The 1984 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican John Spellman ran for re-election to a second term and was defeated by Democrat Booth Gardner despite Republican President Ronald Reagan carrying the state by 13 points in the concurrent presidential election. As of 2026, this is the last time that the Washington governor's office changed partisan control or that an incumbent governor of Washington was defeated.
Primary election
Candidates
Republican
- John Spellman, incumbent governor of Washington
- Ted Parker Fix
Democratic
- Booth Gardner, Pierce County Executive
- Jim McDermott, psychiatrist, state senator, candidate for governor in 1972, and nominee for governor 1980
- John Jovanovich, state representative
Third-party
- Mark A. Calney (Independent), author
- Bob LeRoy (Populist)
- Cheryll Y. Hidalgo (Socialist Workers)
General election
Candidates
- John Spellman (R), incumbent governor of Washington
- Booth Gardner (D), Pierce County Executive
Results
By county
Booth Gardner is the most recent Democrat to carry Lewis County and Stevens County in a gubernatorial election. Conversely, John Spellman is the last Republican to have won San Juan County.
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Asotin
- Clallam
- Clark
- Cowlitz
- King
- Kitsap
- Kittitas
- Lewis
- Mason
- Pend Oreille
- Pierce
- Skagit
- Snohomish
- Stevens
- Thurston
- Whatcom