2012 Washington Secretary of State election

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 2012 Washington Secretary of State election

| country = Washington

| type = presidential

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 2008 Washington Secretary of State election

| previous_year = 2008

| next_election = 2016 Washington Secretary of State election

| next_year = 2016

| election_date = November 6, 2012

| image1 = File:Kim Wyman 2 (cropped).jpg

| image_size = 150x150px

| nominee1 = Kim Wyman

| party1 = Republican Party (United States)

| popular_vote1 = 1,464,741

| percentage1 = 50.38%

| image2 = 3x4.svg

| nominee2 = Kathleen Drew

| party2 = Democratic Party (United States)

| popular_vote2 = 1,442,868

| percentage2 = 49.62%

| map_image = {{switcher |275px|County results

|275px|Congressional district results |275px |Precinct results}}

| map_caption = Wyman: {{legend0|#E27F7F|50–60%}} {{legend0|#d75d5d|60–70%}} {{legend0|#D72F30|70–80%}} {{legend0|#C21B18|80–90%}} {{legend0|#A80000|>90%}}
Drew: {{legend0|#7996e2|50–60%}} {{legend0|#6674de|60–70%}} {{legend0|#584cde|70–80%}} {{legend0|#3933e5|80–90%}} {{legend0|#0D0596|>90%}}
Tie: {{legend0|#ae8bb1|50%}} {{legend0|#808080|No votes}}

| title = Secretary of State

| before_election = Sam Reed

| before_party = Republican Party (United States)

| after_election = Kim Wyman

| after_party = Republican Party (United States)

}}

The Washington Secretary of State election, 2012, took place on November 6, 2012. Republican Kim Wyman was narrowly elected Secretary of State to succeed incumbent Republican Sam Reed, who did not seek re-election.

Primary election

[[File:2012 Washington Secretary of State primary results map by county.svg|thumb|250px|Blanket primary results by county

{{collapsible list

| title = {{legend|#e27f7f|Wyman}}

|{{legend|#FFE0EA|20–30%}}

|{{legend|#FFC8CD|30–40%}}

|{{legend|#FFB2B2|40–50%}}

|{{legend|#E27F7F|50–60%}}

|{{legend|#d75d5d|60–70%}}

}}

{{collapsible list

| title = {{legend|#7996e2|Drew}}

|{{legend|#bdd3ff|30–40%}}

}}

]]

The primary election took place in August. Under Washington's top-two primary system, introduced in the early 2000s, the primary was designed to narrow the field of candidates to two, rather than select specific party nominees, and candidates could designate themselves as affiliated with any political party, whether it existed or not.

Seven candidates contested the primary:

Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman ran under the Republican Party designation.
Karen Murray ran under the Constitution Party designation.
Sam Wright ran under the Human Rights Party designation.
David J. Anderson ran as an independent candidate.
Former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels, state senator Jim Kastama, and former state legislator Kathleen Drew, all ran under the Democratic Party designation.

Wyman and Drew scored the most votes in the primary contest, thereby becoming the two candidates to advance to the general election. Wyman received 39.75-percent of the vote and Drew 21.73-percent.

{{Election box open primary begin no change |title=2012 Washington Secretary of State blanket primary election}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Washington Republican Party

|candidate = Kim Wyman

|votes = 528,754

|percentage = 39.76