WASHINGTON 11 Electoral Votes

Kerry's improvement upon Gore's showing can be attributed in large measure to his very strong showing in the Seattle area.  Statewide the Democratic ticket's plurality increased from 138,788 votes in 2000 to 205,307 votes in 2004.  In King County, where Gore had obtained a plurality of 203,529 votes (25.62 percentage points), Kerry achieved a plurality of 279,335 votes (31.36 percentage points).

Ryan Pennington, who directed the Democrats' coordinated campaign, observed that:

Our strategy from the very beginning was to capitalize on the tremendous volunteer energy in the Democratic base to a) identify as many likely Democratic and Republican voters as possible (WA does not have party registration), b) register as many new voters as possible in key geographic areas and demographic constituencies, and c) execute an unprecedented GOTV effort, using the WA 2000 Coordinated Campaign as a model.  We succeeded in every one of these initiatives.  We had to battle constantly to put together the resources and infrastructure necessary to manage the onslaught of volunteers but, in the end, our plan was executed perfectly.  We increased the Democratic margin over George Bush significantly from 2000, padded Senator Murray's comfortable margin over George Nethercutt, and (given that the gubernatorial race was decided by fewer than 300 votes) we were heavily responsible for electing Governor Gregoire, particularly since the Gregoire campaign had no field effort of its own.  None of the Democratic 527 groups were active in WA.
Jon Seaton, who ran the Bush campaign, stated that, "We were in it to win it."  Specifically, Seaton, said, the campaign sought to win on the ground, by building a grassroots network which ultimately included some 35,000 volunteers, chairs in targeted precincts, and a number of active coalitions.  Although Bush-Cheney did not carry the state, the ticket did improve upon its 2000 performance by almost 200,000 votes and increased its share of the vote from 44.57% to 45.64%.
 
Bush-Cheney '04 Kerry-Edwards 2004
Organization details...  details...
BC'04 State Chair: Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn
Exec. Director: Jon Seaton
Comm. Director: Leah Yoon
Office: 2101 112th Ave., Bellevue

Republican Party of Washington
State Chair: Chris Vance
Exec. Director: Peter Abbarno
Political/Victory Director: Mike Sheridan
Office: 16400 Southcenter Parkway, Suite 200, Seattle 

 KE State Director: Sam Rodriguez
Comm. Director: J.B. Tengco
Office: 1848 Westlake Ave, Seattle 

Coordinated Campaign Director: Ryan Pennington 

Democratic Party of Washington
State Chair: Paul Berendt
Exec. Director: 
Office: 616 First Avenue, Suite 300, Seattle 

Travel  compare...
BUSH-CHENEY KERRY-EDWARDS
Final Month (Oct. 2-Nov. 2, 2004)
George W. Bush - 0 visits
Dick Cheney (and Lynne Cheney) - 0 visits 
Laura Bush (solo) - 0 visits		 John Kerry - 0 visits 
John Edwards - 0 visits 
Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 1 visit (1 day)
Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits 
Eight Months (March 2-Nov. 2, 2004)
George W. Bush - 2 visits (3 days)
Dick Cheney (and Lynne Cheney) - 2 visits (2 days)
Laura Bush (solo) -  0 visits 
Lynne Cheney (solo) - 1 visit (1 day)		 John Kerry - 2 visits (4 days)
John Edwards - 0 visits 
Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 2 visits (3 days)
Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits

Newspaper Endorsements
BUSH
King County Journal [Bellevue]  (10/24/04) >
Spokesman-Review [Spokane]  (10/17/04) >
The Columbian [Vancouver]  (10/10/04)
Yakima Herald-Republic
The Daily News [Longview]
The Chronicle [Centralia]		 KERRY
Port Townsend Leader  (date?)
The Olympian  (10/24/04)
Tacoma News Tribune  (10/24/04) >
*Tri-City Herald [Richland]  (10/24/04)
*Bremerton Sun  (10/24/04)
Everett Herald  (10/24/04) 
*Walla Walla Union Bulletin  (10/22/04)
Grand Coulee Star  (10/13/04)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer  (10/10/04) >
*Seattle Times  (08/27/04)
*Endorsed Bush in 2000.

Results by Congressional District
Washington's Largest Counties: 2000 and 2004

King County
.2000
.
 .2004
Gore/Lieberman (D)
476,700 
 (60.02%)
.
 +Kerry/Edwards (D)
580,378
  (64.95%)
Bush/Cheney (R)
273,171 
 (34.40%)
.
 Bush/Cheney (R)
301,043
 (33.69%)
Nader/LaDuke (G)
37,383 
 (4.71%)
.
 Nader/Camejo (I)
6,468
 (0.72%)
Others (7)
6,942 
 (0.87%)
.
 Badnarik/Campagna (L)
3,533
 (0.40%)
Total
794,196 
.
 Others (5)
2,112
(0.24%)
Total
893,552
31.93% of statewide total
Gore plurality:
  203,529 (25.62%) 
31.30% of statewide total
Kerry plurality:
279,335 (31.26%) 

Pierce County
.2000
.
 .2004
Gore/Lieberman (D)
138,249 
 (51.50%)
.
 +Kerry/Edwards (D)
158,231
  (50.50%)
Bush/Cheney (R)
118,431 
 (44.12%)
.
 Bush/Cheney (R)
150,783
 (48.12%)
Nader/LaDuke (G)
8,749 
 (3.26%)
.
 Nader/Camejo (I)
2,436
 (0.78%)
Others (7) 
2,998 
 (1.12%)
.
 Badnarik/Campagna (L)
1,084
 (0.35%)
Total
268,427 
.
 Others (5)
797
(0.25%)
Total
313,331
10.79% of statewide total
Gore plurality:
  19,818 (7.38%) 
10.97% of statewide total
Kerry plurality:
7,448 (2.38%) 

Snohomish County
.2000
.
 .2004
Gore/Lieberman (D)
129,612 
 (51.65%)
.
 +Kerry/Edwards (D)
156,468
  (53.04%)
Bush/Cheney (R)
109,615 
 (43.68%)
.
 Bush/Cheney (R)
134,317
 (45.53%)
Nader/LaDuke (G)
9,023 
 (3.60%)
.
 Nader/Camejo (I)
2,268
 (0.77%)
Others (7) 
2,717 
 (1.08%)
.
 Badnarik/Campagna (L)
1,213
 (0.41%)
Total
250,967 
.
 Others (5)
731
(0.25%)
Total
294,997
10.09% of statewide total
Gore plurality:
19,997 (7.97%) 
10.33% of statewide total
Kerry plurality:
22,151 (7.51%) 

Spokane County
.2000
.
 .2004
Gore/Lieberman (D)
74,604 
 (43.35%)
.
 Kerry/Edwards (D)
87,490
  (43.19%)
Bush/Cheney (R)
89,299 
 (51.88%)
.
 +Bush/Cheney (R)
111,606
 (55.09%)
Nader/LaDuke (G)
6,250 
 (3.63%)
.
 Nader/Camejo (I)
1,830
 (0.90%)
Others 
1,959 
 (1.14%)
.
 Badnarik/Campagna (L)
748
 (0.37%)
Total
172,112 
.
 Others (5)
913
(0.45%)
Total
202,587
6.92% of statewide total
Bush plurality:
14,695 (8.53%)
7.10% of statewide total
Bush plurality:
24,116 (11.90%)


Nader
Washington had relatively easy ballot qualification for minor party and independent candidates, requiring that they submit 1,000 valid signatures gathered at conventions by August 24, 2004.  Nader supporters gathered signatures in Seattle on June 27, holding a nominating convention and rally at the University of Washington.   On September 1, 2004 the Secretary of State's office reported the campaign had submitted 1,983 signatures; it verified 1,200, found 1,008 valid, and certified Nader to appear on the ballot.  Within a week two lawsuits were filed in Thurston County Superior Court to remove Nader from the ballot.  Ken Valz, represented by attorney Jim Foley of Olympia, filed suit on September 3.  The Washington State Democratic Central Committee and five individuals, represented by Parker Folse of Sussman Godfrey LLP, filed suit on September 8.  On September 15 a judge ruled that Nader would appear on the ballot.

Washington State Coordinator (volunteer): Sally Soriano, a member of the Seattle School Board


The 2004 Campaign on the Web--Washington
1 2
WA State Republican Party  Democratic Party of WA
4 4 4
Green Party of WA State Libertarian Party of WA State Constitution Party of WA State
7 8 9 ...Governor
Dino Rossi (R) Christine Gregoire (D) Ruth Bennett (L)
9 9 9
...Senate
George Nethercutt (R) Patty Murray (D) inc

Copyright © 2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.