2012 Washington State Senate election

The 2012 Washington State Senate elections took place on November 6, 2012.^[1] Twenty-five of Washington's forty-nine state senators were elected. Each state legislative district has one senator elected to a four-year term, but state senate elections alternate so that about half of the senators are elected in presidential election years (e.g., 2008, 2012) and the other half are elected in non-presidential even numbered election years (e.g., 2010, 2014). A top two primary election on August 7, 2012 determined which candidates appear on the November ballot. Candidates were allowed to self-declare a party preference.

Washington State Senate elections, 2012

← 2010 November 6, 2012 2014 →
26 seats of the Washington State Senate 25 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Lisa Brown (retired) Mike Hewitt Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat 3rd-Spokane 16th-Walla Walla Last election 27 22 Seats won 26 23 Seat change 1 1
Results:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election
Majority Leader before election Lisa Brown Democratic Elected Majority Leader Rodney Tom Democratic

25 seats were regularly scheduled to be up this cycle, along with 1 additional seat holding a special election to fill an unexpired term: the 46th district, held by appointed Senator David Frockt, whose former incumbent Scott White vacated the seat.

Democrats gained the 5th district seat and Republicans gained the 10th and 25th district seats for a net gain of one seat for the Republicans. While the Democratic Party won a majority of the seats in the election, two Democratic senators joined the Republicans to form the Majority Coalition Caucus on December 10, 2012, giving Republicans an effective majority of seats.^[2]

Overview

Washington State Senate elections, 2012
Party		Seats	+/–
	Democratic	12	1
	Republican	14	1
	Independent	0	0
Total		26

Composition

Elections		Seats
	Democratic Incumbent and Uncontested	2
	Races w/ two Democrats in General	1
	Republican Incumbent and Uncontested	4
	Races w/ two Republicans in General	1
	Contested, Open Seats[a]	7

1. Including the 27th district, an open seat with two Democrats running against each other in the general election.

On December 10, 2012, two Democratic Senators^[a] joined in a coalition with the Republican Caucus to form a conservative majority, called the "Majority Coalition Caucus".^[2]

Since Dec 10, 2012		Seats
	Democratic	24
	Mostly Republican "Majority Coalition Caucus"[a]	25
Total		49

1. On December 10, Democratic Senators Sheldon and Tom announced they would caucus with the Republicans, creating a conservative coalition majority (25-24).^[3]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[4]	Tossup	October 24, 2012

Seats up for election

Results as reported by the Secretary of State:

District 1

Washington's 1st legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rosemary McAuliffe (inc.)	37,316	55.49
	Republican	Dawn McCravey	29,932	44.51
Total votes			67,248	100
	Democratic hold

District 2

Washington's 2nd legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randi Becker (inc.)	31,946	56.81
	Democratic	Bruce L. Lachney	24,286	43.19
Total votes			56,232	100.00
	Republican hold

District 3

Incumbent Lisa Brown did not seek another term. On November 30, 2012, Brown was selected for Governor-Elect Jay Inslee's transition team.

Washington's 3rd legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Andy Billig	29,609	57.85
	Republican	Nancy McLaughlin	21,576	42.15
Total votes			51,185	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 4

Washington's 4th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Padden (inc.)	49,593	100.00
	Republican hold

District 5

Original incumbent Cheryl Pflug resigned in June 2012 to take a seat on the Washington Growth Management Hearings Board.^[5] Former state senator and recurring statewide-office candidate Dino Rossi was appointed to complete her term, but redistricting moved him out of the 5th LD, making him ineligible to run for the seat in 2012.^[6]

Washington's 5th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brad Toft	30,683	45,58
	Democratic	Mark Mullet	36,630	54.42
Total votes			67,313	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 9

Washington's 9th Legislative District election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark G. Schoesler (inc.)	39,390	100.00
	Republican hold

District 10

Washington's 10th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mary Margaret Haugen (inc.)	33,708	47.18
	Republican	Barbara Bailey	37,732	52.82
Total votes			71,440	100.00
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 11

Incumbent Margarita Prentice was redistricted out of the 11th LD, and declined to run for election in the new district.

Washington's 11th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Hasegawa	34,301	69.34
	Republican	Kristin Thompson	15,170	30.66
Total votes			49,471	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 12

Washington's 12th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Linda Evans Parlette (inc.)	44,318	100.00
	Republican hold

District 14

Washington's 14th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Curtis King (inc.)	40,394	100.00
	Republican hold

District 16

Washington's 16th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Hewitt (inc.)	32,717	69.74
	Democratic	Scott Nettles	14,197	30.26
Total votes			46,914	100.00
	Republican hold

District 17

Washington's 17th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Don Benton (inc.)	27,542[a]	50.07
	Democratic	Tim Probst[b]	27,468	49.93
Total votes			54,864	100.00
	Republican hold

1. Hand recount
2. Hand recount

District 18

Washington's 18th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ann Rivers (inc.)	42,924	67.86
	Democratic	Ralph Schmidt	20,330	32.14
Total votes			63,254	100.00
	Republican hold

District 19

Washington's 19th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brian Hatfield (inc.)	34,590	62.16
	Republican	Rick Winsman	21,056	37.84
Total votes			55,646	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 20

Washington's 20th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Swecker (inc.)	24,075	44.57
	Republican	John Braun	29,943	55.43
Total votes			54,018	100.00
	Republican hold

District 22

Washington's 22nd legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Karen Fraser (inc.)	50,389	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 23

Washington's 23rd legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Christine Rolfes (inc.)	43,305	65.08
	Republican	Bret A. Treadwell	23,235	34.92
Total votes			66,540	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 24

Washington's 24th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Hargrove (inc.)	44,417	65.44
	Independent	Larry Carter	23,455	34.56
Total votes			67,872	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 25

Incumbent Jim Kastama ran for Washington Secretary of State, making him ineligible to run for reelection. He did not win the state position.

Washington's 25th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eric Herde	21,517	38.26
	Republican	Bruce Dammeier	34,715	61.74
Total votes			56,232	100.00
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 27

Incumbent Debbie Regala retired at the end of her term.^[7]

Washington's 27th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeannie Darneille	30,939	57.29
	Democratic	John R. Connelly	23,068	42.71
Total votes			54,007	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 28

Washington's 28th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Carrell (inc.)	32,146	58.40
	Democratic	Yoshie Wong	22,896	41.60
Total votes			55,042	100.00
	Republican hold

District 39

Incumbent Val Stevens retired at the end of her term.^[8]

Washington's 39th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kirk Pearson	33,449	57.62
	Democratic	Scott Olson	24,603	42.38
Total votes			58,052	100.00
	Republican hold

District 40

Washington's 40th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent Republican	John Swapp	23,959	37.07
	Democratic	Kevin Ranker (inc.)	40,677	62.93
Total votes			64,636	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 41

Washington's 41st legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Litzow (inc.)	37,314	54.04
	Democratic	Maureen Judge	31,734	45.96
Total votes			69,048	100.00
	Republican hold

District 46

Washington's 46th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Frockt (inc.)	56,124	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 49

Incumbent Craig Pridemore ran for Washington State Auditor, making him ineligible to run for reelection. He did not win the state position.

Washington's 49th legislative district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Annette Cleveland	30,390	58.42
	Republican	Eileen Qutub	21,634	41.58
Total votes			52,024	100.00
	Democratic hold