Voters will decide eight statewide races: governor, attorney general, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, public lands secretary, public instruction superintendent, and insurance secretary. All seats in the Washington House of Representatives. It includes about half of the state Senate seats, as well as judges, ballot items and some local elections.
Washington will also vote on all 10 of Washington's House seats, including the Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and the big races in Washington's 5th and 6th Congressional Districts.
Most races will appear for the first time on the Aug. 6 primary ballot, with the top two vote-getters in each race advancing to the Nov. 5 general election.
Here are some highlights from submission week.
governor
About 30 candidates for the open gubernatorial seat will be on the ballot in the August primary, including three candidates for Bob Ferguson.
The current attorney general, Democrat Bob Ferguson, is running for election. since last September He has raised $6.9 million and currently leads all Washington gubernatorial candidates in fundraising. Ferguson emerged as the frontrunner after Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he would not run for a fourth term.
Two others, Bob Ferguson, are also listed as Democrats and were recruited by conservative activists to run the election. Glen MorganThe Washington State Standard reported over the weekend. The news site reported that the Secretary of State's office will need to come up with an identifier to distinguish between the three Fergusons.
The order of the names will be drawn at random, so Mr. Ferguson's other two candidates will appear in second and third place on the ballot, and Attorney General Ferguson will appear in 13th place.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson held a press conference on Monday to announce that his campaign had asked the remaining two candidates to withdraw from the race and for the Secretary of State's office to highlight their differences. Former King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg also told reporters that Bob Ferguson's filing was a last-minute move. violated state lawcited a provision that prohibits submissions with the “intent to confuse or mislead” voters.
“We all laughed about it. It was a prank, it was a meme, but it wasn't funny. It was also a crime,” Satterberg said.
“Serious candidates for important public office should understand that they, too, could be victims of fraud like this,” Satterberg said.
Ferguson also said his campaign has sent cease-and-desist letters to two other Bob Fergusons asking them to remove their names from ballots, and if they don't, the campaign will file charges with local authorities. He said he would seek.
Mr. Ferguson also asked Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to list the remaining two candidates as “Robert Ferguson” with their middle initial or first name, and to list the candidates' occupations next to their names. , also called for Mr. Ferguson's three candidates to be listed next to each other on the ballot. .
“If the voting order does not change, it is safe to assume that thousands of Washingtonians are voting for me when they are actually voting for one of the other two people,” Fegason said. he said. “That's a fact. It's going to happen. The only question is, how many thousands of voters are going to be effectively disenfranchised?”
Asked whether the other two candidates might be strong candidates, Mr. Ferguson demurred.
“Glen Morgan, too. said in the press He tried to get more Bob Ferguson to run. With all due respect, please give me a break,” Ferguson said.
“Steve Hobbs has an obligation here because if he doesn't take the steps we've outlined, this is going to be the new normal in politics. Let's take it to the bank,” Ferguson said. .
Another gubernatorial candidate receiving attention is former Congressman Dave Reichert (Republican), who ranks second in fundraising for the gubernatorial race.and semi-birda former Richland school board member who voters recalled from that seat last year and was endorsed by the Washington State Republican Party. last month's tournament. Washington state Sen. Mark Mallet (D-Issaquah) is currently in third place in fundraising for this race, with more than $1 million in contributions to his campaign.
Superintendent of Education
Two former Republicans who had previously announced plans to run against incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal ultimately did not end up challenging him.with Chad Magendanz Brad Klippert The Washington State Republican Party suspended its campaign last month after endorsing David Olson, a member of the Peninsula School Board in Gig Harbor. Although the party has expressed support, the position is bipartisan.Magendanz is He is currently running for the former state senate seat. In State House District 5, gubernatorial candidate Mark Mallett is running against Democrat Bill Ramos for the vacant seat. (According to state law, a person can only be on the ballot in one of his races at a time.)
Joining Reykdal and Olson, a former Democratic state representative running for a third term as superintendent, remaining in the race is the founder of Seattle's nonprofit Equal Opportunity School and former IB substitute teacher at Rainier Beach High School. A certain Mr. Reed Sarlis. Mr. Sarlis is currently the fundraising leader for the Washington Public Schools campaign, raising more than $258,000 in campaign contributions. The fourth candidate in the race is former Vashon City School Board member John Patterson Blair, who has previously run for office.
races in other states
With current Attorney General Bob Ferguson running for governor, Washington state voters will have a major race to replace him. There are three people running for this position. The two are Democrats, former Western Washington District Attorney Nick Brown and state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Manka Dhingra (D-Redmond). and Republican Mayor Pete Serrano of Pasco.
Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz is seeking a seat in the House of Representatives, and there are seven candidates running for the open seat, including the Republican ousted from the 3rd Congressional District seat in 2022. They include former Congressman Jaime Herrera Beutler. Kevin Van de Wege, of Lake Sutherland, and King County Council President Dave Upthegrove are both running as Democrats. Up the Globe and Herrera Beutler are currently raising the most money for this contest.
us senate
Sen. Maria Cantwell will face 10 challengers in the August primary, including Inslee and fellow Republican Loren, who ran for governor in 2020 but won the primary. They include Raul Garcia, a moderate conservative Republican who was defeated by Culp. Garcia had previously announced that he would run for governor in 2024. After Mr. Reichert, he switched to running for the U.S. Senate. announced his candidacy.
Democrat Cantwell has held the seat since 2001, defeating longtime Republican Sen. Slade Gorton. Cantwell has raised more than $10 million for this campaign. Mr. Garcia is currently in a distant second place with $406,000 in contributions listed on his federal campaign website.
meeting
For Congress, voters across the state will see a familiar showdown in Southwest Washington and some familiar faces going all-out in the race for the 3rd Congressional District.
U.S. Representative Marie Grusenkamp Perez will once again face Republican challenger Joe Kent. We lost a close game two years ago. Switched district party representatives. Former U.S. Congressman Jaime Herrera Beutler Grusenkamp Perez and Kent lose in a shutout in the 2022 primary, was endorsed by Trump that year and ran to the right of Herrera Beutler. Herrera Beutler was one of 10 Republicans nationwide to vote in favor of impeaching former President Donald J. Trump during the January 6 riot. Two other candidates also ran this year: Republican Leslie Lewallen, a member of the Camas City Council, and independent John Thorley Roman, also of Camas.
In Washington's 4th Congressional District, Rep. Dan Newhouse faces fellow Republican Tiffany Smiley, who raised millions of dollars in an effort to oust then-Senator Patty Murray two years ago. It turns out. Most expensive race in state history. Newhouse, now in his fifth term, is another Republican who voted to: impeach trump That's how he drew challengers to his right two years ago. Other challengers this time include Republican Jerrod Sessler. Democrats Mary Bakler, Barry Knowles and “Birdie” Jane Muklinski; Benny “BG3” Garcia listed as independent. And John Mullan is listed as a “MAGA Democrat.”
Two members of the Washington State Assembly, Derek Kilmer, Democrat-WA 6and Kathy McMorris Rogers, Republican-Washington 5previously said he would not run in this year's election, leaving two seats representing the state open.
Kilmer's seat, which straddles the Olympic and Kissap peninsulas, is filled by Democrats Hilary Frantz, who currently serves as state public lands commissioner, Emily Randall, the state Senate deputy majority leader, and Republican state Sen. Drew McEwen. , filed to run as a Republican candidate. Janice Clark of Federal Way. J. Graham Ralston, a lawyer from Port Angeles, is also running as an independent.
The McMorris-Rogers seat attracted 11 candidates, including six Republicans and five Democrats. Among the Republicans is Spokane County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner. He is also a former state representative who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Maria Cantwell in 2012. Also running as a Republican is state Rep. Jaclyn Maycumber (Republican); Spokane City Councilman Jonathan Bingle; Ferry County Commissioner Brian Dansel. Renee Holladay, radio host and former aide to former state Rep. Matt Shea; and Rick Valentine Flynn of Cheney.
Democratic candidates for the McMorris-Rogers seat include Anne Marie Danimas, who has previously run for the seat. Carmella Conroy, former US diplomat. Doctor Bernadine Banks. Matthew Welde, Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor. and Bobby Bennett Wolcott of Pullman.
A complete list of candidates and races is available Through the Secretary of State's website.