Washington State’s New Governor: A Man For the People or Himself?

We are more than three-quarters of the way through the first 100 days of new Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson's term and it has been interesting to say the least.  For the last quarter century plus, you knew what you were getting in the people's mansion.  Most opinions figured we knew what we were going to get with Bob Ferguson based on his dozen years as Attorney General.

As AG, especially during President Trump's first term, he was a continuous part of the news cycle at the state and national level.  Ferguson file almost 100 lawsuits between 2017 and 2021, leading to speculation about his future ambitions. It was widely speculated that when Jay Inslee ran for President in 2020, Bob Ferguson would run for Governor.

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As Inslee's numbers hovered at and below 1% on the national stage, rumors that a third term as Governor was on the table began.  Those rumors became reality in August of 2019 after Inslee dropped out of the race for the Democrat nominee.  Bob Ferguson then ran successfully for a third term as Attorney General.  Not long after Inslee announced he would not seek a fourth term, Bob Ferguson announced his intention to run for Governor.

A number of state Republican lawmakers talked of "cautious optimism" regarding the tone set by the new Governor.  More heads turned when Ferguson asked for $100 million to hire more police officers around the state and when he spoke out against one of the primary focuses of his party's (and his predecessor's) agenda, a wealth tax.

The Governor also was accused by one state Union head (a significant support base) of now being anti-worker after he proposed a furlough idea for state workers to help address the budget woes.  Ferguson has broken with his party multiple times of late, especially when he said he would not sign a budget that included tens of billions of dollars in new taxes and tax increases.

While Democrats feel blindsided by the new man in the mansion, Republicans have also been disappointed by Ferguson's silence on a massive property tax hike and the failure to address emergency powers reform which my sources have said the Governor himself killed even though he publicly supported reform.

So What Does All Of This Mean?

It's never been a secret that Bob Ferguson is ambitious, and there is nothing wrong with ambition.  You accomplish nothing in life without it.  You must have it to become an elected official period, let alone Governor.  That ambition has led many to wonder whether the stance being taken by Ferguson is to truly govern more as a centrist or moderate to correct the course of the State, or if it is to position himself for something else in 2028?

After the result of the 2024 election, the future of the Democrat Party is a hot topic.  As it faces historic lows in popularity, the "type" of Democrat that can win ranges wildly.  Some say the party needs to go further to the progressive side with a candidate like New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while other believe a moderate candidate, like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, is the way to go.

Anyone who has watched Washington State politics long enough will tell you not to count Bob Ferguson out of the equation.  He has shown a high level of political savvy, enough so that he has most observers guessing if the breaks with his party are for personal political gain, or if he has silently been studying the impacts of the last half dozen or so years of policy and believes a new path forward is truly needed.

Either way the state, and maybe even the nation, will be watching.