The 1952 Washington gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1952, between incumbent governor Arthur B. Langlie of the Republican Party and U.S. Representative Hugh Mitchell of the Democratic Party. Langlie won the general election, becoming the first Washington state governor to be elected to a third term. This is most recent gubernatorial election in which a Republican carried Jefferson County.
Primary election
Democratic U.S. Congressman Hugh Mitchell announced his candidacy for governor on March 22, seeking to fix an administration that was "falling apart at the seams". By May, Mitchell was joined by state senator Albert D. Rosellini of Seattle, State Treasurer Tom Martin, Speaker of the House Charles W. Hodde, and Charles C. Ralls in what The Seattle Times described as a "hard-to-predict contest" for the Democratic nomination. During various debates, Rosellini denounced Mitchell as a "left-winger", leaving doubts amidst the anti-communist wave of the era. Mitchell ultimately won the Democratic nomination by a margin of about 30,000 votes
Incumbent Governor Arthur B. Langlie, who had been elected to two non-consecutive terms in 1940 and 1948, filed his intention to run for a third term on July 17 after returning from the 1952 Republican National Convention. Dr. John E. Lydon, a Seattle sanipractor, was the only Republican to run against Langlie and was not considered a serious contender for the party nomination.
At the time, Washington used a blanket primary for nominations, with all candidates appearing on the same ballot with the highest candidate for each party being nominated.
Candidates
Republican Party
- Arthur B. Langlie, incumbent Governor
- John E. Lydon
Democratic Party
- Charles W. Hodde, Speaker of the State House
- Tom Martin, State Treasurer
- Hugh Mitchell, U.S. Representative from the 1st district, former U.S. Senator
- Charles C. Ralls
- Albert D. Rosellini, State Senator from South Seattle and Majority Leader in the State Senate
General election
Results by county
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Douglas
- Pacific
- Pend Oreille
- Spokane