The 1976 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1976. This election was especially significant in that Washington elected its first female governor, Dixy Lee Ray. Wesley C. Uhlman and

John Patric John Patric (May 22, 1902 – August 31, 1985) was an American writer. He was a contributing writer for ''National Geographic'' during the mid- to late 1930s and early 1940s and was the author of two books. His 1943 book, ''Yankee Hobo in the Or ...

unsuccessfully ran in the blanket primary.

Primary election

Candidates

*Marvin Durning (D) *Harley Hoppe (R), King County assessor *

(R), writer and perennial candidate * Dixy Lee Ray (D), former chair of

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by the U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President Harry ...

*Carl D. Ricketts (R) * John D. Spellman (R), King County executive *Duke Stockton (D) * Wesley C. Uhlman (D), mayor of Seattle *Emmett Watson (R)

Results

General election

Candidates

Major parties

* Dixy Lee Ray (D) * John D. Spellman (R)

Minor parties

*Patricia A. Bethard, Socialist Workers *Red Kelly, OWL *Henry Killman, Socialist Labor *Art Manning, American Independent *Evelyn Olafson, US Labor *Maurice Woodrow Willey, Jr., Libertarian

Results

Results by county

Dixy Lee Ray was the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate to carry

Island County Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 86,857. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor. The county's name reflects the fact that it is compos ...

and

Klickitat County Klickitat County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 22,735. The county seat and largest city is Goldendale. The county is named after the Klickitat tribe and contains part of the Y ...

since Clarence D. Martin in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. This is the most recent gubernatorial election in which a Democrat has carried Benton County and Franklin County.

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Benton * Clallam * Clark * Cowlitz *

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

* Kittitas * Klickitat * Snohomish * Thurston * Whatcom

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Stevens

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington Gubernatorial Election, 1976

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1976 United States gubernatorial elections

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

November 1976 in the United States