George Washington Cate (September 17, 1825 – March 7, 1905) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Wisconsin's 8th congressional district in the Forty-fourth Congress.

He studied law in the office of Lucius Benedict Peck in Montpelier, paying his expenses by teaching school.

[2] He moved to the Wisconsin Territory in 1845 and supported himself in the lumber industry until he began the practice of law in Plover, in Portage County, on January 1, 1848.

He served as Deputy Postmaster, Register of Deeds, and Clerk to the Board of Supervisors that year.

Democratic canvassers committed fraud to secure his election, though Judge Cate was not implicated in this act.

[5] Cate died peacefully at his home in Stevens Point on the morning of March 7, 1905, after suffering from worsening asthma.