Washington voters are leaning toward Bob Ferguson in governor race

Half of the more than 400 poll respondents said they were “certain” or “inclined” to vote for Ferguson, compared to 39% for Reichert. The poll reached out to registered Washington voters Sept. 3 to Sept. 6 via a live phone interview or a text invitation to an online survey.

The poll has a margin of error of ± 5% at a 95% confidence level, which means if the same survey was conducted 100 times, the results would be within five percentage points at least 95 times.

Not surprisingly, support for each candidate ran along party lines — with 92% of Democratic respondents backing Ferguson and 94% of Republican respondents supporting Reichert. Independents were leaning toward Reichert, with nearly half saying they would vote for the Republican.

The poll found 20% of voters indicated that “ideology” was a top issue or factor in deciding which gubernatorial candidate to support. Only the economy, at 21%, was higher on their priority list. About 22% of Democratic voters said ideology was most important, compared to 19% of Republicans. About 20% of independent voters indicated ideology as a top issue.

Other top issues voters said they consider are crime at 12% and homelessness and housing, candidate qualities and taxes, all at 11%.

Tanya Adamson, 55, a poll participant who lives outside Olympia, said she was “committed” to voting blue and would have voted for Ferguson, the Democrat, regardless. However, she also believes Ferguson will continue in the direction of current Gov. Jay Inslee, especially on environmental issues.

Adamson said she’s voted Democrat her whole life because she feels the party reflects her values concerning the environment and supporting diversity among the state’s residents, including immigrants.

“[Reichert] has opinions I just don’t agree with, and [he] wants to take the direction of the state different than what Inslee has established,” Adamson said. “I like the job that Inslee has done. I don’t want to see what he’s done destroyed.”