Slade Gorton Republican Maria Cantwell Democratic The 2000 United States Senate election in Washington was held on November 7, 2000.

Two major Democratic candidates entered the Senate race: Cantwell, a former member of Congress, and Senn, Washington's insurance commissioner.

[1] The victor of the race was at first unclear due to the amount of absentee ballots; the certified count on November 22 reported that Cantwell was ahead by 1,953 votes.

[10] Her victory meant that both of Washington's senators were female (the other being Patty Murray); it was at that time one of three states to hold the distinction, along with California and Maine.

[7] In a January 2002 appearance on C-Span's Booknotes, Ralph Nader (the 2000 Green Party presidential nominee) stated that when he met with Democratic Senator Harry Reid after the election, Reid had credited his candidacy with aiding Cantwell's victory; Nader had received 103,000 votes in the state, and since the party didn't run a Senate candidate, his supporters backed Cantwell down the ballot.