Who becomes governor if Jay Inslee joins Joe Biden’s cabinet in 2021?
Oct 13, 2020, 2:14 PM | Updated: Oct 7, 2024, 9:19 am
Washington’s race for a new lieutenant governor might seem like it was a less important down-ballot race, especially having featured a pair of Democrats in Denny Heck and Marko Liias. But with some suggesting that Governor Jay Inslee should seek a cabinet post now that Joe Biden is the presumptive president-elect, the result of that race now carries a significant amount of weight.
With Inslee having won reelection to a third term as governor, joining a hypothetical Biden cabinet would leave the governor’s seat in Washington state vacant. In that case, the state’s Constitution says that the lieutenant governor — in this case Heck, who won out over Liias — would temporarily step in as governor, with the secretary of state operating as the next in line. After that, Washingtonians would have to elect a new governor in November 2021, who would then serve out the remainder of what would have been Inslee’s term.
In July, a memo from Data for Progress — a progressive think tank — posited that Inslee “makes perfect sense” to head the U.S. Department of the Interior, which would put him in charge of conserving and managing federal land and natural resources across the United States. That would also be consistent with “an unspoken tradition” followed by both parties to have governors of western states lead either the Department of the Interior and/or the Department of Agriculture.
Meanwhile, The New York Times has said that “environmentalists are promoting his name” in hopes of encouraging Inslee to head up the U.S. Department of Energy or the Environmental Protection Agency.
Joining the calls to send Inslee to the White House Wednesday were Justice Democrats and the Sunrise Movement, a pair of prominent youth climate change activist groups, who proposed that the Washington governor serve as an assistant to Biden on climate mobilization.
Prior to the election, Inslee was publicly less enthusiastic about accepting a potential cabinet position, telling Axios in September that “there is more work to do in my state, and I’m intent on getting that done.” When pressed on whether he would accept a post to head up the Environmental Protection Agency — especially given his record on conservation and climate change — he rebuffed the idea.
“No, I’m running for governor,” he answered. “I love the state of Washington.”
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Current Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib announced in March that he wouldn’t run again for the office, having joined the Jesuits. Habib has been at seminary school in California since September on an unpaid leave of absence.
His vacated seat prompted 11 candidates to run, before Heck and Liias advanced out of the August primaries as the final two candidates. Heck eventually won that race by a 45.9% to 33.5% margin, and will be sworn in come January.
