William Lee Bryant Jr. (born 1957) is an American businessman and politician from the state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. A Republican, he served on the Seattle Port Commission from 2008 to 2016. In the

2016 Washington gubernatorial election The 2016 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016. Under Washington's top-two primary law, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the August 2 primary, residents voted for one of several candid ...

, as one of the top two finishers in the blanket primary, he participated in the general election, losing to incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee ( ; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012 as a ...

Early life and education

Bryant was born in

Morton, Washington Morton is a city in Lewis County, Washington, Lewis County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 1,036 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History 19th century A village of the Cowlitz people, Upper Cowl ...

, and attended Capital High School in Olympia. He earned a degree in trade and diplomacy from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

's School of Foreign Service.

Political career

Bryant was first elected to the

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a public agency that is in King County, Washington. It oversees the seaport of Seattle as well as Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to ...

Commission in 2007, narrowly defeating incumbent Alec Fisken. He was reelected in 2011 against

Dean Willard with over 60% of the vote, a remarkable share for a Republican in King County.

Gubernatorial campaign

On May 14, 2015, Bryant announced his campaign for

Governor of Washington The governor of Washington is the head of government of Washington and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.WA Const. art. III, § 2. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws,WA Const. art. III, § 5. the power to either ...

in the 2016 election, running as a Republican. He has made reduction of traffic congestion and traffic noise on the 520 bridge as major goals of his campaign. Bryant also supported

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

as well as

abortion rights Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their p ...

and opposed

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, placing him in the

socially liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

faction of the Republican Party, while opposing raising the statewide minimum wage, making him

fiscally conservative In American political theory, fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, an ...

. On November 8, 2016, Bryant lost the election to incumbent Democrat

, receiving 45.5% of the vote to Inslee's 54.2%. Bryant won 30 of 39 counties, with many of his greatest margins in Washington's most rural areas. Inslee won 68% of the vote in King County, Washington's largest, which proved decisive. Bryant remains the last Republican gubernatorial candidate in Washington to come within single digits of winning.

References

External links

* 1957 births Candidates in the 2016 United States elections Living people People from Morton, Washington Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Washington (state) Republicans {{washington-politician-stub