‘I’m disappointed that it had to get here’: Lawyer who filed recall against Ferguson hopes issue resolves before it goes to court

Olympia-based lawyer Conner Edwards filed a recall petition against Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, hoping the action will push the governor to fill two vacant seats on the Public Disclosure Commission.

Edwards told “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio he doesn’t want Ferguson to be recalled, but he does want the governor to address the two empty seats.

“I’m hoping genuinely that it doesn’t even go to court,” Edwards said. “If he is willing to appoint the replacement commissioners to the two vacant positions, I’m happy to withdraw my petition. I’m disappointed that it had to get here, but as long as he does the right thing, eventually, I’m happy to withdraw this.”

Public Disclosure Commission can’t enforce laws without full membership

Edwards explained the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) is responsible for enforcing Washington’s campaign finance laws.

“So if there’s a candidate or a political committee that isn’t filing their reports on time, they’re not showing how they’re getting money, they’re not showing how they’re spending money, someone’s going to file a complaint with the PDC,” he said. “The PDC is going to come and hopefully enforce the law, fine them, and get them back on track.”

The agency needs at least three members present to take official action. Without that quorum, the commission can’t enforce campaign finance rules, penalize violators, or refer cases to the Washington State Attorney General’s (AG) Office. State law requires the governor to appoint a successor within 30 days of a vacancy on the PDC. Ferguson has failed to do so for one seat for more than 400 days and another for more than 200 days past the deadline, according to Edwards.

“This is starting to have a really negative effect on how the agency operates, going into the 2026 election cycle,” he added.

Ferguson’s delay leaves lawyer Conner Edwards ‘at a loss’

Edwards said he doesn’t understand why Ferguson would wait to appoint someone.

“You’d think a governor, with his new political power, would want to get his own people in there to exercise his influence,” he said. “But so I have to say, I’m at a little bit of a loss.”

Edwards explained that Washington has a unique recall process, where, when someone believes an elected official has violated their oath of office or failed to carry out a responsibility required of their position, they can file a recall petition with the appropriate authority. For a statewide official like the governor, that’s the Secretary of State. The petition lays out, in simple terms, how the official failed to uphold their duties.

How Washington’s recall process works

Once filed, a 15-day clock starts. The case goes to Superior Court, where the Attorney General’s office, the petitioner, and the elected official all get to make their case. A judge then decides whether the charges are sufficient to move forward. If the judge agrees, an arguably even bigger hurdle follows: collecting signatures. For a statewide recall in Washington, that means gathering roughly 960,000 signatures.

“No one would have thought that this would be a basis for recalling the governor,” Edwards said. “It’s a pretty standard thing for people to do. You have a vacant position — you appoint a replacement. For people who understand these rules, this is really not a huge investment of time, but I thought it was worth it. And no one else was doing anything. The agency was begging the governor’s office to appoint a replacement, and they were just getting the runaround. I’m hoping that this will lead to some change.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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