2008 Washington Secretary of State election

2008 Washington secretary of state election

November 4, 2008
 
Nominee Sam Reed Jason Osgood
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,644,587 1,175,086
Percentage 58.33% 41.67%

Reed:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Osgood:      50–60%

Secretary of State before election

Sam Reed
Republican

Elected Secretary of State

Sam Reed
Republican

The 2008 Washington Secretary of State election was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to elect the Washington Secretary of State, 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.

Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed was re-elected to a third term in office, defeating Democratic challenger Jason Osgood in a landslide.[1] Along with the concurrent attorney general election, this is the last time King County voted Republican in a statewide election against a Democratic opponent.[a]

Candidates

Republican Party

Advanced to general

  • Sam Reed, incumbent secretary of state (2001–2013)[2]

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

  • Jason Osgood, computer programmer[2]

Third-party and independent candidates

Eliminated in primary

  • Mark Greene (Party of Commons), perennial candidate[2]
  • Marilyn Montgomery (Constitution)[2]

Primary election

Endorsements

Sam Reed (R)

Results

County results
  Reed
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
Congressional district results
  Reed
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
Blanket primary election results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sam Reed (incumbent) 816,171 59.40
Democratic Jason Osgood 446,222 32.48
Constitution Marilyn Montgomery 88,728 6.46
Independent Mark Greene 22,800 1.66
Total votes 1,373,921 100.00

By county

County results
County[5] Sam Reed

Republican

Jason Osgood

Democratic

Various candidates

Other parties

Margin Total votes
# % # % # % # %
Adams 1,896 72.84% 443 17.02% 264 10.14% 1,453 55.82% 2,603
Asotin 2,999 56.86% 1,675 31.76% 600 11.38% 1,324 25.10% 5,274
Benton 26,562 69.16% 8,322 21.67% 3,522 9.17% 18,240 47.49% 38,406
Chelan 11,623 68.35% 3,926 23.09% 1,457 8.57% 7,697 45.26% 17,006
Clallam 13,117 59.69% 7,066 32.15% 1,793 8.16% 6,051 27.53% 21,976
Clark 41,605 57.14% 24,568 33.74% 6,645 9.13% 17,037 23.40% 72,818
Columbia 1,008 69.23% 290 19.92% 158 10.85% 718 49.31% 1,456
Cowlitz 11,347 52.35% 8,156 37.63% 2,174 10.03% 3,191 14.72% 21,677
Douglas 5,862 69.27% 1,860 21.98% 740 8.74% 4,002 47.29% 8,462
Ferry 1,205 60.16% 540 26.96% 258 12.88% 665 33.20% 2,003
Franklin 7,373 67.21% 2,517 22.94% 1,080 9.85% 4,856 44.27% 10,970
Garfield 536 70.53% 144 18.95% 80 10.53% 392 51.58% 760
Grant 9,661 65.05% 3,464 23.32% 1,727 11.63% 6,197 41.73% 14,852
Grays Harbor 9,713 56.71% 6,002 35.04% 1,414 8.26% 3,711 21.67% 17,129
Island 14,657 60.78% 7,562 31.36% 1,895 7.86% 7,095 29.42% 24,114
Jefferson 6,185 48.71% 5,501 43.32% 1,012 7.97% 684 5.39% 12,698
King 193,398 56.58% 128,284 37.53% 20,127 5.89% 65,114 19.05% 341,809
Kitsap 38,168 58.64% 21,738 33.40% 5,178 7.96% 16,430 25.24% 65,084
Kittitas 6,278 64.73% 2,501 25.79% 920 9.49% 3,777 38.94% 9,699
Klickitat 2,816 54.53% 1,805 34.95% 543 10.52% 1,011 19.58% 5,164
Lewis 12,803 66.57% 4,270 22.20% 2,160 11.23% 8,533 44.37% 19,233
Lincoln 2,693 70.66% 712 18.68% 406 10.65% 1,981 51.98% 3,811
Mason 10,282 60.76% 5,193 30.69% 1,447 8.55% 5,089 30.07% 16,922
Okanogan 5,352 61.90% 2,352 27.20% 942 10.90% 3,000 34.70% 8,646
Pacific 3,429 51.47% 2,607 39.13% 626 9.40% 822 12.34% 6,662
Pend Oreille 2,202 58.22% 1,026 27.13% 554 14.65% 1,176 31.09% 3,782
Pierce 87,434 59.92% 47,057 32.25% 11,437 7.84% 40,377 27.67% 145,928
San Juan 3,245 49.93% 2,732 42.04% 522 8.03% 513 7.89% 6,499
Skagit 17,924 60.33% 9,320 31.37% 2,464 8.29% 8,604 28.96% 29,708
Skamania 1,293 53.19% 885 36.40% 253 10.41% 408 16.78% 2,431
Snohomish 80,856 57.13% 48,957 34.59% 11,715 8.28% 31,899 22.54% 141,528
Spokane 62,025 58.27% 32,514 30.55% 11,900 11.18% 29,511 27.73% 106,439
Stevens 7,665 61.64% 2,870 23.08% 1,900 15.28% 4,795 38.56% 12,435
Thurston 43,830 67.55% 16,679 25.71% 4,377 6.75% 27,151 41.84% 64,886
Wahkiakum 822 60.13% 423 30.94% 122 8.92% 399 29.19% 1,367
Walla Walla 8,951 67.05% 3,195 23.93% 1,204 9.02% 5,756 43.12% 13,350
Whatcom 27,304 57.59% 16,705 35.24% 3,400 7.17% 10,599 22.36% 47,409
Whitman 5,091 62.63% 2,369 29.14% 669 8.23% 2,722 33.49% 8,129
Yakima 26,961 66.09% 9,992 24.49% 3,843 9.42% 16,969 41.59% 40,796
Totals 816,171 59.40% 446,222 32.48% 111,528 8.12% 369,949 26.93% 1,373,921

By congressional district

District[6] Reed Osgood Representative
1st 58% 35% Jay Inslee
2nd 58% 34% Rick Larsen
3rd 60% 31% Brian Baird
4th 67% 24% Doc Hastings
5th 60% 29% Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th 58% 34% Norm Dicks
7th 49% 46% Jim McDermott
8th 64% 30% Dave Reichert
9th 61% 32% Adam Smith

General election

Results

2008 Washington Secretary of State election[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Sam Reed (incumbent) 1,644,587 58.33% +6.86%
Democratic Jason Osgood 1,175,086 41.67% –3.78%
Total votes 2,819,673 100.00% N/A
Republican hold

By county

County results
County[8] Sam Reed

Republican

Jason Osgood

Democratic

Margin Total votes
# % # % # %
Adams 3,372 74.60% 1,148 25.40% 2,224 49.20% 4,520
Asotin 5,727 62.64% 3,416 37.36% 2,311 25.28% 9,143
Benton 49,619 71.96% 19,330 28.04% 30,289 43.93% 68,949
Chelan 20,913 69.70% 9,093 30.30% 11,820 39.39% 30,006
Clallam 22,048 61.12% 14,025 38.88% 8,023 22.24% 36,073
Clark 97,002 57.02% 73,119 42.98% 23,883 14.04% 170,121
Columbia 1,558 75.08% 517 24.92% 1,041 50.17% 2,075
Cowlitz 22,850 53.90% 19,543 46.10% 3,307 7.80% 42,393
Douglas 10,207 71.12% 4,145 28.88% 6,062 42.24% 14,352
Ferry 2,070 63.34% 1,198 36.66% 872 26.68% 3,268
Franklin 13,009 68.84% 5,889 31.16% 7,120 37.68% 18,898
Garfield 964 76.57% 295 23.43% 669 53.14% 1,259
Grant 17,968 68.83% 8,138 31.17% 9,830 37.65% 26,106
Grays Harbor 15,940 57.67% 11,698 42.33% 4,242 15.35% 27,638
Island 24,352 62.20% 14,802 37.80% 9,550 24.39% 39,154
Jefferson 9,447 50.06% 9,423 49.94% 24 0.13% 18,870
King 432,277 51.88% 400,964 48.12% 31,313 3.76% 833,241
Kitsap 68,976 58.89% 48,153 41.11% 20,823 17.78% 117,129
Kittitas 11,120 66.42% 5,621 33.58% 5,499 32.85% 16,741
Klickitat 5,402 57.09% 4,060 42.91% 1,342 14.18% 9,462
Lewis 22,415 68.40% 10,354 31.60% 12,061 36.81% 32,769
Lincoln 4,147 74.64% 1,409 25.36% 2,738 49.28% 5,556
Mason 16,933 62.55% 10,140 37.45% 6,793 25.09% 27,073
Okanogan 9,818 62.60% 5,865 37.40% 3,953 25.21% 15,683
Pacific 5,423 52.96% 4,817 47.04% 606 5.92% 10,240
Pend Oreille 4,014 65.56% 2,109 34.44% 1,905 31.11% 6,123
Pierce 183,413 59.80% 123,283 40.20% 60,130 19.61% 306,696
San Juan 4,750 48.43% 5,058 51.57% -308 -3.14% 9,808
Skagit 32,077 61.18% 20,355 38.82% 11,722 22.36% 52,432
Skamania 2,833 55.79% 2,245 44.21% 588 11.58% 5,078
Snohomish 172,173 57.13% 129,193 42.87% 42,980 14.26% 301,366
Spokane 129,876 62.62% 77,532 37.38% 52,344 25.24% 207,408
Stevens 14,077 67.30% 6,839 32.70% 7,238 34.61% 20,916
Thurston 79,212 65.94% 40,915 34.06% 38,297 31.88% 120,127
Wahkiakum 1,260 59.10% 872 40.90% 388 18.20% 2,132
Walla Walla 16,195 70.24% 6,863 29.76% 9,332 40.47% 23,058
Whatcom 53,006 56.49% 40,820 43.51% 12,186 12.99% 93,826
Whitman 10,058 62.04% 6,154 37.96% 3,904 24.08% 16,212
Yakima 48,086 65.18% 25,686 34.82% 22,400 30.36% 73,772
Totals 1,644,587 58.33% 1,175,086 41.67% 469,501 16.65% 2,819,673

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Reed won eight of nine congressional districts, including five that elected Democrats.[9]

District Reed Osgood Representative
1st 57% 43% Jay Inslee
2nd 58% 42% Rick Larsen
3rd 59% 41% Brian Baird
4th 68% 32% Doc Hastings
5th 64% 36% Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th 58% 42% Norm Dicks
7th 40% 60% Jim McDermott
8th 63% 37% Dave Reichert
9th 59% 41% Adam Smith

References

  1. ↑ https://www.historylink.org/file/8896
  2. 1 2 3 4 "2008 Primary Candidates Who Have Filed". eledataweb.votewa.gov. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  3. ↑ Editorial Board, The Seattle Times (August 5, 2008). "Easy choice: Reed for secretary of state". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  4. ↑ Reed, Sam (August 19, 2008). "Secretary of State". Secretary of State of Washington. Archived from the original on September 2, 2025. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  5. ↑ Reed, Sam (August 19, 2008). "Secretary of State - County Results". Secretary of State of Washington. Archived from the original on April 30, 2025. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  6. ↑ "2008 Primary Data". sos.wa.gov. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025.
  7. ↑ Reed, Sam (November 4, 2008). "Secretary of State". Secretary of State of Washington. Archived from the original on April 24, 2025. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  8. ↑ Reed, Sam (November 4, 2008). "Secretary of State - County Results". Secretary of State of Washington. Archived from the original on March 18, 2025. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  9. ↑ "2008 General Data". sos.wa.gov. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024.

Notes

  1. ↑ The 2016 Washington State Treasurer election was contested between 2 Republicans.