SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Governor Inslee spends more time traveling than fixing Washington

Aug 29, 2018, 7:00 AM

Inslee, Jay Inslee...

In this photo taken June 21, 2018 and provided by the National Governors Association, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, right, and South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, left, sit in front of a painting made by Inslee as they take part in a panel titled "The Intersection Between the Arts and Commerce in the States" at a meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Rebecca Drobis/National Governors Association via AP)

(Rebecca Drobis/National Governors Association via AP)

Governor Jay Inslee is hitting the road to go fundraising for Democratic gubernatorial candidates around the country because he’s the head of the Democratic Governors Association.

According to the Seattle Times, Inslee spent 49 days out of state this year fundraising for Democrats around the country. He spoke at dinners and conferences, attended meetings, and participated in fundraisers in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Hawaii, Iowa, New Orleans, and Miami.

The Miami trip was just a couple of days after it was announced that Western State Hospital was losing federal funding — because it’s horribly run. Ultimately, the failure of our state’s largest psychiatric hospital was Governor Jay Inslee’s responsibility, but he was off to Miami to raise money for the Democrats. And the day before it was announced that the hospital failed, Inslee was busy fundraising in Iowa.

RELATED: Governor Jay Inslee ignores Washington’s problems

A lot of people are questioning his priorities. In our state, we’ve got lots of problems. We have gridlock everywhere. In our biggest city, Seattle, we’ve got the worst property crime of any major city in the nation. We’ve got one of the worst heroin problems in the country and one of the worst homeless problems in the country. We spend a billion dollars a year in Seattle and King County on homelessness, only to see the problem get worse and worse.

Maybe, Mr. Governor, should you be governing in our state instead of flying all around the country raising money for other governors? And not only does he put all his effort into fundraising — while he’s on the road he does TV appearances on any network that will have him, because he wants to be president in 2020. He has to go all around the country to be a hero of the “resistance.” And, of course, he gets to meet with potential donors.

Governor Jay Inslee spends all of his time traveling to other states. That really sounds like the people of Washington are getting their money’s worth out of their governor.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton visits with supporters during a campaign event alo...

Associated Press

Ohio Democrats’ path to the governor’s office runs through rural areas that had turned against them

MARIETTA, Ohio (AP) — Speaking to a small gathering of supporters as the Ohio River flowed behind her, Dr. Amy Acton announced she was backing a three-year moratorium on permitting new injection wells for fracking in rural Washington County. It’s an issue that is top of mind for voters worried that their groundwater here is […]

7 minutes ago

Fred Meyer...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘Shame on Fred Meyer, shame on Kroger’: Ursula demands consequences if pregnancy allegations are true

Allegations that two pregnant Fred Meyer workers were denied accommodations and ultimately fired drew sharp criticism from Gee and Ursula.

10 minutes ago

Troy Jackson, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at the Southern Maine Labor Council brea...

Associated Press

Troy Jackson is scrambling to defeat Maine Sen. Susan Collins. Time is not on his side

SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) — It’s a Monday night, and Troy Jackson has drawn about 250 people into a converted church to hear him talk about healthcare and labor in Maine. The event is notably different from the rallies held earlier this year by Graham Platner, Jackson’s predecessor as Maine’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Platner […]

27 minutes ago

This combination of photos released by the U.S. Army taken on May 16, 2025, shows from top left, Sg...

Associated Press

‘He’s not coming back’: Months after deadly Iranian attack, families of soldiers struggle to cope

For Michelle Tietjens, the pain of loss often hits hardest at the start of each day, when the realization dawns all over again that she’ll be facing it without her husband. “Waking up in the morning it always takes me a little bit to get going,” she said. “Because you relive it – that he’s […]

1 hour ago

In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, U.S. soldiers, including those injured after an Ira...

Associated Press

Soldiers seriously wounded in Iranian drone strike tell AP the military’s medical system failed them

The shrapnel hit Army Lt. Col. Arturo Lincón’s body like shattered glass. One chunk of metal lodged into the left side of his jaw. Another piece sliced through his salivary gland before bouncing off his jaw and piercing the back of his neck, severing an artery and embedding in a vertebra. Lincón was among dozens […]

1 hour ago

In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, smoke rises from an Iranian drone strike at Port Sh...

Associated Press

Exclusive: Soldiers and Gold Star families press Army leadership after deadly Iranian drone strike

WASHINGTON (AP) — On a sunny, cloudless morning on March 1, the day after President Donald Trump started the war against Iran, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan was coordinating critical Army supplies out of Port Shuaiba in Kuwait. In an instant, a drone crashed through the ceiling and exploded, killing Marzan, who had served […]

2 hours ago

Dori: Governor Inslee spends more time traveling than fixing Washington