‘Unscripted exchanges, probably not his strength’: Rep. Walsh on why Ferguson may dodge debate

Last week, Governor Bob Ferguson called Representative Jim Walsh gutless on social media in response to his statements that he would entertain a run for Washington governor in 2028.

“Jim, you’re a big talker, but we all know you won’t have the guts to actually take me on,” Ferguson wrote on X.

Jim, you’re a big talker, but we all know you won’t have the guts to actually take me on. https://t.co/VbGr1LmLNX

— Bob Ferguson (@BobFergusonGov) May 30, 2026

Shortly after Ferguson’s comments, Walsh proposed a “Lincoln-Douglas-style” series of debates between the two, to be held anytime, anywhere, and covering a multitude of topics that would be undisclosed to each debater ahead of the event.

Walsh proposes a series of unscripted, Lincoln-Douglas-style debates

Walsh joined “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio and explained why Ferguson’s approach on the debate stage may be a disadvantage for him if he chooses to accept.

“[Governor Ferguson] has what he’s good at, but I want to be diplomatic, improvisational, off the cuff,” Walsh said. “Unscripted exchanges, probably not his strength. He’s a guy who wants to have his talking points.”

“[Ferguson] and Katie Wilson are the same in that way,” Jake said.

“Yeah, truly. She’s probably worse than he is, but whatever. It’s not their strength,” Walsh responded. “What they’re accustomed to, the way they’ve come up through their political system, is ‘here are your talking points, here’s the script.’ You can literally see, when you do events with them, sometimes it’s a piece of paper or a Kindle. They’ve literally got their points on it.”

The issues on Walsh’s debate list: taxes, pensions, schools, and safety

Jake wondered whether Ferguson had shown any signs of interest in Walsh’s proposal, and Walsh listed some of the important focal points hampering Washington residents, which the two could address in the debates.

“Not really. I think it would be a great opportunity,” Walsh said. “We could debate on topics that affect people’s lives. It’s a chance, not for one of these quickie 90-minute in-and-out things, but for detailed stuff. Maybe a series of exchanges, debates, conversations, or discussions, each on a topic. One would be this new tax proposal, and one might be on the pension situation that happened recently with the cops and firefighters.

“We would certainly [debate] schools,” Walsh continued. “I mean, K-12 school performance is falling in this state, and the funding of K-12 schools, which doesn’t always go hand in hand with the performance of schools. We could do safety, too; we just had a tough couple of weeks in my district.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3