AP projection: Democrat Bob Ferguson beats Republican Dave Reichert in the race to become WA’s next governor

In Washington’s governor’s race, the Associated Press has projected that Attorney General Bob Ferguson will defeat former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert.

For the first time in more than a decade, Washington will have a different governor. Ferguson, the state’s Attorney General since 2013, grabbed 57% of the vote while Reichert, a former representative and sheriff renowned for his role in capturing the Green River Killer, received 43% of the vote with about 60% of the ballots counted.

In the 2020 election, Gov. Jay Inslee defeated his Republican challenger, Loren Culp, by 13.4%, while his 2016 margin over Republican Bill Bryant was 8.8%. Should Ferguson maintain his current lead, he would outperform both prior Democratic victories.

Ferguson and Reichert both emerged out of the state’s August primary as the two leading candidates for governor. Ferguson received 44.9% of the vote in the primary, while Reichert earned 27.5%. A total of 28 candidates ran in the primary, including military veteran Semi Bird, who was officially endorsed by the Washington State Republican Party, and Democrat Mark Mullet, a state senator from Issaquah.

It’s been nearly 40 years since Washington had a Republican governor.

Ferguson and Reichert intensely sparred throughout much of the campaign trail, spending millions of dollars on negative ad campaigns. Ferguson raised $13.5 million and spent $12.8 million, according to the Public Disclosure Commission, while Reichert hauled in $6.5 million and spent approximately $5.3 million.

Ferguson consistently portrayed Reichert as a candidate whose moderate campaign rhetoric does not match his private statements or congressional actions. Conversely, Reichert has depicted Ferguson as someone who would maintain the status quo of “one-party rule.”

Reichert, leaning on his 33 years of service that includes two terms as King County Sheriff, ran on a campaign that emphasized public safety as a priority, claiming Ferguson had allowed crime to flourish while he was attorney general.

Ferguson argued the key difference between himself and Reichert was abortion. He cited Reichert’s record of voting for legislation that would have limited abortion to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Reichert responded in a campaign video, saying, “As governor, I will not change Washington law on this issue (abortion) … My opponent, Bob Ferguson, is trying to spread fear by saying things that I don’t believe and will not do.”

This is one of 11 gubernatorial elections taking place in 2024.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.