Albert E. Mead Republican Samuel G. Cosgrove Republican The 1908 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1908.

Republican nominee Samuel G. Cosgrove defeated Democratic nominee John Pattison with 62.56% of the vote.

[1] When Washington began using primary elections to nominate candidates, it used a form of ranked-choice voting although the original method was quite different from the modern understanding of RCV.

If four or more candidates registered for a party's nomination for a particular office, voters in the primary were to make a first choice and second choice among the candidates.

If a candidate received more than 40% of the first choice votes, he was declared the winner.