The following statewide early election results were posted Tuesday night on the Secretary of State’s website.
U.S. President
• Barack Obama (Democrat): 55.22 percent
• Mitt Romney (Republican): 42.75 percent
• Notes: These are early results from Washington state. Obama was declared the winner of the nationwide election.
Governor
• Jay Inslee (Democrat): 51.32 percent (967,474 votes)
• Rob McKenna (Republican): 48.68 percent (917,652 votes)
• Notes: Jay Inslee vacated his U.S. Congress seat earlier this year to focus on running for governor in 2012. Inslee represented Washington’s 1st congressional district, which includes Edmonds and Bainbridge Island, from 1999-2012. Rob McKenna was elected to state Attorney General in 2004 and 2008. He had previously served several terms on the King County Council, starting in 1996. He represented Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, Newcastle and the Renton area. In the August primary election, Inslee received 47 percent of the vote over Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna’s 43 percent. In King County, Inslee received 59 percent and McKenna received 35 percent in the primary.
U.S. Senator
• Maria Cantwell (Democrat): 59.39 percent (1,120,106 votes)
• Michael Baumgartner (Republican): 40.61 percent (765,988)
• Notes: Cantwell has served in the U.S. Senate since 2001. She served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993-1995, and in the Washington State Legislature from 1987-1993.
U.S. Congress, District 9
• Adam Smith (Democrat): 71.44 percent (111,826 votes)
• James Postma (Republican): 28.56 percent (44,697 votes)
• Notes: Smith was first elected in 1996 to the U.S. House of Representatives. He defeated Postma in the 2008 election. The newly redrawn District 9 now stretches from Tacoma in the south to Mercer Island and Bellevue in the north.
Initiative 502 (marijuana legalization)
• Yes: 55.45 percent
• No: 44.55 percent
• Notes: This measure would license and regulate marijuana production, distribution, and possession for persons over twenty-one; remove state-law criminal and civil penalties for activities that it authorizes; tax marijuana sales; and earmark marijuana-related revenues. Needs a simple majority to pass. According to the state Liquor Control Board: “Questions remain ahead as we work to implement I-502. Chief among them is the issue that marijuana remains illegal at the federal level.”
Initiative 1185 (two-thirds requirement for raising taxes)
• Yes: 64.48 percent
• No: 35.52 percent
• Notes: This measure would restate existing statutory requirements that legislative actions raising taxes must be approved by two-thirds legislative majorities or receive voter approval, and that new or increased fees require majority legislative approval. Needs a simple majority to pass.
Initiative 1240 (charter schools)
• Yes: 51.2 percent
• No: 48.8 percent
• Notes: This measure would authorize up to forty publicly-funded charter schools open to all students, operated through approved, nonreligious, nonprofit organizations, with government oversight; and modify certain laws applicable to them as public schools. Needs a simple majority to pass.
Referendum 74 (same-sex marriage)
• Approve: 51.79 percent
• Reject: 48.21 percent
• Notes: This referendum challenges Senate Bill 6239, which was signed by the governor in February. This bill would allow same-sex couples to marry, preserve domestic partnerships only for seniors, and preserve the right of clergy or religious organizations to refuse to perform, recognize, or accommodate any marriage ceremony. Needs a simple majority to pass.
King County Sheriff
• Steve Strachan: 42.23 percent (187,491 votes)
• John Urquhart: 57.35 percent (254,600 votes)
• Notes: Strachan was hired to replace former Sheriff Sue Rahr, who retired earlier this year. Urquhart was a longtime spokesman for the sheriff’s office. (results courtesy of King County Elections)
LEARN MORE
• For statewide results in all races, visit the Secretary of State’s website at http://vote.wa.gov/results/20121106/default.htm
• For King County election results, visit www.kingcounty.gov/elections.
