2024 Washington Attorney General election

See also: 2024 United States attorney general elections

The 2024 Washington Attorney General election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the next attorney general of Washington, concurrently with the 2024 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. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson was eligible to seek re-election to a fourth term but had chosen instead to run successfully for governor.^[1] U.S. Attorney Nick Brown, a Democrat, won the election against Pasco Mayor Pete Serrano, a Republican.^[2]

2024 Washington Attorney General election

← 2020 November 5, 2024 2028 →

Nominee Nick Brown Pete Serrano Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,093,570 1,669,884 Percentage 55.58% 44.33%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Brown:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Serrano:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No votes

Attorney General before election Bob Ferguson Democratic Elected Attorney General Nicholas Brown Democratic

Background

This the first open attorney general race since 2012, when Bob Ferguson first ran for the office. The primary election was expected to split the Democratic vote as Democrats Nick Brown and Manka Dhingra were on the primary ballot. Both Brown and Dhingra campaigned on similar issues like protecting access to abortion in the state, upholding gun control laws and ensuring public safety.^[3][4] Once Brown advanced to the general election, he advocated for similar measures along with "policy improvements" the Attorney General position can utilize to counter various issues like illicit drugs.^[5] Republican Pete Serrano campaigned on stopping human trafficking, making communities safer, and government accountability.^[6] Serrano opposed gun control and had previously expressed personal opposition to abortion,^[3] but said he would uphold Washington's current abortion laws if elected, describing abortion as a "settled issue".^[5] However, Serrano indicated he would not enforce the Washington Shield Law enacted in 2023, which protects Washington residents from criminal and civil actions in other states that restrict abortion.^[7]

Candidates

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.

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

• Nick Brown, lawyer and former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington (2021–2023)^[8]

Eliminated in primary

• Manka Dhingra, state senator (2017–present)^[9]

Republican Party

Advanced to general

• Pete Serrano, mayor of Pasco (2022–present) and director of conservative legal nonprofit^[10]

Primary election

Endorsements

Nick Brown (D)

Governors

• Jay Inslee, governor of Washington^[11]

Newspapers

• The Seattle Times^[12]
• The Stranger^[13]

Manka Dhingra (D)

Organizations

• EMILY's List^[14]
• National Women's Political Caucus of Washington^[15]

Pete Serrano (R)

Political parties

• Spokane County Republican Party^[16]
• Washington State Republican Party^[17]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Nick Brown (D)	Manka Dhingra (D)	Pete Serrano (R)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D)[18][A]	July 24–25, 2024	581 (LV)	± 4.0%	17%	15%	38%	30%
Public Policy Polling (D)[19][A]	May 15–16, 2024	615 (LV)	± 4.0%	9%	10%	36%	45%
Public Policy Polling (D)[20][A]	February 13–14, 2024	789 (LV)	± 3.5%	19%	12%	35%	34%

Debate

2024 Washington Attorney General primary debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Democratic	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Nick Brown	Manka Dhingra	Pete Serrano
1	Jun. 18, 2024	League of Women Voters of Washington & Benton-Franklin Counties Northwest Public Broadcasting	Matt Loveless	[21]	P	P	P

Results

Blanket primary results by county

  Serrano

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Brown

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

Blanket primary election results^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pete Serrano	814,372	42.11%
	Democratic	Nick Brown	682,360	35.28%
	Democratic	Manka Dhingra	435,919	22.54%
	Write-in		1,284	0.07%
Total votes			1,933,935	100.00%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[23]	Safe D	July 25, 2024

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[b]	Margin of error	Nick Brown (D)	Pete Serrano (R)	Undecided
ActiVote[24]	October 3–29, 2024	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	57%	43%	–
Public Policy Polling (D)[18][A]	October 16–17, 2024	571 (LV)	± 4.1%	46%	39%	15%
Strategies 360[25]	October 11–16, 2024	600 (RV)	± 4.0%	48%	38%	13%
Cascade PBS/Elway Research[26]	October 8–12, 2024	401 (LV)	± 5.0%	47%	29%	24%

Debates

2024 Washington Attorney General debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Nick Brown	Pete Serrano
1	Sep. 18, 2024	Association of Washington Business	Paul Reed	TVW	P	P
2	Sep. 19, 2024	Seattle CityClub Washington State Debate Coalition		YouTube	P	P

Results

2024 Washington Attorney General election^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Nick Brown	2,093,570	55.58%	–0.85%
	Republican	Pete Serrano	1,669,884	44.33%	+0.86%
	Write-in		3,616	0.10%	–
Total votes			3,767,070	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

By county

County results

County[28]	Nick Brown Democratic		Pete Serrano Republican		Write-in Various		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	1,280	24.93%	3,842	74.82%	13	0.25%	-2,562	-49.89%	5,135
Asotin	3,764	34.23%	7,218	65.64%	14	0.13%	-3,454	-31.41%	10,996
Benton	34,262	35.28%	62,767	64.64%	75	0.08%	-28,505	-29.36%	97,104
Chelan	16,706	41.45%	23,573	58.48%	28	0.07%	-6,867	-17.04%	40,307
Clallam	24,149	51.41%	22,769	48.47%	53	0.11%	1,380	2.94%	46,971
Clark	132,837	50.53%	129,719	49.34%	340	0.13%	3,118	1.19%	262,896
Columbia	590	24.85%	1,780	74.98%	4	0.17%	-1,190	-50.13%	2,374
Cowlitz	21,727	38.03%	35,347	61.87%	54	0.09%	-13,620	-23.84%	57,128
Douglas	6,853	33.59%	13,533	66.33%	17	0.08%	-6,680	-32.74%	20,403
Ferry	1,211	30.34%	2,778	69.61%	2	0.05%	-1,567	-39.26%	3,991
Franklin	11,009	35.58%	19,917	64.36%	18	0.06%	-8,908	-28.79%	30,944
Garfield	283	21.64%	1,025	78.36%	0	0.00%	-742	-56.73%	1,308
Grant	9,749	27.96%	25,095	71.97%	25	0.07%	-15,346	-44.01%	34,869
Grays Harbor	16,445	45.25%	19,866	54.66%	35	0.10%	-3,421	-9.41%	36,346
Island	27,675	54.60%	22,951	45.28%	58	0.11%	4,724	9.32%	50,684
Jefferson	16,884	69.99%	7,224	29.95%	14	0.06%	9,660	40.05%	24,122
King	776,835	71.71%	305,553	28.20%	977	0.09%	471,282	43.50%	1,083,365
Kitsap	85,807	56.75%	65,259	43.16%	147	0.10%	20,548	13.59%	151,213
Kittitas	9,826	38.74%	15,516	61.17%	22	0.09%	-5,690	-22.43%	25,364
Klickitat	5,529	42.42%	7,495	57.50%	10	0.08%	-1,966	-15.08%	13,034
Lewis	13,764	31.46%	29,963	68.48%	27	0.06%	-16,199	-37.02%	43,754
Lincoln	1,482	21.40%	5,437	78.51%	6	0.09%	-3,955	-57.11%	6,925
Mason	16,210	45.79%	19,139	54.06%	53	0.15%	-2,929	-8.27%	35,402
Okanogan	7,975	39.83%	12,034	60.09%	16	0.08%	-4,059	-20.27%	20,025
Pacific	6,553	47.77%	7,153	52.14%	13	0.09%	-600	-4.37%	13,719
Pend Oreille	2,321	27.98%	5,962	71.87%	12	0.14%	-3,641	-43.89%	8,295
Pierce	220,617	52.08%	202,628	47.83%	360	0.08%	17,989	4.25%	423,605
San Juan	9,028	72.75%	3,367	27.13%	14	0.11%	5,661	45.62%	12,409
Skagit	34,283	51.04%	32,838	48.89%	47	0.07%	1,445	2.15%	67,168
Skamania	2,963	42.17%	4,060	57.79%	3	0.04%	-1,097	-15.61%	7,026
Snohomish	220,566	55.49%	176,616	44.43%	327	0.08%	43,950	11.06%	397,509
Spokane	120,802	43.73%	155,092	56.15%	326	0.12%	-34,290	-12.41%	276,220
Stevens	6,971	25.31%	20,549	74.60%	26	0.09%	-13,578	-49.29%	27,546
Thurston	90,343	56.86%	68,388	43.05%	142	0.09%	21,955	13.82%	158,873
Wahkiakum	1,156	39.59%	1,762	60.34%	2	0.07%	-606	-20.75%	2,920
Walla Walla	12,089	42.13%	16,597	57.84%	11	0.04%	-4,508	-15.71%	28,697
Whatcom	79,277	59.65%	53,531	40.28%	96	0.07%	25,746	19.37%	132,904
Whitman	9,672	50.13%	9,603	49.77%	20	0.10%	69	0.36%	19,295
Yakima	34,077	39.52%	51,938	60.24%	209	0.24%	-17,861	-20.71%	86,224
Totals	2,093,570	55.58%	1,669,884	44.33%	3,616	0.10%	423,686	11.25%	3,767,070

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Clallam (largest city: Port Angeles)

By congressional district

Brown won six of ten congressional districts, with the remaining four going to Serrano, including two that elected Democrats.^[29]

District	Brown	Serrano	Representative
1st	60%	40%	Suzan DelBene
2nd	58%	42%	Rick Larsen
3rd	46%	54%	Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
4th	36%	64%	Dan Newhouse
5th	41%	59%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers (118th Congress)
			Michael Baumgartner (119th Congress)
6th	56%	44%	Derek Kilmer (118th Congress)
			Emily Randall (119th Congress)
7th	84%	16%	Pramila Jayapal
8th	48%	51%	Kim Schrier
9th	67%	33%	Adam Smith
10th	56%	44%	Marilyn Strickland

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Partisan clients

1. Poll conducted for The Cascadia Advocate