United States Senate elections in Washington, 2012

Voters in Washington elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the November 6, 2012 elections.

Incumbent Maria Cantwell (D) won re-election on November 6, 2012.^[1]

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
May 18, 2012	August 7, 2012	November 6, 2012

Primary: Washington has a top-two primary system, in which the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, go on to the general election.^[2]

Voter registration: Voters must register to vote in the primary by July 9, 2012, or July 30, 2012 in-person for first-time voters.^[3] For the general election, voter registration deadlines are October 9, 2012, and October 28, 2012 for first-time voters.^[3]

See also: Washington elections, 2012

Incumbent: The election filled the Class 1 Senate seat, which was held by Maria Cantwell (D). First elected in 2000, Cantwell ran for re-election in 2012.

Candidates

Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals were added after official election results had been certified. Click here for more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan. Please contact us about errors in this list.

General election candidates

Maria Cantwell

Michael Baumgartner

August 7, 2012, primary results

Election results

General election

U.S. Senate, Washington, General Election, 2012

Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Maria Cantwell Incumbent	60.5%	1,855,493
	Republican	Michael Baumgartner	39.5%	1,213,924
Total Votes	3,069,417
Source: Washington Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Race background

Washington's top-two primary system meant that all candidates were included on one ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, continued to the general election.

Race rating

Cook Political Report

Each month the Cook Political Report releasesd race ratings for President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House (competitive only) and Governors. There were seven possible designations:^[5]

Solid Democratic      Likely Democratic      Lean Democratic

Tossup

Lean Republican      Likely Republican      Solid Republican

Cook Political Report Race Rating -- Washington Senate
Month	Rating
October 4, 2012[6]
September 13, 2012[7]
August 21, 2012[8]
July 12, 2012[9]
May 31, 2012[10]
May 10, 2012[11]
March 22, 2012[12]
March 1, 2012[13]
January 26, 2012[14]
December 22, 2011[15]
December 1, 2011[16]

Polls

Maria Cantwell vs. Michael Baumgartner

Maria Cantwell vs. Michael Baumgartner
Poll	Maria Cantwell	Michael Baumgartner	Another Candidate	Not sure	Margin of error	Sample size
Rasmussen Reports (October 14,2012)	52%	37%	1%	9%	+/-4.5	500
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Election history

2010

On November 2, 2010, Patty Murray won re-election to the U.S. Senate, defeating Dino Rossi (R).^[17]

U.S. Senate, Washington, 2010
Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Patty Murray Incumbent	52.4%	1,314,930
	Republican	Dino Rossi	47.6%	1,196,164
Total Votes	2,511,094

2006

On November 7, 2006, Maria Cantwell (D) won re-election to the U.S. Senate, defeating Mike McGavick (R), Robin Adair (I), Bruce Gurthrie (L), and Aaron Dixon (Green).^[18]

U.S. Senate, Washington, 2006
Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Maria Cantwell Incumbent	56.9%	1,184,659
	Republican	Mike McGavick	39.9%	832,106
	Independent	Robin Adair	0.8%	16,384
	Libertarian	Bruce Guthrie	1.4%	29,331
	Green	Aaron Dixon	1%	21,254
Total Votes	2,083,734

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, 2012
• United States Senate elections, 2012

Footnotes