# 1968 Washington gubernatorial election

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The 1968 Washington gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1968, and resulted in the re-election of Republican incumbent Daniel J. Evans over state Attorney General John J. O'Connell. Martin Durkan, Albert F. Canwell, and John Patric unsuccessfully ran in the blanket primary.

## Primary election
### Candidates

* Albert F. Canwell (R), former member of Washington House of Representatives
* Allen J. Courter (R)
* Martin J. Durkan (D), member of Washington Senate
* Daniel J. Evans (R), incumbent governor
* John J. O'Connell (D), Attorney General of Washington
* John Patric (R), writer and perennial candidate
* Ernest T. Rhodefer (R)
* Jack E. Tanner (D)

### Results

Blanket primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Daniel J. Evans | 305,897 | 43.41% |
| | Democratic | John J. O'Connell | 182,969 | 25.96% |
| | Democratic | Martin J. Durkan | 162,382 | 23.04% |
| | Democratic | Jack E. Tanner | 17,155 | 2.43% |
| | Republican | Albert F. Canwell | 15,982 | 2.27% |
| | Republican | Ernest T. Rhodefer | 8,870 | 1.26% |
| | Republican | Allen J. Courter | 6,135 | 0.87% |
| | Republican | John Patric | 5,328 | 0.76% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 704,718 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Results

1968 Washington gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Daniel J. Evans (incumbent) | 692,378 | 54.72% | −1.05% |
| | Democratic | John J. O'Connell | 560,262 | 44.28% | +0.39% |
| | Conservative | Ken Chriswell | 11,602 | 0.92% | |
| | Socialist Labor | Henry Killman | 1,113 | 0.09% | −0.26% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 132,116 | 10.44% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,265,355 | 100.00% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Swing | -1.44% | |

### Results by county

| County | Daniel J. Evans Republican | Daniel J. Evans Republican | John J. O'Connell Democratic | John J. O'Connell Democratic | Ken Chriswell Conservative | Ken Chriswell Conservative | Henry Killman Socialist Labor | Henry Killman Socialist Labor | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Adams | 2,749 | 67.68% | 1,277 | 31.44% | 34 | 0.84% | 2 | 0.05% | 1,472 | 36.24% | 4,062 |
| Asotin | 2,818 | 54.06% | 2,347 | 45.02% | 48 | 0.92% | 0 | 0.00% | 471 | 9.04% | 5,213 |
| Benton | 15,470 | 55.56% | 12,175 | 43.72% | 191 | 0.69% | 10 | 0.04% | 3,295 | 11.83% | 27,846 |
| Chelan | 10,735 | 63.90% | 5,938 | 35.35% | 117 | 0.70% | 9 | 0.05% | 4,797 | 28.56% | 16,799 |
| Clallam | 7,035 | 50.75% | 6,703 | 48.36% | 110 | 0.79% | 13 | 0.09% | 332 | 2.40% | 13,861 |
| Clark | 20,987 | 48.13% | 22,310 | 51.16% | 287 | 0.66% | 25 | 0.06% | -1,323 | -3.03% | 43,609 |
| Columbia | 1,183 | 56.41% | 910 | 43.40% | 4 | 0.19% | 0 | 0.00% | 273 | 13.02% | 2,097 |
| Cowlitz | 12,160 | 48.88% | 12,559 | 50.49% | 125 | 0.50% | 32 | 0.13% | -399 | -1.60% | 24,876 |
| Douglas | 3,930 | 60.33% | 2,554 | 39.21% | 29 | 0.45% | 1 | 0.02% | 1,376 | 21.12% | 6,514 |
| Ferry | 670 | 50.34% | 617 | 46.36% | 44 | 3.31% | 0 | 0.00% | 53 | 3.98% | 1,331 |
| Franklin | 4,451 | 47.34% | 4,839 | 51.46% | 107 | 1.14% | 6 | 0.06% | -388 | -4.13% | 9,403 |
| Garfield | 862 | 55.83% | 668 | 43.26% | 14 | 0.91% | 0 | 0.00% | 194 | 12.56% | 1,544 |
| Grant | 8,334 | 59.69% | 5,467 | 39.16% | 158 | 1.13% | 3 | 0.02% | 2,867 | 20.53% | 13,962 |
| Grays Harbor | 9,734 | 44.02% | 12,260 | 55.44% | 77 | 0.35% | 42 | 0.19% | -2,526 | -11.42% | 22,113 |
| Island | 4,767 | 61.02% | 2,994 | 38.33% | 51 | 0.65% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,773 | 22.70% | 7,812 |
| Jefferson | 1,972 | 44.91% | 2,361 | 53.77% | 54 | 1.23% | 4 | 0.09% | -389 | -8.86% | 4,391 |
| King | 271,954 | 59.55% | 179,117 | 39.22% | 4,977 | 1.09% | 619 | 0.14% | 92,837 | 20.33% | 456,667 |
| Kitsap | 19,555 | 50.21% | 19,170 | 49.22% | 210 | 0.54% | 11 | 0.03% | 385 | 0.99% | 38,946 |
| Kittitas | 4,996 | 58.67% | 3,488 | 40.96% | 26 | 0.31% | 6 | 0.07% | 1,508 | 17.71% | 8,516 |
| Klickitat | 2,671 | 54.12% | 2,248 | 45.55% | 13 | 0.26% | 3 | 0.06% | 423 | 8.57% | 4,935 |
| Lewis | 9,462 | 51.54% | 8,808 | 47.98% | 87 | 0.47% | 2 | 0.01% | 654 | 3.56% | 18,359 |
| Lincoln | 3,271 | 66.65% | 1,600 | 32.60% | 37 | 0.75% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,671 | 34.05% | 4,908 |
| Mason | 4,130 | 48.67% | 4,324 | 50.96% | 29 | 0.34% | 2 | 0.02% | -194 | -2.29% | 8,485 |
| Okanogan | 5,458 | 56.98% | 3,978 | 41.53% | 142 | 1.48% | 1 | 0.01% | 1,480 | 15.45% | 9,579 |
| Pacific | 2,812 | 44.16% | 3,534 | 55.50% | 20 | 0.31% | 2 | 0.03% | -722 | -11.34% | 6,368 |
| Pend Oreille | 1,263 | 47.95% | 1,340 | 50.87% | 31 | 1.18% | 0 | 0.00% | -77 | -2.92% | 2,634 |
| Pierce | 56,454 | 42.57% | 74,843 | 56.43% | 1,227 | 0.93% | 98 | 0.07% | -18,389 | -13.87% | 132,622 |
| San Juan | 1,346 | 71.25% | 531 | 28.11% | 12 | 0.64% | 0 | 0.00% | 815 | 43.14% | 1,889 |
| Skagit | 11,627 | 52.34% | 10,443 | 47.01% | 123 | 0.55% | 21 | 0.09% | 1,184 | 5.33% | 22,214 |
| Skamania | 1,066 | 46.92% | 1,185 | 52.16% | 20 | 0.88% | 1 | 0.04% | -119 | -5.24% | 2,272 |
| Snohomish | 43,929 | 51.55% | 40,461 | 47.48% | 766 | 0.90% | 58 | 0.07% | 3,468 | 4.07% | 85,214 |
| Spokane | 59,982 | 55.57% | 46,869 | 43.42% | 1,049 | 0.97% | 39 | 0.04% | 13,113 | 12.15% | 107,939 |
| Stevens | 3,682 | 52.08% | 3,185 | 45.05% | 203 | 2.87% | 0 | 0.00% | 497 | 7.03% | 7,070 |
| Thurston | 16,383 | 54.50% | 13,511 | 44.95% | 151 | 0.50% | 16 | 0.05% | 2,872 | 9.55% | 30,061 |
| Wahkiakum | 812 | 50.37% | 793 | 49.19% | 6 | 0.37% | 1 | 0.06% | 19 | 1.18% | 1,612 |
| Walla Walla | 9,909 | 60.28% | 6,441 | 39.18% | 85 | 0.52% | 4 | 0.02% | 3,468 | 21.10% | 16,439 |
| Whatcom | 17,612 | 57.98% | 12,481 | 41.09% | 250 | 0.82% | 31 | 0.10% | 5,131 | 16.89% | 30,374 |
| Whitman | 9,581 | 72.25% | 3,572 | 26.94% | 87 | 0.66% | 20 | 0.15% | 6,009 | 45.32% | 13,260 |
| Yakima | 26,566 | 53.60% | 22,361 | 45.12% | 601 | 1.21% | 31 | 0.06% | 4,205 | 8.48% | 49,559 |
| Totals | 692,378 | 54.72% | 560,262 | 44.28% | 11,602 | 0.92% | 1,113 | 0.09% | 132,116 | 10.44% | 1,265,355 |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Thurston

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Clark
* Cowlitz
* Pacific
* Pend Oreille
* Skamania