The 2008 Washington State Auditor election was held on November 4, 2008, to elect the Washington State Auditor, concurrently with the 2008 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. 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.

Four-term incumbent Democratic State Auditor Brian Sonntag was re-elected to his fifth and final term in office, defeating Republican Ricard "Dick" McEntee with 64% of the vote.https://www.historylink.org/file/8896 As of 2026, this is the last election where any candidate for state auditor received over 60% of the vote.

The top-two primary was held on August 19.

Primary election

Democratic Party

Advanced to general Brian Sonntag, incumbent state auditor (1993–2013)

Republican Party

Advanced to general Richard "Dick" McEntee, business consultanthttps://www.spokesman.com/stories/2008/jul/19/eastern-washington-candidates-vie-for-state/

Constitution Party

Eliminated in primary Glenn Freeman, chairman of the Washington Constitution Party

Endorsements

Results

By county CountyBrian SonntagDemocraticJ. Richard (Dick) McEnteeRepublicanGlenn FreemanConstitutionMarginTotal votes cast#%#%#%#%Adams97338.67%1,32252.54%2218.78%-349-13.87%2,516Asotin2,59449.06%2,21641.91%4779.02%3787.15%5,287Benton15,66541.49%18,72549.59%3,3708.92%-3,060-8.10%37,760Chelan7,94047.26%7,69345.79%1,1666.94%2471.47%16,799Clallam11,48052.94%8,53139.34%1,6737.72%2,94913.60%21,684Clark38,53853.11%28,47239.24%5,5497.65%10,06613.87%72,559Columbia61843.04%69048.05%1288.91%-72-5.01%1,436Cowlitz12,28357.04%7,36334.19%1,8898.77%4,92022.85%21,535Douglas3,91447.04%3,79645.62%6107.33%1181.42%8,320Ferry86844.08%87844.59%22311.33%-10-0.51%1,969Franklin4,45241.01%5,42349.95%9829.04%-971-8.94%10,857Garfield32042.38%39251.92%435.70%-72-9.54%755Grant5,90040.25%7,24249.41%1,51610.34%-1,342-9.16%14,658Grays Harbor10,98864.39%4,74527.81%1,3327.81%6,24336.58%17,065Island13,52556.52%8,80736.80%1,5996.68%4,71819.72%23,931Jefferson8,52866.86%3,47327.23%7545.91%5,05539.63%12,755King238,18670.16%83,62924.63%17,6725.21%154,55745.53%339,487Kitsap38,91959.91%21,88833.69%4,1586.40%17,03126.22%64,965Kittitas4,85150.52%3,99341.59%7587.89%8588.94%9,602Klickitat2,56049.89%2,11041.12%4618.98%4508.77%5,131Lewis8,65745.59%8,51044.82%1,8219.59%1470.77%18,988Lincoln1,64743.85%1,76446.96%3459.19%-117-3.12%3,756Mason10,17060.69%5,26431.41%1,3247.90%4,90629.28%16,758Okanogan4,02746.71%3,79143.97%8049.32%2362.74%8,622Pacific4,32264.73%1,83827.53%5177.74%2,48437.20%6,677Pend Oreille1,66344.29%1,62943.38%46312.33%340.91%3,755Pierce93,23463.20%45,60030.91%8,6835.89%47,63432.29%147,517San Juan4,27365.61%1,86228.59%3785.80%2,41137.02%6,513Skagit16,86656.88%10,74836.25%2,0366.87%6,11820.63%29,650Skamania1,28553.39%89237.06%2309.56%39316.33%2,407Snohomish84,72460.16%46,15232.77%9,9577.07%38,57227.39%140,833Spokane54,76151.99%41,21539.13%9,3558.88%13,54612.86%105,331Stevens4,95540.32%5,74546.75%1,59012.94%-790-6.43%12,290Thurston42,39466.27%17,81927.86%3,7565.87%24,57538.42%63,969Wahkiakum77056.49%46834.34%1259.17%30222.16%1,363Walla Walla6,16746.73%5,98545.35%1,0447.91%1821.38%13,196Whatcom26,51556.75%17,20436.82%3,0016.42%9,31119.93%46,720Whitman4,15052.04%3,25640.83%5697.13%89411.21%7,975Yakima18,67046.17%18,19745.00%3,5698.83%4731.17%40,436Totals812,35259.48%459,32733.63%94,1486.89%353,02525.85%1,365,827

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Chelan (largest city: Wenatchee) Douglas (largest city: East Wenatchee) Klickitat (largest city: Goldendale) Lewis (largest city: Centralia) Okanogan (largest city: Omak) Yakima (largest city: Yakima)

By congressional district District Sonntag McEntee Freeman Representative 64% 30% 6%Jay Inslee 57% 35% 7%Rick Larsen 57% 36% 8%Brian Baird 45% 47% 9%Doc Hastings 50% 41% 9%Cathy McMorris Rodgers 63% 30% 6%Norm Dicks 82% 14% 4%Jim McDermott 60% 34% 6%Dave Reichert 63% 31% 6%Adam Smith

General election

Results

By county +CountyBrian Sonntag DemocraticJ. Richard (Dick) McEntee RepublicanMarginTotal votes#%#%#%Adams1,93543.44%2,51956.56%-584-13.11%4,454Asotin4,55950.18%4,52749.82%320.35%9,086Benton30,86845.25%37,35654.75%-6,488-9.51%68,224Chelan15,10150.79%14,63249.21%4691.58%29,733Clallam19,97456.66%15,27943.34%4,69513.32%35,253Clark94,21655.61%75,20144.39%19,01511.22%169,417Columbia96046.92%1,08653.08%-126-6.16%2,046Cowlitz25,01759.81%16,81140.19%8,20619.62%41,828Douglas6,94049.01%7,21950.99%-279-1.97%14,159Ferry1,59649.49%1,62950.51%-33-1.02%3,225Franklin8,55045.75%10,14054.25%-1,590-8.51%18,690Garfield54843.56%71056.44%-162-12.88%1,258Grant11,15043.54%14,45856.46%-3,308-12.92%25,608Grays Harbor18,25766.28%9,28833.72%8,96932.56%27,545Island22,55058.30%16,13141.70%6,41916.59%38,681Jefferson13,10870.48%5,49029.52%7,61840.96%18,598King605,33173.85%214,32626.15%391,00547.70%819,657Kitsap72,29261.86%44,56938.14%27,72323.72%116,861Kittitas8,76353.53%7,60646.47%1,1577.07%16,369Klickitat5,07554.54%4,23045.46%8459.08%9,305Lewis16,55251.36%15,67348.64%8792.73%32,225Lincoln2,45945.13%2,99054.87%-531-9.74%5,449Mason17,05263.81%9,67036.19%7,38227.63%26,722Okanogan8,25853.16%7,27646.84%9826.32%15,534Pacific6,86766.83%3,40933.17%3,45833.65%10,276Pend Oreille2,98048.96%3,10751.04%-127-2.09%6,087Pierce200,31964.97%107,99835.03%92,32129.94%308,317San Juan6,85170.72%2,83629.28%4,01541.45%9,687Skagit31,45960.57%20,47539.43%10,98421.15%51,934Skamania2,85156.60%2,18643.40%66513.20%5,037Snohomish191,55564.00%107,75136.00%83,80428.00%299,306Spokane111,06354.83%91,50345.17%19,5609.66%202,566Stevens9,17944.34%11,52155.66%-2,342-11.31%20,700Thurston80,84468.36%37,41031.64%43,43436.73%118,254Wahkiakum1,27460.26%84039.74%43420.53%2,114Walla Walla11,40250.43%11,20949.57%1930.85%22,611Whatcom56,30961.19%35,71238.81%20,59722.38%92,021Whitman9,06056.63%6,93943.37%2,12113.26%15,999Yakima37,85352.18%34,68447.82%3,1694.37%72,537Totals1,770,97763.54%1,016,39636.46%754,58127.07%2,787,373

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Columbia (largest city: Dayton) Douglas (largest city: East Wenatchee) Ferry (largest city: Republic) Pend Oreille (largest city: Newport)

By congressional district Sonntag won eight of nine congressional districts, including two that elected Republicans. District Sonntag McEntee Representative 67% 33%Jay Inslee 61% 39%Rick Larsen 59% 41%Brian Baird 49% 51%Doc Hastings 53% 47%Cathy McMorris Rodgers 66% 34%Norm Dicks 85% 15%Jim McDermott 63% 37%Dave Reichert 66% 34%Adam Smith

References