# 1984 Washington gubernatorial election

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The 1984 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican John Spellman ran for re-election to a second term but was defeated by Democrat Booth Gardner despite Republican President Ronald Reagan carrying the state by 13 points in the concurrent 1984 Election. This is the last time that the Washington Governor's office changed partisan control or that an incumbent Governor of Washington lost a general election.

## Primary election
### Candidates
#### Democratic

* Booth Gardner, Pierce County Executive
* Jim McDermott, psychiatrist, state senator, candidate for governor in 1972, and nominee for governor 1980
* John Jovanovich, state representative

#### Republican

* John Spellman, incumbent governor of Washington
* Ted Parker Fix

#### Third-party

* Mark A. Calney (Independent), author
* Bob LeRoy (Populist)
* Cheryll Y. Hidalgo (Socialist Workers)

### Results

Blanket primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Booth Gardner | 421,087 | 46.07% |
| | Republican | John Spellman (incumbent) | 239,463 | 26.20% |
| | Democratic | Jim McDermott | 209,435 | 22.91% |
| | Democratic | John Jovanovich | 23,699 | 2.59% |
| | Republican | Ted Parker Fix | 11,193 | 1.23% |
| | Populist | Bob LeRoy | 3,601 | 0.39% |
| | Independent | Mark A. Calney | 2,851 | 0.31% |
| | Socialist Workers | Cheryll Y. Hidalgo | 2,672 | 0.29% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 914,001 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Candidates

* John Spellman (R), incumbent governor of Washington
* Booth Gardner (D), Pierce County Executive

### Results

1984 Washington gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Booth Gardner | 1,006,993 | 53.31% | +9.99% |
| | Republican | John Spellman (incumbent) | 881,994 | 46.69% | −9.99% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 124,999 | 6.62% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,888,987 | 100.00% | |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Swing | +19.98% | |

### Results by county

Booth Gardner is the most recent Democrat to carry Lewis County and Stevens County in a gubernatorial election. Conversely, John Spellman is the last Republican to have won San Juan County.
| County | Booth Gardner Democratic | Booth Gardner Democratic | John Spellman Republican | John Spellman Republican | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Adams | 2,070 | 42.43% | 2,809 | 57.57% | -739 | -15.15% | 4,879 |
| Asotin | 3,833 | 53.68% | 3,308 | 46.32% | 525 | 7.35% | 7,141 |
| Benton | 20,982 | 44.44% | 26,236 | 55.56% | -5,254 | -11.13% | 47,218 |
| Chelan | 8,843 | 42.51% | 11,960 | 57.49% | -3,117 | -14.98% | 20,803 |
| Clallam | 12,156 | 50.70% | 11,820 | 49.30% | 336 | 1.40% | 23,976 |
| Clark | 46,144 | 59.33% | 31,629 | 40.67% | 14,515 | 18.66% | 77,773 |
| Columbia | 935 | 44.69% | 1,157 | 55.31% | -222 | -10.61% | 2,092 |
| Cowlitz | 18,770 | 61.90% | 11,553 | 38.10% | 7,217 | 23.80% | 30,323 |
| Douglas | 4,398 | 45.07% | 5,361 | 54.93% | -963 | -9.87% | 9,759 |
| Ferry | 1,194 | 56.08% | 935 | 43.92% | 259 | 12.17% | 2,129 |
| Franklin | 5,761 | 47.96% | 6,250 | 52.04% | -489 | -4.07% | 12,011 |
| Garfield | 685 | 48.21% | 736 | 51.79% | -51 | -3.59% | 1,421 |
| Grant | 8,917 | 46.55% | 10,238 | 53.45% | -1,321 | 6.90% | 19,155 |
| Grays Harbor | 18,752 | 70.73% | 7,761 | 29.27% | 10,991 | 41.46% | 26,513 |
| Island | 9,160 | 43.99% | 11,664 | 56.01% | -2,504 | -12.02% | 20,824 |
| Jefferson | 4,904 | 53.72% | 4,224 | 46.28% | 680 | 7.45% | 9,128 |
| King | 336,878 | 52.35% | 306,605 | 47.65% | 30,273 | 4.70% | 643,483 |
| Kitsap | 37,460 | 55.67% | 29,835 | 44.33% | 7,625 | 11.33% | 67,295 |
| Kittitas | 6,577 | 59.35% | 4,504 | 40.65% | 2,073 | 18.71% | 11,081 |
| Klickitat | 3,797 | 56.61% | 2,910 | 43.39% | 887 | 13.22% | 6,707 |
| Lewis | 13,811 | 58.08% | 9,969 | 41.92% | 3,842 | 16.16% | 23,780 |
| Lincoln | 2,345 | 44.81% | 2,888 | 55.19% | -543 | -10.38% | 5,233 |
| Mason | 9,316 | 58.80% | 6,528 | 41.20% | 2,788 | 17.60% | 15,844 |
| Okanogan | 6,357 | 48.31% | 6,802 | 51.69% | -445 | -3.38% | 13,159 |
| Pacific | 5,473 | 64.94% | 2,955 | 35.06% | 2,518 | 29.88% | 8,428 |
| Pend Oreille | 2,298 | 56.55% | 1,766 | 43.45% | 532 | 13.09% | 4,064 |
| Pierce | 112,796 | 58.74% | 79,246 | 41.26% | 33,550 | 17.47% | 192,042 |
| San Juan | 2,634 | 48.48% | 2,799 | 51.52% | -165 | -3.04% | 5,433 |
| Skagit | 18,457 | 54.95% | 15,130 | 45.05% | 3,327 | 9.91% | 33,587 |
| Skamania | 1,934 | 58.43% | 1,376 | 41.57% | 558 | 16.86% | 3,310 |
| Snohomish | 84,328 | 52.66% | 75,823 | 47.34% | 8,505 | 5.31% | 160,151 |
| Spokane | 74,244 | 49.25% | 76,502 | 50.75% | -2,258 | -1.50% | 150,746 |
| Stevens | 6,433 | 50.02% | 6,428 | 49.98% | 5 | 0.04% | 12,861 |
| Thurston | 35,501 | 56.85% | 26,950 | 43.15% | 8,551 | 13.69% | 62,451 |
| Wahkiakum | 1,078 | 63.52% | 619 | 36.48% | 459 | 27.05% | 1,697 |
| Walla Walla | 8,473 | 43.28% | 11,106 | 56.72% | -2,633 | -13.45% | 19,579 |
| Whatcom | 30,525 | 60.11% | 20,255 | 39.89% | 10,270 | 20.22% | 50,780 |
| Whitman | 7,512 | 44.83% | 9,246 | 55.17% | -1,734 | -10.35% | 16,758 |
| Yakima | 31,262 | 47.82% | 34,111 | 52.18% | -2,849 | -4.36% | 65,373 |
| Totals | 1,006,993 | 53.31% | 881,994 | 46.69% | 124,999 | 6.62% | 1,888,987 |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Asotin
* Clallam
* Clark
* Cowlitz
* King
* Kitsap
* Kittitas
* Lewis
* Mason
* Pend Oreille
* Pierce
* Skagit
* Snohomish
* Stevens
* Thurston
* Whatcom