The Washington governor’s mansion in the state capital of Olympia has, for quite some time, been the most presumptively safe official residence in the nation that Democrats can find. Republicans have been locked out of the building since centrist, one-term Republican Gov. John Spellman left office in early 1985 after losing reelection. Could that come to an end in next year’s elections?
Well into his third term and nearly 12 years in office, Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) decided not to run again. Two statewide officeholders and one state senator from his party have declared themselves in the running. A few Republicans have thrown in. More are mulling a run.
BIDEN’S CLIMATE AGENDA DREAMS COLLIDE WITH MILITARY REALITIES
The Democratic hopefuls are crusading Attorney General Bob Ferguson, ocean pen fish farms-banning Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, and state Senate Ways and Means Committee Vice Chairman Mark Mullet.
Ferguson reportedly has been mulling a run for quite some time and was sidelined in 2020 when Inslee decided to run for an unprecedented third term. He’s a known commodity, but his statewide name recognition and favorable ratings are not typically as high as Inslee’s.
Franz can tout some executive experience, as well as lean into the fact that she’s a woman for a party that would like white males, such as Ferguson, to be a smaller percentage of public office holders. Still, the important “first” cards have already been played in the selection of past Washington governors.
The first woman to occupy the governor’s mansion was Dixy Lee Ray, a Democrat, elected in 1976. The first minority was Chinese American Gov. Gary Locke, elected in 1996. In fact, Franz wasn’t even the first female commissioner of public lands in Washington. That was Jennifer Belcher in 1992. And Franz’s reelection in 2020 prevented another woman, Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson, from running the office.
Businessman and Issaquah-based Mullet is the type of candidate who would have very slim chances in any state with closed primaries. He is not well liked by the activist wing of his Democratic Party, which in Washington state is the larger part. Inslee endorsed Mullet’s progressive Democratic opponent in the 2020 election, and the two ended up the final finishers in Washington’s top-two primary system. That meant the East King County Democrat was, effectively, a Republican in that race in November. Mullet ended up being declared victor six weeks after election day by 58 votes.
The Republicans who have declared thus far would have a tough hill to climb. Semi Bird has an interesting biography, rising from poverty to become a Green Beret, but the African American politician is still one of three Richland school board members who face a recall election in August for thumbing their noses at some of the state’s COVID-19 measures. Raul Garcia is a doctor from eastern Washington who was one of the declared Republican candidates in the 2020 open primaries and managed to get about 5.5% of the vote in a scattered field.
State Republicans were divided over what would happen in the event that Washington’s top-two primary produced an all-Democratic Ferguson-Mullet race in the general election.
Former state Sen. Simon Sefzik told the Washington Examiner that while he remains “hopeful” strong Republican candidates will make waves, he admitted, “It will be an uphill battle.” His bottom line is that “we need change in the state.”
The trends on crime in Washington have been mostly up, taxes have been rising, and “reform” laws have stymied and driven away many police officers. And the previous rush of people to the state from elsewhere has lately slowed to a trickle.
As to whether the GOP would rally around Mullet if its own candidates can’t get the job done, Sefzik said, “I’m not sure if the Rs would ‘officially’ back Mullet, but I think many Rs, including those in the legislature, would support him as a reasonable alternative to Ferguson.”
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In contrast, Luanne Van Werven, former state representative and ex-state GOP interim chairwoman, remained unconvinced that Mullet could make the sale to Republicans statewide.
“Sen. Mark Mullet supported some of the most radical bills that came out of the Democrat-controlled legislature this year, including SB 5599,” which would allow shelters not to inform parents of estranged trans youths that they have their children, she told the Washington Examiner. “When that becomes more widely known, I think any support among Republicans will evaporate.”
