Ferguson and Reichert to face off for governor in November

(The Center Square) – Washington state’s long-time attorney general and a former county sheriff will face off to be Washington’s next governor this November.

Based on Tuesday night’s initial returns, Democrat Attorney General Bob Ferguson will face former King County Sheriff and U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican, in the general election.

Initial primary returns showed Ferguson way out in the lead with 49.5% of the vote, with Reichert garnering 27.92% of the vote.

Washington has long had a reputation as a solid Democratic stronghold and hasn’t had a Republican governor in nearly 40 years.

Washington’s last Republican governor was John Spellman. He was elected in 1980 but was not reelected and since then Democrats have won 10 straight gubernatorial contests. With Gov. Jay Inslee retiring, Washington will get a new governor for the first time in 12 years.

Under Washington’s primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the November election, regardless of party. For months, experts have predicted a Ferguson and Reichert matchup in November.

If campaign donations were any indication of that, the predictions were on track, though Ferguson has far outpaced Reichert when it comes to dollars.

According to Public Disclosure reports, Ferguson had $9.1 million in campaign contributions going into the primary and had spent $7.1 million.

Reichert raised less than half the revenue of the Ferguson campaign, bringing in $4.4 million so far and spending $3.9 million ahead of the primary.

Though there were many other candidates in the race, only two others generated enough recognition and campaign funding to be considered in contention.

Democratic candidate Mark Mullet, a state senator, raised $1.3 million and received 5.84% of initial returns in the primary.

Republican candidate Semi Bird, who received the Washington State Republican Party endorsement, raised just over $709,000 and received 9.4% of initial primary ballot returns.

It is unclear if either Mullet or Bird intend to offer their endorsement to Ferguson and Reichert, respectively.

The general election is Nov. 5.