Washington

WASHINGTON, THE EVERGREEN State, is the only state named for an American. Washington's southern boundary was set by the admission of Oregon in 1859. Its eastern boundary was fixed with the creation of the Idaho Territory in 1863. Washington was admitted to the Union on November 11, 1889, at about the same time as Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota and the year before Idaho and Wyoming. The state is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the nation's capital (Washington, D.C.). The Cascade Mountains neatly separate the state into east and west, with most of the territory falling to the east of the Cascades and most of the population living in the smaller area to the west. The mountain range forms a formidable barrier, not only physical and psychological, but also political. When the state Supreme Court gave a set of redistricting instructions to a special master in 1972, they directed that the districts created cross the Cascades, if at all, only along the southern border.

In presidential politics, Washington voted Republican most of the time until 1932, voting Democratic in 1896 and 1916. In 1912, the state supported Theodore Roosevelt's third-party bid. The state was reliably Democratic 1932–48. It was Republican again 1952–84, except for 1964 and 1968. In 1976, the state supported Republican Gerald Ford, but a “faithless elector,” Mike Padden of Spokane, cast his vote for Ronald Reagan, instead. In 1988, Washington went narrowly Democratic, and, since then, Democratic strength has increased in presidential contests, such that Washington is regarded as a likely, if not safe, Democratic state. A Democratic president could probably not be elected without winning Washington.

Washington appointed only Republicans to the U.S. Senate during the period of legislative election, with one exception. Since direct election was mandated by the Seventeenth Amendment, Washingtonians have been represented by Democrats more than Republicans, but this is partly due to the longevity of two Democrats, Warren G. Magnuson, who served 1944–81, and Henry M. Jackson, who served from 1953 until his death in 1983. Jackson ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976. Both were replaced by Republicans, including Slade Gorton who served non-consecutive terms 1981–87 and 1989–2001. Gorton's defeat in 1986 (a bad year for Republicans) by former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams was a due, in part, to a controversial nomination to a federal judgeship Gorton engineered. Adams declined to seek re-election in 1992 due to a sex scandal and was replaced by Democrat Patty Murray, who was re-elected in 1998 and 2004. In 2000, Gorton was defeated by Democrat Maria Cantwell, making Washington one of the few states with two women senators.