| | Republican | John Patric | 3,343 | 0.37% |
| | Republican | L. R. Kemoe | 2,567 | 0.28% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 912,083 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Candidates

* Robin David (SWP)
* Daniel J. Evans (R), incumbent Governor
* Vick Gould (Taxpayers), businessman
* Albert D. Rosellini (D), former governor
* Henry Killman (SLP), perennial candidate

### Results

1972 Washington gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Daniel J. Evans (incumbent) | 747,825 | 50.78% | −3.93% |
| | Democratic | Albert D. Rosellini | 630,613 | 42.82% | −1.45% |
| | Taxpayers | Vick Gould | 86,843 | 5.90% | |
| | Socialist Workers | Robin David | 4,552 | 0.31% | |
| | Socialist Labor | Henry Killman | 2,709 | 0.18% | +0.10% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 117,212 | 7.96% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,472,542 | 100.00% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Swing | -2.48% | |

### Results by county

| County | Daniel J. Evans Republican | Daniel J. Evans Republican | Albert D. Rosellini Democratic | Albert D. Rosellini Democratic | Vick Gould Taxpayers | Vick Gould Taxpayers | Robin David Socialist Workers | Robin David Socialist Workers | Henry Killman Socialist Labor | Henry Killman Socialist Labor | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Adams | 2,583 | 57.17% | 1,727 | 38.22% | 204 | 4.52% | 1 | 0.02% | 3 | 0.07% | 856 | 18.95% | 4,518 |
| Asotin | 2,851 | 49.78% | 2,750 | 48.02% | 122 | 2.13% | 2 | 0.03% | 2 | 0.03% | 101 | 1.76% | 5,727 |
| Benton | 17,010 | 55.50% | 12,540 | 40.91% | 1,003 | 3.27% | 68 | 0.22% | 28 | 0.09% | 4,470 | 14.58% | 30,649 |
| Chelan | 9,145 | 52.66% | 7,143 | 41.13% | 1,015 | 5.84% | 40 | 0.23% | 23 | 0.13% | 2,002 | 11.53% | 17,366 |
| Clallam | 8,153 | 50.12% | 7,196 | 44.23% | 888 | 5.46% | 18 | 0.11% | 13 | 0.08% | 957 | 5.88% | 16,268 |
| Clark | 30,557 | 51.93% | 24,733 | 42.03% | 3,257 | 5.54% | 209 | 0.36% | 87 | 0.15% | 5,824 | 9.90% | 58,843 |
| Columbia | 1,094 | 52.29% | 914 | 43.69% | 81 | 3.87% | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 0.14% | 180 | 8.60% | 2,092 |
| Cowlitz | 13,797 | 49.17% | 13,468 | 48.00% | 684 | 2.44% | 54 | 0.19% | 54 | 0.19% | 329 | 1.17% | 28,057 |
| Douglas | 3,578 | 48.23% | 3,384 | 45.62% | 451 | 6.08% | 4 | 0.05% | 1 | 0.01% | 194 | 2.62% | 7,418 |
| Ferry | 550 | 36.28% | 777 | 51.25% | 187 | 12.34% | 1 | 0.07% | 1 | 0.07% | -227 | -14.97% | 1,516 |
| Franklin | 5,011 | 47.73% | 5,121 | 48.78% | 338 | 3.22% | 14 | 0.13% | 14 | 0.13% | -110 | -1.05% | 10,498 |
| Garfield | 832 | 53.68% | 685 | 44.19% | 32 | 2.06% | 1 | 0.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 147 | 9.48% | 1,550 |
| Grant | 7,629 | 48.79% | 7,156 | 45.77% | 808 | 5.17% | 23 | 0.15% | 19 | 0.12% | 473 | 3.03% | 15,635 |
| Grays Harbor | 9,277 | 38.51% | 13,303 | 55.22% | 1,369 | 5.68% | 48 | 0.20% | 92 | 0.38% | -4,026 | -16.71% | 24,089 |
| Island | 6,456 | 58.94% | 4,006 | 36.57% | 460 | 4.20% | 19 | 0.17% | 12 | 0.11% | 2,450 | 22.37% | 10,953 |
| Jefferson | 2,068 | 39.97% | 2,717 | 52.51% | 347 | 6.71% | 23 | 0.44% | 19 | 0.37% | -649 | -12.54% | 5,174 |
| King | 292,616 | 55.41% | 204,212 | 38.67% | 27,876 | 5.28% | 2,144 | 0.41% | 1,272 | 0.24% | 88,404 | 16.74% | 528,120 |
| Kitsap | 19,720 | 42.70% | 23,652 | 51.21% | 2,612 | 5.66% | 119 | 0.26% | 80 | 0.17% | -3,932 | -8.51% | 46,183 |
| Kittitas | 5,488 | 54.04% | 4,241 | 41.76% | 382 | 3.76% | 38 | 0.37% | 7 | 0.07% | 1,247 | 12.28% | 10,156 |
| Klickitat | 3,084 | 55.35% | 2,267 | 40.69% | 214 | 3.84% | 4 | 0.07% | 3 | 0.05% | 817 | 14.66% | 5,572 |
| Lewis | 8,339 | 40.11% | 10,955 | 52.69% | 1,460 | 7.02% | 25 | 0.12% | 11 | 0.05% | -2,616 | -12.58% | 20,790 |
| Lincoln | 2,757 | 52.48% | 2,137 | 40.68% | 355 | 6.76% | 1 | 0.02% | 3 | 0.06% | 620 | 11.80% | 5,253 |
| Mason | 4,093 | 40.84% | 5,386 | 53.75% | 520 | 5.19% | 12 | 0.12% | 10 | 0.10% | -1,293 | -12.90% | 10,021 |
| Okanogan | 4,197 | 40.22% | 5,141 | 49.27% | 1,070 | 10.25% | 14 | 0.13% | 13 | 0.12% | -944 | -9.05% | 10,435 |
| Pacific | 2,674 | 37.32% | 4,310 | 60.15% | 161 | 2.25% | 10 | 0.14% | 10 | 0.14% | -1,636 | -22.83% | 7,165 |
| Pend Oreille | 1,197 | 40.76% | 1,540 | 52.43% | 195 | 6.64% | 3 | 0.10% | 2 | 0.07% | -343 | -11.68% | 2,937 |
| Pierce | 63,497 | 42.99% | 75,723 | 51.27% | 7,986 | 5.41% | 274 | 0.19% | 214 | 0.14% | 12,226 | 8.28% | 147,694 |
| San Juan | 1,828 | 66.79% | 699 | 25.54% | 181 | 6.61% | 18 | 0.66% | 11 | 0.40% | 1,129 | 41.25% | 2,737 |
| Skagit | 11,963 | 47.82% | 11,977 | 47.88% | 997 | 3.99% | 56 | 0.22% | 23 | 0.09% | -14 | -0.06% | 25,016 |
| Skamania | 1,011 | 36.92% | 1,154 | 42.15% | 565 | 20.64% | 5 | 0.18% | 3 | 0.11% | -143 | -5.22% | 2,738 |
| Snohomish | 50,877 | 47.88% | 46,608 | 43.86% | 8,255 | 7.77% | 328 | 0.31% | 194 | 0.18% | 4,269 | 4.02% | 106,262 |
| Spokane | 60,789 | 48.34% | 50,706 | 40.33% | 13,607 | 10.82% | 422 | 0.34% | 218 | 0.17% | 10,083 | 8.02% | 125,742 |
| Stevens | 3,232 | 40.99% | 3,568 | 45.26% | 1,060 | 13.44% | 10 | 0.13% | 14 | 0.18% | -336 | -4.26% | 7,884 |
| Thurston | 18,673 | 47.71% | 17,869 | 45.66% | 2,429 | 6.21% | 114 | 0.29% | 53 | 0.14% | 804 | 2.05% | 39,138 |
| Wahkiakum | 793 | 46.67% | 817 | 48.09% | 78 | 4.59% | 3 | 0.18% | 8 | 0.47% | -24 | -1.41% | 1,699 |
| Walla Walla | 10,042 | 54.54% | 8,004 | 43.47% | 337 | 1.83% | 18 | 0.10% | 11 | 0.06% | 2,038 | 11.07% | 18,412 |
| Whatcom | 22,776 | 59.47% | 12,741 | 33.27% | 2,388 | 6.24% | 268 | 0.70% | 124 | 0.32% | 10,035 | 26.20% | 38,297 |
| Whitman | 10,915 | 67.99% | 4,428 | 27.58% | 605 | 3.77% | 83 | 0.52% | 24 | 0.15% | 6,487 | 40.40% | 16,055 |
| Yakima | 26,673 | 49.50% | 24,858 | 46.13% | 2,264 | 4.20% | 58 | 0.11% | 30 | 0.06% | 1,815 | 3.37% | 53,883 |
| Totals | 747,825 | 50.78% | 630,613 | 42.82% | 86,843 | 5.90% | 4,552 | 0.31% | 2,709 | 0.18% | 117,212 | 7.96% | 1,472,542 |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Clark
* Cowlitz

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Ferry
* Kitsap
* Lewis
* Okanogan
* Skagit
* Stevens
* Wahkiakum