Why did Washington state vote Republican in 1960, 1976, and 1980?

[blacknwhiterose]

Can someone more familiar than I am with Pac NW politics demonstrate why Washington voted Humphrey in 1968 then Ford/Reagan in 1976/1980?  Even if '80 had been a cliff hanger, Reagan still would have carried the state: he won by 12%, 2% more than his national average plus had 49.66% despite John Edwards muddying the waters.  Based on earlier replies, it seems we can conclude that Washington was more or less a moderate/'rockefeller' republican state in the 1960-1980 era, but what happened in '68?  Did George Wallace's 7% of the state vote muddy the waters?  Did the anti-war hippies around Seattle skew to Humphrey?

[blacknwhiterose]

Interesting little did-you-know: before going off on his twisted serial killing spree, Ted Bundy was an aspiring Republican Party volunteer and University of Puget Sound law school student, even attending the 1968 Republican convention as a Rockefeller delegate.  I wonder if the ensuing gruesome Bundy killings was what spurred Washington state's eventual trend towards the Democratic Party, hahahahaha.

[blacknwhiterose]

Actually, why did it vote Dem in 1968? The only time a West Coast State went Democratic between '52 and '84 excluding from the count Johnson '64 landslide...

1. Sounds like Wallace may have hurt Nixon more than Humphrey.

2. Galvanized anti-war hippie vote skewing to Humphrey.

and with 1 and 2 in mind:

3. The state was already fairly close in other close elections (1960 and 1976).  The Vietnam War climate and the Wallace factor may have been enough to tip the state to the Democrat challenger.