Attorney General Bob Ferguson to explore run for Washington governor

With Washington Gov. Jay Inslee not running for a fourth term in 2024, Attorney General Bob Ferguson will look into the possibility of throwing his own hat into the ring.

This will come in the form of an exploratory committee, kicking off with a “statewide listening tour.”

“I have never been afraid to take on big challenges, and I’ve never forgotten who I’m fighting for,” Ferguson said in a Tuesday news release. “I look forward to listening and learning from Washingtonians in every county and corner of this great state.”

Ferguson also set goals to collect 5,000 “grassroots contributions” in every Washington county, and to garner 200 endorsements from elected leaders.

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz is expected to announce a run for governor of her own in the coming days.

At this time, it’s unclear as to which Republicans might surface to challenge for the seat from the other side of the aisle. Although Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier polled at 35% in an early-March survey published by the Northwest Progressive Institute, he has said he’s not interested in running.

In that same poll, 21% of voters said they would vote for Ferguson. Seven percent went with Franz, while another 7% chose King County Executive Dow Constantine. Thirty percent were undecided.

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