The 2004 United States Senate election in Washington was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Patty Murray won re-election to a third term, defeating Republican U.S. Representative George Nethercutt. She became only the fourth Washington senator to win 3 consecutive terms, just after fellow Democrats Warren G. Magnuson and Scoop Jackson. Nethercutt was known for having defeated Tom Foley, the sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives, as part of the 1994 Republican wave.

Term limits became an issue in the campaign, as Democrats seized on Nethercutt's broken term-limits pledge that he had made when he had unseated Foley in 1994. Geography was also against Nethercutt, who was severely hampered by his lack of name recognition in the more densely populated western part of the state, home to two-thirds of the state's population. Washington has not elected a Senator from east of the Cascades since Clarence Dill in 1928. Other important issues included national security and the war in Iraq. Nethercutt supported the invasion of Iraq, while Murray opposed it.

Nethercutt was considered a heavy underdog from the start, and his campaign never gained much traction. In November, he lost by 12 points, receiving 43 percent of the vote to Murray's 55 percent. He only carried two counties west of the Cascades.

Major candidates Democratic Patty Murray, incumbent U.S. Senator

Republican George Nethercutt, U.S. Representative

General election

Predictions Source Ranking As of Sabato's Crystal Ball November 1, 2004

Endorsements

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered SamplesizeKey:A – all adultsRV – registered votersLV – likely votersV – unclear Marginof error PattyMurray (D) GeorgeNethercutt (R) UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSAOctober 29–31, 2004622 (LV)± 4%51%45%3%Strategic Vision (R)Strategic Vision (R)October 29–31, 2004801 (LV)± 3%50%42%8%Strategic Vision (R)October 24–26, 2004801 (LV)± 3%49%41%10%Mason-DixonMason-DixonOctober 25–26, 2004800 (RV)± 3.5%53%39%8%SurveyUSASurveyUSAOctober 23–25, 2004618 (LV)± 4%55%41%4%Strategic Vision (R)October 16–18, 2004801 (LV)± 3%49%41%10%SurveyUSASurveyUSAOctober 15–17, 2004634 (LV)± 4%56%38%6%Elway ResearchElway ResearchOctober 14–16, 2004405 (RV)± 5%54%37%9%Strategic Vision (R)October 4–6, 2004801 (LV)± 3%49%41%10%SurveyUSAOctober 2–4, 2004640 (LV)± 4%57%38%5%Strategic Vision (R)September 20–22, 2004801 (LV)± 3%48%41%11%SurveyUSASeptember 19–21, 2004627 (LV)± 4%53%41%6%Elway ResearchElway ResearchSeptember 17–19, 2004405 (RV)± 5%57%37%6%Strategic Vision (R)September 4–6, 2004801 (LV)± 3%48%41%11%Strategic Vision (R)August 21–23, 2004801 (LV)± 3%49%41%10%SurveyUSASurveyUSAAugust 15–17, 2004602 (LV)± 4.1%53%39%10%Strategic Vision (R)August 9–11, 2004801 (LV)± 3%49%40%11%SurveyUSASurveyUSAJul 31–Aug 2, 2004585 (LV)± 4.2%51%40%9%Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates (D)Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates (D)June 23–28, 2004800 (RV)± 3.8%56%33%11%Moore Information (R)Moore Information (R)June 23–24, 2004500 (RV)± 4%51%39%10%Mason-Dixon (D)Mason-Dixon (D)June 9–11, 2004625 (RV)± 4%53%34%13%SurveyUSASurveyUSAJune 1–3, 2004654 (RV)± 4%49%34%17%Tarrance Group (R)Tarrance Group (R)May 2–3, 2004500 (LV)± 4.5%50.6%41.1%8.3%Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates (D)Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates (D)April 22–27, 2004800 (LV)± 3.8%54%31%15%Tarrance Group (R)Tarrance Group (R)May 5–6, 2003504 (LV)± 4.5%52%37%11%

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error PattyMurray (D) GeorgeNethercutt (R) ReedDavis (R) UndecidedElway ResearchElway ResearchJanuary 27–29, 2004405 (V)± 5%49%19%5%27%

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error PattyMurray (D) JenniferDunn (R) Undecidedfor NRSC (R)for NRSC (R)January 2003500 (RV)± 4.4%46%42%12%

Results The election was not close, with Murray winning by 12.24% of the vote. Although Murray failed to win any counties in the eastern part of the state, she pulled down big margins from the western part of the state, which is significantly more populated. Specifically, Murray trounced Nethercutt in King County, home of Seattle, the most populous county in the state. Murray was sworn in for a third term on January 3, 2005.

By county CountyPatty MurrayDemocraticGeorge NethercuttRepublicanVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal#%#%#%#% Adams 1,607 31.75% 3,362 66.43% 92 1.82% -1,755 -34.68% 5,061 Asotin 3,511 40.48% 4,985 57.48% 177 2.04% -1,474 -17.00% 8,673 Benton 25,863 39.20% 38,690 58.64% 1,430 2.17% -12,827 -19.44% 65,983 Chelan 11,307 39.34% 16,874 58.71% 561 1.95% -5,567 -19.37% 28,742 Clallam 17,817 49.38% 17,298 47.94% 967 2.68% 519 1.44% 36,082 Clark 80,134 48.31% 81,888 49.36% 3,861 2.33% -1,754 -1.06% 165,883 Columbia 741 35.22% 1,318 62.64% 45 2.14% -577 -27.42% 2,104 Cowlitz 22,535 53.95% 18,301 43.81% 936 2.24% 4,234 10.14% 41,772 Douglas 4,893 36.93% 8,128 61.34% 230 1.74% -3,235 -24.41% 13,251 Ferry 1,362 41.12% 1,847 55.77% 103 3.11% -485 -14.64% 3,312 Franklin 6,215 38.93% 9,495 59.48% 253 1.58% -3,280 -20.55% 15,963 Garfield 417 31.93% 872 66.77% 17 1.30% -455 -34.84% 1,306 Grant 9,015 35.05% 16,091 62.55% 618 2.40% -7,076 -27.51% 25,724 Grays Harbor 15,830 57.34% 11,220 40.64% 557 2.02% 4,610 16.70% 27,607 Island 19,181 50.58% 17,969 47.39% 770 2.03% 1,212 3.20% 37,920 Jefferson 11,573 62.70% 6,415 34.75% 471 2.55% 5,158 27.94% 18,459 King 573,506 65.20% 287,456 32.68% 18,693 2.13% 286,050 32.52% 879,655 Kitsap 63,684 54.32% 50,574 43.14% 2,974 2.54% 13,110 11.18% 117,232 Kittitas 7,182 45.10% 8,367 52.54% 377 2.37% -1,185 -7.44% 15,926 Klickitat 4,184 46.38% 4,609 51.09% 228 2.53% -425 -4.71% 9,021 Lewis 11,583 36.33% 19,474 61.07% 830 2.60% -7,891 -24.75% 31,887 Lincoln 1,956 33.92% 3,703 64.21% 108 1.87% -1,747 -30.29% 5,767 Mason 13,349 53.29% 10,998 43.90% 703 2.81% 2,351 9.39% 25,050 Okanogan 6,616 41.18% 8,931 55.58% 521 3.24% -2,315 -14.41% 16,068 Pacific 5,850 56.96% 4,149 40.40% 271 2.64% 1,701 16.56% 10,270 Pend Oreille 2,703 44.07% 3,241 52.84% 190 3.10% -538 -8.77% 6,134 Pierce 167,428 53.99% 136,084 43.88% 6,615 2.13% 31,344 10.11% 310,127 San Juan 6,376 64.28% 3,164 31.90% 379 3.82% 3,212 32.38% 9,919 Skagit 26,162 50.60% 24,364 47.12% 1,181 2.28% 1,798 3.48% 51,707 Skamania 2,550 50.76% 2,314 46.06% 160 3.18% 236 4.70% 5,024 Snohomish 160,402 54.93% 124,986 42.80% 6,615 2.27% 35,416 12.13% 292,003 Spokane 94,446 47.08% 101,511 50.60% 4,653 2.32% -7,065 -3.52% 200,610 Stevens 7,706 38.33% 11,804 58.71% 594 2.95% -4,098 -20.38% 20,104 Thurston 63,364 57.14% 44,417 40.06% 3,108 2.80% 18,947 17.09% 110,889 Wahkiakum 1,086 50.12% 1,018 46.98% 63 2.91% 68 3.14% 2,167 Walla Walla 9,972 43.99% 12,243 54.01% 454 2.00% -2,271 -10.02% 22,669 Whatcom 48,078 54.21% 38,036 42.88% 2,580 2.91% 10,042 11.32% 88,694 Whitman 8,152 46.00% 9,073 51.20% 496 2.80% -921 -5.20% 17,721 Yakima 31,372 43.47% 39,315 54.48% 1,478 2.05% -7,943 -11.01% 72,165Totals1,549,70854.98%1,204,58442.74%64,3592.28%345,12412.24%2,818,651

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Asotin (Largest city: Clarkston) Ferry (Largest city: Republic) Kittitas (Largest city: Ellensburg) Pend Oreille (Largest city: Newport) Spokane (Largest city: Spokane) Whitman (Largest city: Pullman)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Skamania (Largest city: Carson)

See also 2004 United States Senate elections

Notes

References