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Washington Attorney General, the “real” Bob Ferguson, told potential campaign supporters he predicts the gubernatorial primary race will be very close during a fundraiser Tuesday on the Lummi Reservation.
“I will bet every dollar we have invested in our kids’ college tuition fund that this race is decided by less than 3 percent,” Ferguson said, noting that in the past, in Washington governor races where neither candidate was the incumbent, the race came down to single percentage points.
Ferguson, who’s running to replace Gov. Jay Inslee in November and is seen as the Democratic front-runner in the 25-person primary, told the crowd of about 150 people the general election is shaping up to be a tight race between him and Republican front-runner, former Congressman Dave Reichert.
Ferguson addressed a crowd made up of county officials, and business and nonprofit leaders. Ferguson also met with Lummi Nation Chairman Anthony Hillaire and the Lummi Indian Business Council earlier in the day.
That group’s discussion touched on the fentanyl crisis, salmon habitat protection, climate change and tribal sovereignty. Hillaire told CDN he felt Ferguson had good responses to tribal leadership’s concerns.
Hillaire spoke to donors before Ferguson, saying by taking a stance in backing Ferguson for governor, people were standing up to protect the values of Washingtonians.
“Anytime that we can stand up to protect, to be good stewards, to be good guardians of our homes and have good partnerships with the state, the better our lives will be,” Hillaire said.
Three people named Bob Ferguson all filed to run for Washington’s governorship but two of the trio of “Bobs” dropped out of the race after legal action was threatened in May.
Ferguson was first elected attorney general in 2012.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
