The 2024 presidential election results on Vashon-Maury Island reaffirmed the island’s liberal lean — voting 84% for Kamala Harris in 2024, with strong voter engagement, particularly in relation to national, state and county election results.

The island has become a reliably liberal, Democrat-voting stronghold over the last half-century.

Although Republican Ronald Reagan won 45% of the vote here in the 1980 election, Democrat Jimmy Carter and liberal Republican third-party candidate John Anderson together won 55% of the vote.

Prior to 1980, the island voted just as reliably Republican as it votes Democrat now, with two exceptions: The Great Depression of the 1930s, when the island voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his New Deal until the end of World War II, and in 1964, when the island voted for Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson over far-right Republican Barry Goldwater.

By the 2000s, Vashon had become a Democrat bulwark. It voted 77% for John Kerry in 2004; 82% and 80% for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012; 78% for Hillary Clinton in 2016; 87% for Joe Biden in 2020; and 84% for Kamala Harris in 2024.

There are 19 voting precincts on the island — the least populated, Colvos, is located west of Shinglemill Creek and had 290 registered voters in 2024.

The most populated precinct, Dockton, makes up the southern half of Maury Island and had 820 registered voters in 2024.

In the most recent November election, every precinct had a turnout above 84%, with the highest turnout at Dilworth (on the northeast side of the island); 90.2% of registered voters there turned in a ballot.

The lowest turnout over the past three presidential elections was 74.8% — still well above the national average — at both the Tahlequah (southeast section of Vashon Island) and Lisabeula (near the center of Vashon) precincts in 2020.

While turnout is consistently high in all island precincts, the results by precinct are also consistent through the past three presidential elections.

The most Democrat-voting precinct in 2016 and 2020 was Cross, an L-shaped precinct including Reddings Beach Loop and a section between SW 204th and Judd Creek west of Vashon Highway, voting 82% for Clinton in 2016 and 92% for Biden in 2020.

Shawnee, just west of the Burton peninsula, was the most Democrat-voting precinct in 2024, with an 88% vote for Harris. Island-wide, the range of difference in Democrat voting was between 7% and 9% across all three elections.

The most consistently Republican precincts in all three elections was Maury (central and eastern Maury Island), with a vote for Trump of 16% in 2016, 15% in 2020, and 15% in 2024. Across the island, the range of difference in Republican voting hovered around 6% or 7% across all three elections.

Vashon’s voter turnout remains higher than both the State of Washington and King County. Nationally, 63.7% of registered voters voted in the 2024 presidential election. In Washington State, 78.9% voted; in King County, 80.2% voted; and on Vashon, 87.9% voted.

Island voters in 2024 also voted for Harris over Trump at a higher percentage than both the state and county. While nationally 48.3% of registered voters voted for Harris, in Washington State 57.2% voted for Harris, in King County 73.7% voted for Harris, and on Vashon, 84.1% voted for Harris.

Trump received 49.8% of the national vote, 39.1% of the Washington State vote, 22.3% of the King County vote, and merely 11.9% of the Vashon vote.

Over the last three presidential elections, registered voters increased on the island from 8,876 to 9,905 and then decreased to 9,370. The population grew 4% from 10,641 residents in 2010 to 11,055 residents in 2020, but because the census only occurs every ten years it is difficult to know what caused this higher percentage increase in registered voters between 2016 and 2020, and the 5.4% decrease in 2024.

The number of votes for the Democrat candidate increased from 5,968 votes in 2016 (77.3%), to 6,559 in 2020 (87.5%), and to 6,931 in 2024 (84.15%). This 16.1% increase in the number of Democratic votes reflects the blue tilt of the island.

The number of votes for the Republican candidate fell from 995 in 2016 (12.9%), to 781 in 2020 (10.4%), and swung back up to 981 in 2024 (11.9%) — only 14 fewer votes than in 2016.

The number of write-in or third-party presidential votes plummeted from 720 votes in 2016 (9.4%) to 154 votes in 2020 (2.1%) and bounced back to 328 votes in 2024 (4.0%).

This election data emphasizes just how much the 2024 vote affirmed the political leanings of Vashon-Maury Islands. Islanders are more politically active and are consistently to the left of national, state and county voters.

Bruce Haulman is an island historian. Dr. Bob Hughes is a Professor Emeritus at Seattle University.