2008 Washington Attorney General election

The 2008 Washington Attorney General election was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to elect the attorney general of Washington, concurrently with the 2008 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the U.S. Senate and various state and local elections, including for U.S. House and governor of Washington. Washington is one of two states that holds a top-two primary, meaning that all candidates are listed on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation, and the top two move on to the general election.

2008 Washington Attorney General election

← 2004 2012 →

Nominee Rob McKenna John Ladenburg Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,689,764 1,152,174 Percentage 59.46% 40.54%

County results Congressional district results McKenna:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Ladenburg:      50–60%      60–70%

Attorney General before election Rob McKenna Republican Elected Attorney General Rob McKenna Republican

Incumbent Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna was re-elected to a third term in office, defeated Democratic challenger John Ladenburg in a landslide, winning by almost 20 points and carrying all but two counties.^[1] As of 2025, this is the last time a Republican was elected Washington Attorney General.

Candidates

Republican Party

Advanced to general

• Rob McKenna, incumbent attorney general (2005–2013)^[2]

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

• John Ladenburg, Pierce County Executive^[3]

Primary election

Results

Blanket primary results by county

  McKenna

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Ladenburg

•   50–60%

Blanket primary election results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rob McKenna (incumbent)	783,240	56.98
	Democratic	John Ladenburg	591,254	43.02
Total votes			1,374,494	100.00

General election

Endorsements

Rob McKenna (R)

Newspapers

• The Seattle Times^[5]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Rob McKenna (R)	John Ladenburg (D)	Undecided
SurveyUSA[6]	October 30 – November 2, 2008	663 (LV)	± 3.8%	59%	36%	6%
SurveyUSA[7]	October 26–27, 2008	630 (LV)	± 3.9%	57%	36%	7%
SurveyUSA[8]	October 12–13, 2008	544 (LV)	± 4.3%	54%	38%	8%
SurveyUSA[9]	September 21–22, 2008	682 (LV)	± 3.8%	53%	39%	8%
SurveyUSA[10]	September 5–7, 2008	658 (LV)	± 3.9%	55%	40%	5%
SurveyUSA[11]	August 11–12, 2008	718 (LV)	± 3.7%	51%	43%	6%
SurveyUSA[12]	July 13–15, 2008	666 (LV)	± 3.9%	49%	41%	10%
SurveyUSA[13]	June 7–9, 2008	637 (LV)	± 4.0%	49%	42%	9%

Results

2008 Washington Attorney General election^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rob McKenna (incumbent)	1,689,764	59.46%
	Democratic	John Ladenburg	1,152,174	40.54%
Total votes			2,841,938	100.00%
	Republican hold

By county

County results

County[15]	Rob McKenna Republican		John Ladenburg Democratic		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	3,480	76.28%	1,082	23.72%	2,398	52.56%	4,562
Asotin	5,812	63.20%	3,384	36.80%	2,428	26.40%	9,196
Benton	51,092	73.68%	18,248	26.32%	32,844	47.37%	69,340
Chelan	21,091	70.10%	8,996	29.90%	12,095	40.20%	30,087
Clallam	22,459	62.13%	13,690	37.87%	8,769	24.26%	36,149
Clark	95,135	56.13%	74,360	43.87%	20,775	12.26%	169,495
Columbia	1,600	77.07%	476	22.93%	1,124	54.14%	2,076
Cowlitz	21,566	51.57%	20,250	48.43%	1,316	3.15%	41,816
Douglas	10,405	72.49%	3,949	27.51%	6,456	44.98%	14,354
Ferry	2,164	66.32%	1,099	33.68%	1,065	32.64%	3,263
Franklin	13,276	70.07%	5,671	29.93%	7,605	40.14%	18,947
Garfield	994	78.21%	277	21.79%	717	56.41%	1,271
Grant	18,699	71.77%	7,356	28.23%	11,343	43.53%	26,055
Grays Harbor	17,051	61.29%	10,771	38.71%	6,280	22.57%	27,822
Island	25,531	64.55%	14,022	35.45%	11,509	29.10%	39,553
Jefferson	9,307	49.61%	9,454	50.39%	-147	-0.78%	18,761
King	453,330	53.56%	393,111	46.44%	60,219	7.11%	846,441
Kitsap	71,317	60.21%	47,123	39.79%	24,194	20.43%	118,440
Kittitas	11,379	68.09%	5,332	31.91%	6,047	36.19%	16,711
Klickitat	5,166	55.49%	4,144	44.51%	1,022	10.98%	9,310
Lewis	23,176	70.61%	9,648	29.39%	13,528	41.21%	32,824
Lincoln	4,185	75.43%	1,363	24.57%	2,822	50.87%	5,548
Mason	17,019	62.79%	10,084	37.21%	6,935	25.59%	27,103
Okanogan	9,971	63.45%	5,743	36.55%	4,228	26.91%	15,714
Pacific	5,460	53.67%	4,714	46.33%	746	7.33%	10,174
Pend Oreille	4,179	67.67%	1,997	32.33%	2,182	35.33%	6,176
Pierce	181,792	58.20%	130,550	41.80%	51,242	16.41%	312,342
San Juan	4,551	46.56%	5,224	53.44%	-673	-6.88%	9,775
Skagit	33,530	63.34%	19,410	36.66%	14,120	26.67%	52,940
Skamania	2,672	53.34%	2,337	46.66%	335	6.69%	5,009
Snohomish	186,169	61.36%	117,226	38.64%	68,943	22.72%	303,395
Spokane	134,706	65.03%	72,439	34.97%	62,267	30.06%	207,145
Stevens	14,841	70.30%	6,270	29.70%	8,571	40.60%	21,111
Thurston	74,734	62.41%	45,007	37.59%	29,727	24.83%	119,741
Wahkiakum	1,203	57.70%	882	42.30%	321	15.40%	2,085
Walla Walla	15,911	69.65%	6,934	30.35%	8,977	39.30%	22,845
Whatcom	53,466	56.95%	40,419	43.05%	13,047	13.90%	93,885
Whitman	10,085	62.42%	6,071	37.58%	4,014	24.85%	16,156
Yakima	51,260	68.97%	23,061	31.03%	28,199	37.94%	74,321
Totals	1,689,764	59.46%	1,152,174	40.54%	537,590	18.92%	2,841,938

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• King (largest city: Seattle)
• Pacific (largest city: Raymond)

By congressional district

McKenna won eight of nine congressional districts, including five that elected Democrats.^[16]

District	McKenna	Ladenburg	Representative
1st	61%	39%	Jay Inslee
2nd	61%	39%	Rick Larsen
3rd	58%	42%	Brian Baird
4th	70%	30%	Doc Hastings
5th	66%	34%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th	57%	43%	Norm Dicks
7th	40%	60%	Jim McDermott
8th	66%	34%	Dave Reichert
9th	60%	40%	Adam Smith