Gov. Jay Inslee may not be universally admired — he is especially loathed by those who do not believe in vaccines or climate change — but his endorsement matters to Democrats, and the three-term governor gave Attorney General Bob Ferguson a significant boost by declaring that he wants Ferguson to be his successor.
“I want to say that I don’t do this lightly,” Inslee said at Washington Hall in Seattle’s Central District on Saturday, where Ferguson formally announced his gubernatorial candidacy. “To endorse a position that I’ve been able to hold with immense honor for the past decade … is a big deal to me and my grandchildren.”
During that same decade, Ferguson has held the second most visible elective office in the state, building a solid political base. Democratic voters particularly laud the attorney general for taking the Trump administration to court 97 times with just two losses. Arguably, Ferguson does not need Inslee’s blessing — especially since he has amassed a campaign war chest of $3.8 million that far outstrips any of his opponents — but it doesn’t hurt.
The hurt of the governor’s endorsement is felt most by Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, who would like to move over to the governor’s office herself. With Inslee’s early endorsement of Ferguson, as well as the support he is getting from former Gov. Christine Gregoire and U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Suzan DelBene, Franz is stuck running as an outsider.
Campaigning as a maverick is not necessarily a bad thing, except that there is another candidate in the race who is even more outside the Democratic Party’s liberal establishment, state Sen. Mark Mullet, who could split the vote of those who are not enamored of Ferguson.
Ferguson’s money and endorsements put him on the inside track to win one of the slots in the top-two primary. However, he may not be as fortunate as Inslee in 2020, when his opponent was a small-town cop from the paranoid conspiracy wing of the GOP. Ferguson is likely to face a former big-town cop and congressman, Dave Reichert, a more sensible Republican with significant appeal to independent voters.
Still, given the likelihood that former President Donald Trump will be at the top of the 2024 ballot, Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters will not be sitting out the election. In this blue state, that would add to the likelihood that, in 2025, as Inslee is packing up to move out of the governor’s mansion, Ferguson will be at the door, ready to move in.
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The post Inslee gives Ferguson a boost first appeared on Latest American News.
The post Inslee gives Ferguson a boost appeared first on Latest American News.