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26 seats of the Washington State Senate 25 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Washington |
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The 2012 Washington State Senate elections took place on November 6, 2012.[1] Twenty-five of Washington's forty-nine state senators were elected. Each state legislative district has one senator elected to a four-year term, but state senate elections alternate so that about half of the senators are elected in presidential election years (e.g., 2008, 2012) and the other half are elected in non-presidential even numbered election years (e.g., 2010, 2014). A top two primary election on August 7, 2012 determined which candidates appear on the November ballot. Candidates were allowed to self-declare a party preference.
25 seats were regularly scheduled to be up this cycle, along with 1 additional seat holding a special election to fill an unexpired term: the 46th district, held by appointed Senator David Frockt, whose former incumbent Scott White vacated the seat.
Democrats gained the 5th district seat and Republicans gained the 10th and 25th district seats for a net gain of one seat for the Republicans. While the Democratic Party won a majority of the seats in the election, two Democratic senators joined the Republicans to form the Majority Coalition Caucus on December 10, 2012, giving Republicans an effective majority of seats.[2]
- ^ November 06, 2012 General Election Results: Legislative - All Results (Report).
- ^ Rodney Tom and Mark Schoesler (December 16, 2012). "Op-ed: State Senate's new Majority Coalition Caucus will govern across party lines". Seattle Times. Retrieved December 16, 2012.