2024 Washington Attorney General election

See also: 2024 United States attorney general elections

2024 Washington Attorney General election

November 5, 2024

Nominee Nick Brown Pete Serrano Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,093,570 1,669,884 Percentage 55.58% 44.33%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Brown:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Serrano:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No votes

Attorney General before election Bob Ferguson Democratic Elected Attorney General Nicholas Brown Democratic

The 2024 Washington Attorney General election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the next attorney general of Washington, concurrently with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the U.S. Senate and various state and local elections, including for U.S. House and governor of Washington. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson was eligible to seek re-election to a fourth term but had chosen instead to run successfully for governor.[1] U.S. Attorney Nick Brown, a Democrat, won the election against Pasco Mayor Pete Serrano, a Republican.[2]

Background

This the first open attorney general race since 2012, when Bob Ferguson first ran for the office. The primary election was expected to split the Democratic vote as Democrats Nick Brown and Manka Dhingra were on the primary ballot. Both Brown and Dhingra campaigned on similar issues like protecting access to abortion in the state, upholding gun control laws and ensuring public safety.[3][4] Once Brown advanced to the general election, he advocated for similar measures along with "policy improvements" the Attorney General position can utilize to counter various issues like illicit drugs.[5] Republican Pete Serrano campaigned on stopping human trafficking, making communities safer, and government accountability.[6] Serrano opposed gun control and had previously expressed personal opposition to abortion,[3] but said he would uphold Washington's current abortion laws if elected, describing abortion as a "settled issue".[5] However, Serrano indicated he would not enforce the Washington Shield Law enacted in 2023, which protects Washington residents from criminal and civil actions in other states that restrict abortion.[7]

Candidates

Washington is one of two states that holds a top-two primary, meaning that all candidates are listed on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation, and the top two move on to the general election.

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

• Nick Brown, lawyer and former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington (2021–2023)[8]

Eliminated in primary

• Manka Dhingra, state senator (2017–present)[9]

Republican Party

Advanced to general

• Pete Serrano, mayor of Pasco (2022–present) and director of conservative legal nonprofit[10]

Primary election

Endorsements

Nick Brown (D)

Governors

• Jay Inslee, governor of Washington[11]

Newspapers

• The Seattle Times[12]
• The Stranger[13]

Manka Dhingra (D)

Organizations

• EMILY's List[14]
• National Women's Political Caucus of Washington[15]

Pete Serrano (R)

Political parties

• Spokane County Republican Party[16]
• Washington State Republican Party[17]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Nick Brown (D)	Manka Dhingra (D)	Pete Serrano (R)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D)[18][A]	July 24–25, 2024	581 (LV)	± 4.0%	17%	15%	38%	30%
Public Policy Polling (D)[19][A]	May 15–16, 2024	615 (LV)	± 4.0%	9%	10%	36%	45%
Public Policy Polling (D)[20][A]	February 13–14, 2024	789 (LV)	± 3.5%	19%	12%	35%	34%

Debate

2024 Washington Attorney General primary debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Democratic	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Nick Brown	Manka Dhingra	Pete Serrano
1	Jun. 18, 2024	League of Women Voters of Washington & Benton-Franklin Counties Northwest Public Broadcasting	Matt Loveless	[21]	P	P	P

Results

Blanket primary results by county

  Serrano

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Brown

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

Blanket primary election results[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pete Serrano	814,372	42.11%
	Democratic	Nick Brown	682,360	35.28%
	Democratic	Manka Dhingra	435,919	22.54%
	Write-in		1,284	0.07%
Total votes			1,933,935	100.00%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[23]	Safe D	July 25, 2024

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[b]	Margin of error	Nick Brown (D)	Pete Serrano (R)	Undecided
ActiVote[24]	October 3–29, 2024	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	57%	43%	–
Public Policy Polling (D)[18][A]	October 16–17, 2024	571 (LV)	± 4.1%	46%	39%	15%
Strategies 360[25]	October 11–16, 2024	600 (RV)	± 4.0%	48%	38%	13%
Cascade PBS/Elway Research[26]	October 8–12, 2024	401 (LV)	± 5.0%	47%	29%	24%

Debates

2024 Washington Attorney General debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Nick Brown	Pete Serrano
1	Sep. 18, 2024	Association of Washington Business	Paul Reed	TVW	P	P
2	Sep. 19, 2024	Seattle CityClub Washington State Debate Coalition		YouTube	P	P

Results

2024 Washington Attorney General election[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Nick Brown	2,093,570	55.58%	0.85%
	Republican	Pete Serrano	1,669,884	44.33%	0.86%
	Write-in		3,616	0.10%
Total votes			3,767,070	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Clallam (largest city: Port Angeles)

By congressional district

Brown won six of 10 congressional districts, with the remaining four going to Serrano, including two that elected Democrats.[28]

District	Brown	Serrano	Representative
1st	60%	40%	Suzan DelBene
2nd	58%	42%	Rick Larsen
3rd	46%	54%	Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
4th	36%	64%	Dan Newhouse
5th	41%	59%	Cathy McMorris Rodgers (118th Congress)
			Michael Baumgartner (119th Congress)
6th	56%	44%	Derek Kilmer (118th Congress)
			Emily Randall (119th Congress)
7th	84%	16%	Pramila Jayapal
8th	48%	51%	Kim Schrier
9th	67%	33%	Adam Smith
10th	56%	44%	Marilyn Strickland

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Partisan clients

1. Poll conducted for The Cascadia Advocate

References

1. "Ferguson wins WA governor's race". The Seattle Times. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
2. "Former U.S. attorney beats Pasco mayor to become next WA attorney general". The Seattle Times. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
3. Santos, Melissa (August 1, 2024). "How Washington AG candidates compare on policing, drug laws and more". Axios. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
4. Demkovich, Laurel (August 7, 2024). "Serrano, Brown poised to advance in Washington attorney general race • Washington State Standard". Washington State Standard. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
5. "Key takeaways from the WA attorney general debates". The Seattle Times. September 20, 2024. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
6. "Issues – Pete Serrano for Attorney General". Retrieved September 21, 2024.
7. "Gun control, abortion take center stage in race for Washington's next attorney general | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
8. Cornfield, Jerry (July 12, 2023). "A second Democrat enters race for state attorney general". Washington State Standard.
9. Cornfield, Jerry (May 9, 2023). "The race begins for Washington attorney general". Washington State Standard. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
10. Cornfield, Jerry (January 6, 2024). "The Republican who wants to be Washington's next attorney general". Washington State Standard.
11. Minnis, Glenn (July 20, 2023). "Gov. Inslee endorses Nick Brown for Washington state attorney general". The Center Square. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
12. "The Seattle Times editorial board recommends: Nick Brown for Washington attorney general | Editorial". The Seattle Times. May 31, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
13. "The Stranger's Endorsements for the August, 6, 2024 Primary Election". July 31, 2024.
14. "EMILYs List Endorses Manka Dhingra for Washington State Attorney General". EMILYs List. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
15. "Our 2024 Endorsements". National Women's Political Caucus of Washington. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
16. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=822191769943547&set=a.218149473681116
17. Villenueve, Andrew (April 21, 2024). "Here's who the Republican Party endorsed for statewide office at its 2024 convention in Spokane". The Cascadia Advocate. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
18. Public Policy Polling (D)
19. Public Policy Polling (D)
20. Public Policy Polling (D)
21. YouTube
22. "Certification of Results" (PDF). Washington Secretary of State.
23. Jacobson, Louis (January 31, 2024). "This Year's Key Attorney General and Secretary of State Races". University of Virginia Center for Politics.
24. ActiVote
25. Strategies 360
26. Cascade PBS/Elway Research
27. "Official Canvass of the Returns" (PDF). Secretary of State of Washington. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
28. 2024Gen Results by Congressional District (PDF). sos.wa.gov (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 28, 2024.

External links

Official campaign websites

• Nick Brown (D) for Attorney General
• Pete Serrano (R) for Attorney General