PolitiFinder

1976 Washington Gubernatorial Election

Washington · 2 candidates · See every 1976 Governor race

Who won the 1976 Washington Gubernatorial Election?

Dixy Lee Ray won the 1976 Washington Gubernatorial Election. Dixy Lee Ray received 821,797 popular votes (53.14%). The main challenger was John Spellman (44.43%).

See the full head-to-head between Ray and Spellman

Ray +8.7 pts · won by 134,758 votes
Dixy Lee RayDemocraticWINNER53.14%
821,797 votes
John SpellmanRepublican44.43%
687,039 votes
Other candidates received the remaining 2.4% of the popular vote; only the leading candidates are individually recorded for this election.
Popular-vote totals for governor elections are compiled from official state results (via Wikipedia); Louisiana shows the decisive round of its jungle primary.

Data last verified July 28, 2026.