2022 Washington Secretary of State special election

The 2022 Washington Secretary of State special election was held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Kim Wyman, a Republican, resigned from the office on November 19, 2021, to become the senior election security lead for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in the Biden administration's Department of Homeland Security.^[1] Washington governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, announced he would appoint state senator Steve Hobbs as her replacement, the first Democrat to hold the office in more than fifty years.^[2]

2022 Washington Secretary of State special election

← 2020 November 8, 2022 2024 →

Nominee Steve Hobbs Julie Anderson Party Democratic Nonpartisan Popular vote 1,468,521 1,351,926 Percentage 49.77% 45.82%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Hobbs:      20–30%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Anderson:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No data

Secretary of State before election Steve Hobbs Democratic Elected Secretary of State Steve Hobbs Democratic

In the primary election, Hobbs easily took first place. The race for the second spot in the general election was a close three-way battle between state senator Keith Wagoner and technician Bob Hagglund, both Republicans, and Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson, an Independent. After a week of tabulation, Anderson was declared to have won second place and moved on to the general election.^[3] Brad Klippert, a Republican state representative, ran a write-in campaign in the general election.

Hobbs narrowly won the general election with 49.8% of the vote, over 7% less than the vote share won by Patty Murray in the concurrent Senate race. This marked the first time since 1960 that a Democrat was elected Washington Secretary of State.

Primary election

Democratic Party

Declared

• Steve Hobbs, incumbent Washington Secretary of State^[4]
• Marquez Tiggs^[5]

Republican Party

Declared

• Tamborine Borrelli,^[a] director of the Washington Election Integrity Coalition United and Independent candidate for Washington's 10th congressional district in 2018^[6][7]
• Bob Hagglund, technician^[5][8]
• Mark Miloscia, former state senator (2015–2019)^[9][10]
• Keith Wagoner, state senator (2018–present)^[11][12]

Independents and third parties

Declared

• Julie Anderson (nonpartisan), Pierce County auditor^[13]
• Kurtis Engle (Union)^[5]

Forum

2022 Washington Secretary of State candidate forum

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Nonpartisan	Republican	Unity	Republican	Democratic	Republican	Democratic	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Julie Anderson	Tamborine Borrelli	Kurtis Engle	Bob Hagglund	Steve Hobbs	Mark Miloscia	Marquez Tiggs	Keith Wagoner
1[14]	Jul. 14, 2022	League of Women Voters of Washington The Spokesman-Review TVW	Laurel Demkovich	TVW[15]	P	N	N	P	P	P	P	N

Endorsements

Julie Anderson (NP)

County officials

• Vicki Dalton, Spokane County auditor (Democrat)^[16]
• Greg Kimsey, Clark County auditor (Republican)^[16]

Organizations

• National Women's Political Caucus of Washington^[17]

Labor unions

• International Association of Fire Fighters Local 31^[18]

Newspapers

• The News Tribune (co-endorsed with Hobbs)^[19]

Steve Hobbs (D)

Statewide officials

• Bob Ferguson, Attorney General of Washington (2013–present)^[16]
• Gary Locke, 21st Governor of Washington (1997–2005)^[20]
• Pat McCarthy, Washington State Auditor (2017–present)^[16]

Organizations

• King County Democratic Party^[21]

Labor unions

• Washington AFL–CIO^[22]

Newspapers

• The Herald^[23]
• The News Tribune (co-endorsed with Anderson)^[19]
• The Seattle Times^[24]
• The Stranger^[25]

Keith Wagoner (R)

Statewide officials

• Ralph Munro, former Secretary of State of Washington (1981–2001)^[16]
• Sam Reed, former Secretary of State of Washington (2001–2013)^[16]

State legislators

• John Braun, Minority Leader of the Washington State Senate^[16]

Organizations

• King County Republican Party^[16]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[b]	Margin of error	Julie Anderson (NP)	Tamborine Borrelli (R)	Kurtis Engle (I)	Bob Hagglund (R)	Steve Hobbs (D)	Mark Miloscia (R)	Marquez Tiggs (D)	Keith Wagoner (R)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D)[26][A]	June 1–2, 2022	1,039 (LV)	± 3.0%	5%	5%	1%	5%	17%	2%	3%	6%	56%
Public Policy Polling (D)[27][A]	February 17–18, 2022	700 (LV)	± 3.7%	11%	–	–	–	33%	–	–	30%	25%

Results

Blanket primary results by county

  Hobbs

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%

  Wagoner

•   20–30%

  Hagglund

•   20–30%
•   30–40%

Blanket primary election results^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Hobbs (incumbent)	747,993	39.96%
	Nonpartisan	Julie Anderson	240,035	12.82%
	Republican	Keith Wagoner	227,842	12.17%
	Republican	Bob Hagglund	225,633	12.06%
	Republican	Mark Miloscia	187,774	10.03%
	Democratic	Marquez Tiggs	148,716	7.95%
	Republican	Tamborine Borrelli	86,748	4.63%
	Unity	Kurtis Engle	6,887	0.37%
Total votes			1,871,628	100.00%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[29]	Leans D	November 3, 2022
Elections Daily[30]	Leans D	November 7, 2022

Candidates

• Julie Anderson (nonpartisan), Pierce County Auditor^[31]
• Steve Hobbs (Democratic), incumbent Secretary of State^[31]
• Brad Klippert (Republican, write-in), state representative, candidate for U.S. Senate in 2004 and 2006, and candidate for Washington's 4th congressional district in 2022^[31]

Debates

A debate was scheduled for October 18 at the University of Puget Sound,^[32] but it was canceled.^[33]

2022 Washington Secretary of State special election debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Nonpartisan
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Steve Hobbs	Julie Anderson
1	Aug. 17, 2022	Association of Washington Business	Melissa Santos	AWB[34]	P	P
2	Oct. 23, 2022	KSPS League of Women Voters of Washington The Spokesman-Review Washington Debate Coalition	Laurel Demkovitch	YouTube	P	P

Endorsements

Endorsements in bold were made after the primary election.

Julie Anderson (NP)

U.S. Representatives

• Jaime Herrera Beutler, U.S. Representative for Washington's 3rd congressional district (2011–2023) (Republican)^[35]

Statewide officials

• Dan Evans, former Governor of Washington (1965–1977) (Republican)^[36]
• Rob McKenna, former Attorney General of Washington (2005–2013) (Republican)^[37]
• Sam Reed, former Secretary of State of Washington (2001–2013) (Republican)^[37]

State legislators

• T'wina Nobles, state senator (Democrat)^[35]
• Emily Wicks, state representative (Democrat)^[35]

Local officials

• Mike Crowley, former mayor of Tacoma (Republican)^[35]
• Vicki Dalton, Spokane County auditor (Democrat)^[16]
• Reagan Dunn, King County Councillor (Republican)^[38]
• Greg Kimsey, Clark County auditor (Republican)^[16]
• Caroline Weikel, former Snohomish County auditor^[36]
• Victoria Woodards, mayor of Tacoma (Democrat)^[35]
• Nadine Woodward, mayor of Spokane (Republican)^[37]

Organizations

• National Women's Political Caucus^[17]

Labor unions

• International Association of Fire Fighters Local 31^[18]

Newspapers

• The News Tribune (co-endorsed with Hobbs)^[19]
• Tri-City Herald^[39]

Steve Hobbs (D)

Federal officials

• Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator from Washington (2001–present)^[37]

Statewide officials

• Bob Ferguson, Attorney General of Washington (2013–present)^[16]
• Gary Locke, 21st Governor of Washington (1997–2005)^[20]
• Pat McCarthy, Washington State Auditor (2017–present)^[16]

State legislators

• Andy Billig, Majority Leader of the Washington Senate^[37]

Local officials

• Mary Hall, Mason County auditor^[36]
• Paddy McGuire, Thurston County auditor^[36]

Organizations

• King County Democratic Party^[21]

Labor unions

• International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Local 55 & 66^[40]
• Washington AFL–CIO^[22]

Newspapers

• The Columbian^[41]
• The Herald^[23]
• The News Tribune (co-endorsed with Anderson)^[19]
• The Seattle Times^[24]
• The Stranger^[25]

Brad Klippert (R, write-in)

Organizations

• Washington State Republican Party^[31]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[b]	Margin of error	Steve Hobbs (D)	Julie Anderson (NP)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D)[42][A]	October 19–20, 2022	782 (LV)	± 3.5%	33%	34%	32%
SurveyUSA[43]	October 14–19, 2022	589 (LV)	± 5.0%	40%	29%	30%
Strategies 360[44]	September 22–25, 2022	500 (RV)	± 4.4%	35%	36%	29%
		370 (LV)	± 5.1%	38%	38%	24%
The Trafalgar Group (R)[45]	September 21–24, 2022	1,091 (LV)	± 2.9%	40%	37%	23%
Elway Research[46]	September 12–15, 2022	403 (LV)	± 3.0%	31%	29%	40%

Results

2022 Washington Secretary of State special election^[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Steve Hobbs (incumbent)	1,468,521	49.77%	+3.50%
	Nonpartisan	Julie Anderson	1,351,926	45.82%	N/A
	Write-in		129,933	4.40%	+4.28%
Total votes			2,950,380	100.0%
	Democratic hold

By county

County results

County[48]	Steve Hobbs Democratic		Julie Anderson Nonpartisan		Write-in Various		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	926	24.06%	2,721	70.69%	202	5.25%	-1,795	-46.64%	3,849
Asotin	2,863	33.27%	5,545	64.43%	198	2.30%	-2,682	-31.16%	8,606
Benton	22,626	30.95%	40,978	56.05%	9,500	13.00%	-18,352	-25.10%	73,104
Chelan	11,885	36.43%	19,026	58.33%	1,709	5.24%	-7,141	-21.89%	32,620
Clallam	18,111	45.93%	19,685	49.92%	1,638	4.15%	-1,574	-3.99%	39,434
Clark	91,758	46.03%	97,354	48.84%	10,224	5.13%	-5,596	-2.81%	199,336
Columbia	505	25.56%	1,368	69.23%	103	5.21%	-863	-43.67%	1,976
Cowlitz	15,239	35.28%	25,730	59.57%	2,223	5.15%	-10,491	-24.29%	43,192
Douglas	4,664	30.44%	9,571	62.47%	1,085	7.08%	-4,907	-32.03%	15,320
Ferry	927	28.87%	1,876	58.42%	408	12.71%	-949	-29.55%	3,211
Franklin	6,648	31.26%	12,295	57.82%	2,322	10.92%	-5,647	-26.55%	21,265
Garfield	319	27.64%	810	70.19%	25	2.17%	-491	-42.55%	1,154
Grant	6,740	26.66%	17,579	69.54%	959	3.79%	-10,839	-42.88%	25,278
Grays Harbor	12,185	42.56%	15,115	52.80%	1,328	4.64%	-2,930	-10.23%	28,628
Island	20,368	48.81%	19,833	47.52%	1,532	3.67%	535	1.28%	41,733
Jefferson	12,487	60.91%	7,455	36.37%	558	2.72%	5,032	24.55%	20,500
King	563,207	65.14%	282,355	32.66%	19,028	2.20%	280,852	32.48%	864,590
Kitsap	59,424	49.64%	55,697	46.52%	4,594	3.84%	3,727	3.11%	119,715
Kittitas	7,199	36.50%	11,542	58.51%	984	4.99%	-4,343	-22.02%	19,725
Klickitat	4,169	38.37%	6,156	56.66%	539	4.96%	-1,987	-18.29%	10,864
Lewis	9,560	27.92%	21,643	63.21%	3,036	8.87%	-12,083	-35.29%	34,239
Lincoln	1,328	23.21%	3,899	68.14%	495	8.65%	-2,571	-44.93%	5,722
Mason	11,721	41.04%	15,601	54.62%	1,239	4.34%	-3,880	-13.58%	28,561
Okanogan	5,757	36.77%	8,862	56.60%	1,037	6.62%	-3,105	-19.83%	15,656
Pacific	4,941	43.66%	6,155	54.39%	221	1.95%	-1,214	-10.73%	11,317
Pend Oreille	1,772	27.42%	4,339	67.15%	351	5.43%	-2,567	-39.72%	6,462
Pierce	133,819	41.36%	175,492	54.24%	14,248	4.40%	-41,673	-12.88%	323,559
San Juan	6,800	62.45%	3,433	31.53%	656	6.02%	3,367	30.92%	10,889
Skagit	24,604	44.59%	26,492	48.01%	4,086	7.40%	-1,888	-3.42%	55,182
Skamania	2,219	37.51%	3,287	55.56%	410	6.93%	-1,068	-18.05%	5,916
Snohomish	161,102	51.38%	140,031	44.66%	12,427	3.96%	21,071	6.72%	313,560
Spokane	87,052	40.86%	113,591	53.32%	12,381	5.81%	-26,539	-12.46%	213,024
Stevens	5,350	24.90%	13,262	61.72%	2,874	13.38%	-7,912	-36.82%	21,486
Thurston	59,871	48.58%	59,749	48.48%	3,622	2.94%	122	0.10%	123,242
Wahkiakum	886	36.61%	1,451	59.96%	83	3.43%	-565	-23.35%	2,420
Walla Walla	8,934	38.85%	12,847	55.87%	1,213	5.28%	-3,913	-17.02%	22,994
Whatcom	53,022	49.62%	45,671	42.74%	8,153	7.63%	7,351	6.88%	106,846
Whitman	6,681	44.63%	7,863	52.53%	426	2.85%	-1,182	-7.90%	14,970
Yakima	20,852	34.62%	35,567	59.05%	3,816	6.34%	-14,715	-24.43%	60,235
Totals	1,468,521	49.77%	1,351,926	45.82%	129,933	4.40%	116,595	3.95%	2,950,380

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Anderson won six of ten congressional districts, including four that elected Democrats and two that elected Republicans.^[49]

District	Hobbs	Anderson	Representative
1st	55%	41%	Suzan DelBene
2nd	51%	43%	Rick Larsen
3rd	42%	53%	Jaime Herrera Beutler (117th Congress)
			Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (118th Congress)
4th	32%	59%	Dan Newhouse
5th	38%	55%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th	47%	49%	Derek Kilmer
7th	75%	24%	Pramila Jayapal
8th	44%	51%	Kim Schrier
9th	62%	35%	Adam Smith
10th	46%	50%	Marilyn Strickland

Notes

1. Borrelli listed on the ballot, under the "America First (R)" party designation.
2. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Partisan clients

1. This poll was sponsored by the Northwest Progressive Institute