![]() He has already gathered $2.1 million in contributions, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. “Which could create interesting primaries on both sides.”įirst elected attorney general in 2012 after serving on the King County Metropolitan Council, Ferguson rose to some prominence for his scores of successful legal challenges of Trump administration action, and more recently, his legal efforts to protect access to the abortion medication known as mifepristone. “There’s certainly more angst and division within the parties,” said Fincher. And conservatives more broadly around the nation are advocating to use government to advance their own agenda. Meanwhile, Republicans recoiled from Inslee’s strict pandemic health measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. The races come after Inslee used unprecedented powers during the pandemic, and as progressive Democrats harness their power in Olympia to use government more forcefully to tackle issues like homelessness and on business regulations, Fincher said. Governorīefore any candidates get through the top-two primary in August 2024, they first have to navigate the shifts within both Democratic and Republican politics. But he envisions scenarios where the race could boil down to two Democrats at the top of the ticket, or even possibly two Republicans. Hays said he believes the most likely outcome is a Democrat and a Republican competing in November 2024. In that contest, a fractured Democratic primary field allowed for a face-off between two Republicans that November. And there’s precedent in the other direction too, with the 2016 race for state treasurer. In recent years, that dynamic has already led to a pair of Democrats competing for lieutenant governor in 2020. The August 2024 primary allows the two top vote-getters to advance, regardless of party. Washington’s top-two primary could spice the intrigue up another notch or two. Mark Mullet, a moderate Democrat from Issaquah who has now been challenged by his own party as it moves further to the left. ![]() “I would say, we are likely to see a lot more people enter this race,” said Alex Hays, a Republican political consultant.įincher and Hays note other potential candidates, such as Tiffany Smiley, the Republican who last year challenged Democratic U.S. The list is likely to grow over the next year plus. He joins another Republican, Richland School Board member Semi Bird, in announcing a bid. He entered the primary late in 2020, losing out to Inslee and Loren Culp. Both Ferguson and Franz, whose office oversees the state Department of Natural Resources, expressed interest in the 2020 governor’s race, before Inslee declared for a third term.Īlso back is a moderate Republican, Raul Garcia, an emergency physician from the Tri-Cities area. The stakes may feel high, but the field for now is not necessarily a surprise. “For the Republican side, as a counterweight to Biden, and for the Democratic side, a counterweight to Trump and other Republicans.” “There’s just a lot more at stake, it feels like,” she said. The rising polarizations and deepening divisions in the nation have come to make elections feel more consequential, said Crystal Fincher, a political consultant who works on Democratic and progressive campaigns. Most – but not all – Washingtonians have weathered the pandemic as well as a racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd. Moderate Republicans, once a hallmark of Washington politics, have melted away, Democrats have consolidated political power. Capitol four years later – turned progressive parts of Washington state into “the resistance”’ while stirring up a populist, hard-right conservative base. The election of former President Donald Trump – and the armed attack on the U.S. ![]() “This Court and many others around the country have consistently found COVID-19 vaccine mandates for state employees are facially neutral and generally applicable, and terminating an employee for failing to comply with a vaccine mandate is a permissible employment action,” Rice wrote in his decision.Next year’s governor race will be the first contest for an open seat since 2012, and a lot has happened in America, in politics and in Washington in the past decade. Rice ruled that enforcing vaccine mandates do not count as religious discrimination. 19, 2021, Rolovich cannot claim a violation of the free exercise of his religious beliefs prior to that date.īecause he waited so long to try and get a religious exemption, the university said that it was not able to accommodate the coach with pandemic guidelines.Īccording to the decision obtained by The Spokesman-Review, U.S. The judge says because Rolovich first mentioned his religious beliefs to WSU on Aug. Rolovich said his request for a religious exemption as a “devout Catholic,” and his appeal were both denied, so he sued the university and the state for $25 million. Ex-WSU Coach Rolovich slams firing over vaccine mandate
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