Statewide Elections

Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, started his legal career in Spokane and was sworn in as Washington’s 18th Attorney General in 2013. As Attorney General, Ferguson successfully blocked a travel ban directed at Muslim-majority countries by President Donald Trump; won $1.2 billion from opioid companies for their role in Washington’s opioid epidemic; and obtained a Washington Supreme Court ruling against a florist who refused to sell flowers to a same-sex couple. According to his campaign website, Ferguson says public safety is his top priority, saying he would hire more law enforcement personnel and cited his opioid company settlements that were directed toward treatment and first responders. Ferguson is running on a platform that includes keeping special interests accountable, protecting the environment and addressing public safety by combating gun violence and arresting offenders who violate the terms of their parole. Endorsers include governors Jay Inslee and Chris Gregoire, U.S. senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, dozens of labor groups and Native nations, local Democratic Party groups and other local officials.

Bob Ferguson PDC link
Bob Ferguson campaign website
Bob Ferguson State Voter Guide

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Attorney General Bob Ferguson on using his platform to pursue justice (Cascade PBS)
A Conversation with Bob Ferguson (Cascade PBS)
AG Ferguson to Trump: Travel ban is still unconstitutional (Cascade PBS)
Seattle judge blocks Trump's immigration ban (Cascade PBS) 

After spending eight years as King County Sheriff, Dave Reichert entered national politics in 2004 after he was elected as a U.S. representative of Washington’s 8th Congressional District, a politically split district that includes parts of Pierce County and King County’s Eastside as well as parts of rural Chelan and Kittitas counties. After Reichert decided not to run for an eighth term in 2018, Democrat U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier flipped the seat blue. During his time in Congress, Reichert served on the Ways and Means Committee and at times voted differently than the majority of his Republican colleagues, such as when he opposed a GOP health care bill in 2017 and voted to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” bill allowing for LGBTQ+ U.S. military service members to express their sexual orientation without being discharged. However, his refusal to hold public town halls with voters while President Donald Trump was in office incurred criticism for being closed off to the voices of constituents. According to his campaign website, Reichert says his background in law enforcement, including 25 years with the King County Sheriff’s Office and two decades chasing the high-profile Green River Killer, has given him a strong belief in the need to address high crime rates in the state. Other priorities include addressing Washington’s rising cost of living, creating jobs and supporting public schools. Endorsers include dozens of county sheriffs, outgoing U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA5, former Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward and other local officials. 

Dave Reichert PDC link
Dave Reichert campaign website
Dave Reichert State Voter Guide

Related reading:
Former Sen. Mona Das and Rep. Dave Reichert join crowded WA races (Cascade PBS) 
Raul Garcia drops WA governor bid after Dave Reichert announces run (Cascade PBS)

Before serving as Washington’s 17th lieutenant governor, Democrat Denny Heck was a U.S. representative from Washington’s 10th Congressional District from 2012 to 2022, where he served on the House Intelligence Committee, the Joint Economic Committee and the Financial Services Committee. He served in the state House of Representatives from 1976 to 1985. Heck comes from a background in entrepreneurship and co-founded TVW, a public access television network in the state, in addition to several small businesses. Heck said on his campaign website that he is running “to continue fighting for a Washington where everyone is able to have access to opportunities” and that he “upholds a long-time commitment to effective, transparent government.”  

Denny Heck PDC link
Denny Heck campaign website
Denny Heck State Voter Guide

Related reading:
Can Washington bridge its political divide? Some want to try (Cascade PBS)

Republican Dan Matthews’ elected experience includes serving on the Shoreline School Board in the 1980s and as the Snohomish County Charter Review Commissioner. He has experience lobbying for education issues in Washington, D.C., and Olympia, according to his campaign website. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran pilot, a former pilot instructor for commercial airlines and a consultant for Boeing, and was endorsed by the Combat Veterans for Congress. Matthews earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree from Golden Gate University in public administration and government. Matthews describes himself as a “fiscal conservative, espousing ‘big citizens and small, efficient government’” on his campaign website. He previously ran against and lost to incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen for the 2nd Congressional District representative seat in 2012 and 2022. He also challenged State Sen. Marko Liias for the 21st Legislative District senator seat in 2014 and lost by a margin of nine percentage points. 

Dan Matthews PDC link
Dan Matthews campaign website
Dan Matthews State Voter Guide

Raised in Steilacoom, Democrat Nick Brown received his law degree from Harvard Law School and served in the Army from 2003-2007. After serving as general counsel for Gov. Jay Inslee, Brown was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for Western Washington in 2021, where he worked to address violent crime, sex trafficking, drug cartels and the fentanyl crisis as well as civil rights violations and hate crimes. Brown’s priorities include building safe communities through the prevention of gun violence and drug trafficking; protecting consumers’, workers’ and minorities’ rights; enforcing environmental protection laws; establishing a team to investigate cases of missing Indigenous women; defending abortion rights and supporting veterans.

Nick Brown PDC link
Nick Brown campaign website
Nick Brown State Voter Guide

Related reading:
Former U.S. attorney Nick Brown announces bid for Washington AG (Cascade PBS)

Pete Serrano, Republican, is a practicing lawyer and has been mayor of the city of Pasco since January 2024. He was first elected to the Pasco city council in 2017. As an environmental lawyer for the U.S. Department of Energy, he worked to advance cleanup of the Hanford nuclear site in Richland, Washington. He also helped found the Silent Majority Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for citizens’ civil liberties, and has pursued legal action against the state’s gun restrictions and COVID-19 public health mandates. Serrano’s priorities include reducing government intervention and promoting government transparency; supporting the state’s police forces and citizens’ responsible access to firearms; addressing human trafficking and promoting clean energy, according to his campaign website.

Pete Serrano PDC link
Pete Serrano campaign website
Pete Serrano State Voter Guide

Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler is a former U.S. representative to Congress who served from 2011 to 2023 and as a representative in the state Legislature from 2007 to 2010. During her time as a U.S. representative for southwest Washington, Herrera Beutler advanced legislation supporting habitat protection, wildfire suppression and the timber industry, including a law that eased regulations for private forestland owners, as reported by The Columbian. Herrera Beutler was one of 10 Republicans in Congress who voted for Trump’s impeachment in 2020. She lost in the 2022 primary to Joe Kent, a Republican endorsed by Trump, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the Democrat who won the seat. For her campaign for Commissioner of Public Lands, Herrera Beutler has made wildfire prevention and forest management her main priority as well as habitat protection and public access to state land, according to her campaign website. 

Jaime Herrera Beutler PDC link
Jaime Herrera Beutler campaign website
Jaime Herrera Beutler State Voter Guide

Related reading:
U.S. Rep Jaime Herrera Beutler poised to lose primary to Trump endorsee (Cascade PBS)
A look at WA’s competitive 3rd Congressional District race (Cascade PBS)

Sue Kuehl Pederson has worked in the power industry with Seattle City Light and the Grays Harbor Public Utilities District, as well as in natural resource management. Pederson, a Republican, grew up in Skamania and Klickitat counties. According to her campaign website, she said that the state has left the forests alone for too long, making wildfires more intense because the trees have grown too close together. She said her focuses are creating jobs in responsible forestry and agriculture, preventing wildfires and increasing revenues from public lands for public schools and other services. In 2020 she ran for public lands commissioner, finishing second in the general election to Hilary Franz. She also ran for the Washington State Senate seat in Legislative District 19 in 2016 but lost to Democratic incumbent Dean Takko. 

Sue Kuehl Pederson PDC link
Sue Kuehl Pederson campaign website
Sue Kuehl Pederson State Voter Guide

Dave Upthegrove of Des Moines has been the District 5 councilmember on the Metropolitan King County Council since 2013. Upthegrove previously chaired the King County Flood Control District and worked to promote healthy rivers and salmon in the state. Upthegrove, a Democrat, also served five two-year terms in the Washington State House of Representatives. During his time in the state Legislature, he helped form the Puget Sound Partnership, a state agency that mobilizes collective efforts to restore the Puget Sound ecosystem, and worked to reduce pollution across the state as chair of the House Environment Committee. Upthegrove ran for lands commissioner in 2016, finishing third in the primary. Upthegrove’s campaign priorities include the preservation of legacy forests, creating jobs and strengthening rural economies, strengthening ties with Native nations, improving wildfire protection and increasing recreational opportunities, according to his campaign website. 

Dave Upthegrove PDC link
Dave Upthegrove campaign website
Dave Upthegrove State Voter Guide

Related reading:
King County Council sends Human Services levy to August ballot (Cascade PBS) 
This King County initiative wants to prevent further gentrification (Cascade PBS)
Group pushes ballot measure to repeal Safeco funding (Cascade PBS)

David Olson has been a member of the Peninsula School Board in Gig Harbor since 2013. The U.S. Navy veteran says he is a “champion of parent and family voice in their children’s education.” Olson says his top priority is student learning and says he “will restore local control to school boards.” While Olson was president of the Peninsula School Board, it voted unanimously in 2021 to keep critical race theory out of the K-12 curriculum, a year that the term had become a hot-button issue for conservative politicians and pundits. Olson was endorsed by the Washington State Republican Party.

David Olson PDC link
David Olson campaign website
David Olson State Voter Guide

Chris Reykdal was first elected to Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2016 and has served for two terms. Before running OSPI, Reykdal, originally from Snohomish, served in the Washington Legislature as a Democratic state representative in the 22nd District. He also was a Tumwater School District board member and worked on the executive team of the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges. According to his campaign website, Reykdal’s priorities include fully funding basic education; increasing mental health supports; hiring and retaining quality teachers; expanding dual-credit options and career and technical education; universal access to school meals and dual language expansion. 

Chris Reykdal PDC link
Chris Reykdal campaign website
Chris Reykdal State Voter Guide

Related reading:
Reykdal to run for 3rd term as Washington OSPI leader (Cascade PBS)
Challengers stack up in 2024 OSPI race to head Washington schools (Cascade PBS)

Steve Hobbs became the first Democratic Secretary of State since 1964 by appointment, after his Republican predecessor Kim Wyman left midway through her term to work for the Biden administration. Hobbs then won a special election in 2022 to complete Wyman’s term. As Secretary of State, Hobbs led efforts to invest in better cyber-security in local election systems as well as voter outreach campaigns, including using text messages to notify voters of the status of their ballots. He said his top priorities are ensuring that elections are “secure and accessible to every eligible voter.” When a coalition of Latino voters filed a lawsuit claiming that district lines redrawn by the state’s Redistricting Commission diluted the Latino community’s voting power in the Yakima Valley, Hobbs represented the state in the case as the defendant. As a state senator, he represented the 44th Legislative District from 2006 to 2021, chairing the Transportation Committee and focusing on creating new jobs, supporting veterans and strengthening education in the state. Hobbs served in the U.S. Army for over 30 years and is currently a lieutenant colonel with the Washington Army National Guard. 

Steve Hobbs PDC link
Steve Hobbs campaign website
Steve Hobbs State Voter Guide

Related reading:
WA Secretary of State Steve Hobbs talks misinformation, primaries (Cascade PBS)

Republican Dale Whitaker is a small-business owner who has lived in Spokane since 2008. Originally from the United Kingdom, he became a U.S. citizen in 2015 and runs DSW Accounting Services, a small tax practice. Whitaker is also the executive director of We Believe We Vote, a Christian nonprofit that seeks to provide resources and guides for voters aligned with Christian values. Formerly the chief financial officer of Augusta Precious Metals, a gold retirement investment company, Whitaker filed whistleblower complaints against the company claiming that it was defrauding customers, and was mentioned in an article in The Washington Post. Whitaker’s campaign website says he aims to strengthen election security, advocating for and implementing third-party audits, expanded access to voting and lower startup barriers for small businesses. He has been endorsed by the Washington State Republican Party as well as several county Republican parties. 

Dale Whitaker PDC link
Dale Whitaker campaign website
Dale Whitaker State Voter Guide

Matt Hawkins is endorsed by the Washington State Republican Party and has worked as a business professional for 40 years in real estate, investment banking, business ownership and as a senior business consultant for International Services, Inc., managing cash flow and auditing, according to his website and LinkedIn. One of his accomplishments was leading a team that aided a restaurant chain to stay in business after it had claimed involuntary bankruptcy. He was also chief executive officer of We The People Calendar, an interactive paper calendar that promoted political engagement and knowledge of the Constitution. His legislative priorities include identifying how the government increases costs for families and businesses; determining what will benefit or reduce homelessness in communities; analyzing declining social health and why test scores fall in schools; identifying loss of property rights; showing how energy and housing costs are driven by legislative policies; restoring parental and family rights; identifying tax burdens; ensuring transparent elections through audit systems and increasing confidence in law enforcement. He also said he will take requests from the public to perform audits and form advisory groups to improve government services. 

Matt Hawkins PDC link 
Matt Hawkins campaign website
Matt Hawkins State Voter Guide

Pat McCarthy, a Democrat, has held the position as the 11th State Auditor since 2017, and is the first woman in state history to hold that position. Under McCarthy’s leadership, the Office of the State Auditor released reports, one of which discovered 86 findings against 11 state agencies that spent over a billion dollars in federal money with improper or insufficient evidence. Before her time as State Auditor, McCarthy spent more than 30 years in public service. She served two terms as Pierce County Auditor beginning in 2002, and was recognized as Auditor of the Year in 2006 by Secretary of State Sam Reed. McCarthy later served two terms as Pierce County Executive in 2009 and 2013, and was on the board for the Tacoma School Board District, serving two terms as President. She was honored with the Key Award in 2010 by the Washington Coalition for Open Government. Her goal as State Auditor is to highlight government operations for the public through audits and to aid governments to work more efficiently and effectively, according to her biography on the Office of the Washington State Auditor website.

Pat McCarthy PDC link
Pat McCarthy campaign website
Pat McCarthy State Voter Guide

Republican Sharon Hanek is an accountant and tax and finance professional, earning her Certified Public Accountant license in 1980. She grew up on U.S. military bases in Japan and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting at the University of Washington. Hanek opened her own private tax and accounting practice and later established a tax and financial advisory service, according to her campaign website. Hanek first ran for state treasurer in 2012 as a write-in candidate in the primary, but lost to Jim McIntire in the general election. She also previously ran for one of the District 31 seats in the state House of Representatives in 2008. She has been active in local Pierce County government, serving as the elected 2016 chair of the county’s Charter Review Commission, which proposes amendments to the Pierce County Charter. She currently serves on the Pierce County Planning Commission, an advisory board to the Pierce County Council that makes recommendations about land use and related legislative policies, as well on the county’s Birth to 25 Advisory Board, which makes recommendations for the well-being of young people. Hanek also served on the Pierce County Districting Committee, which updated the county’s district boundaries in 2021. She ran for Pierce County Council in 2018 but was defeated in the primary. Hanek currently serves as a precinct committee officer for the Pierce County Republican Party in the county’s 31st legislative district and is the treasurer for her district. Hanek has been endorsed by former state treasurer Duane Davidson. 

Sharon Hanek PDC link
Sharon Hanek campaign website
Sharon Hanek State Voter Guide

Democrat Mike Pellicciotti was elected as the State Treasurer in 2020 and says he has worked with the Legislature to advance legislation to maintain the state’s fiscal health and expand financial opportunities for working families and retirees. He also served two terms as a state representative for the 30th Legislative District. During his time in the Legislature, Pellicciotti sponsored several bills related to campaign finance and government transparency, including putting limitations on dark money in politics and how soon certain state employees can begin lobbyist work after leaving their posts. In the legislature, Pellicciotti also voted against a bill that would allow lawmakers to claim an exemption from the state’s Public Records Act. Pellicciotti’s past posts include deputy prosecuting attorney in King County and assistant attorney general in the Washington Attorney General’s office. 

Mike Pellicciotti PDC link
Mike Pellicciotti campaign website
Mike Pellicciotti State Voter Guide

Republican Phil Fortunato is a state senator for the 31st Legislative District, which includes parts of King and Pierce Counties. He was first elected in 2016 as a state representative, but was then appointed to the Senate to replace former Sen. Pam Roach, who left to serve on the Pierce County Council. Fortunato was among a group of four conservative state senators who formed the Freedom Caucus in Olympia inspired by the hard-line conservative caucus of the same name in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a Senator, Fortunato has advocated for gun rights, introducing a bill in 2019 that would require lawmakers proposing gun control bills to receive advanced firearms training beforehand. Fortunato says that his priorities as Insurance Commissioner would be to encourage affordable and consumer-driven options that encourage more competition, more choices, and lower costs for consumers, as opposed to what he calls “agenda-driven regulations that drive up costs without providing better and more affordable care.” In 2019, Fortunato launched a campaign for governor and finished sixth in the state primary with 4% of the total votes. Fortunato comes from a background as a private contractor and runs his own erosion and stormwater management consulting company, Eco-3. 

Phil Fortunato PDC link
Phil Fortunato campaign website
Phil Fortunato State Voter Guide

Related reading:
Far-right GOP state senators form their own caucus in Olympia (Cascade PBS) 
Not waiting on Inslee: Seattle council member launches run for attorney general (Cascade PBS) 

Patty Kuderer is a Democratic state senator for the 48th Legislative District and has served in the state Legislature since first being appointed to the House of Representatives in 2015. During her time in the Legislature, she sponsored legislation for a public health care option in Washington. Living in King County’s Eastside, Kuderer has volunteered in the Chinook Middle School PTSA and served in other nonprofits for several years. Kuderer comes from a background in law and previously worked as a prosecutor and city attorney. Kuderer said she will work toward supporting universal health care, access to abortions and reproductive health services, requiring liability insurance for gun owners and simplifying the appeals process for denied medical claims, among other priorities on her campaign website. She was one of several Washington senators found last year to have had information redacted from work-related texts, emails or memos, which are considered public records under Washington’s Public Records Act. 

Patty Kuderer PDC link
Patty Kuderer campaign website
Patty Kuderer State Voter Guide

Related reading:
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WA senators just released more previously redacted records (Cascade PBS)

Dave Larson is currently the presiding judge for Federal Way Municipal Court, a role he has held for 14 years. Prior to serving as a trial judge, Larson was a trial lawyer in state and federal courts for 23 years. Larson was recognized by the President’s Award from the District and Municipal Court Judges Association in 2018 for his commitment to judicial independence. He said he will “respect and follow our state constitution” as well as “respect the proper role of the courts, to uphold and interpret the law, not create new law,” according to his campaign website. Larson unsuccessfully ran for current Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis’s position on the state Supreme Court in 2020.

Dave Larson PDC link
Dave Larson campaign website
Dave Larson State Voter Guide

Sal Mungia joined the law firm of Gordon Thomas Honeywell in Tacoma in 1986 and has since served as a trial and appellate attorney in civil cases at the state and federal court level. Mungia earned his law degree with honors from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984 and was a law clerk for a state Supreme Court justice and then a federal district court judge before entering private practice. According to his bio on the Gordon Thomas Honeywell website, Mungia’s areas of practice include representing clients in cases of medical malpractice, physical injury, real estate disputes, airplane crashes, and appellate cases brought before higher levels of the court. Mungia’s endorsements include seven of the current Washington Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice Steve Gonzalez and Associate Chief Justice Charles Johnson. He has also been endorsed by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Gov. Jay Inslee and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, among other elected officials. 

Sal Mungia PDC link
Sal Mungia campaign website
Sal Mungia State Voter Guide

Steve Gonzalez was first appointed to the Washington Supreme Court and was elected to remain in the position in 2013 and 2018, and was voted in as Chief Justice in 2021 by his fellow justices. He is running for reelection. Previously Gonzalez served as a trial judge on the King County Superior Court and as a civil and criminal prosecutor. As an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington, Gonzalez helped prosecute the international terrorism case U.S. v. Ressam and served as the Hate Crimes Prosecution Coordinator. He also served as a domestic violence prosecutor for the City of Seattle, and worked in the business law department of the private Seattle law firm Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson. Gonzalez has been endorsed by numerous state and federal elected officials including Gov. Jay Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith and King County Executive Dow Constantine. He has also been rated “exceptionally well-qualified for re-election to the Washington Supreme Court” by several bar associations including the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington, Washington Women Lawyers and the King County Bar Association.  

Steve Gonzalez PDC link
Steve Gonzalez campaign website
Steve Gonzalez State Voter Guide

Sheryl Gordon McCloud was elected in 2012 to the Washington Supreme Court and reelected in 2018. Before serving on the Court, McCloud served as an appellate lawyer for 25 years. McCloud currently co-chairs the Court’s Gender & Justice Commission, which works to address gender bias in the legal profession and the courts, and serves on the Rule Committee, which dictates rules for court trials in the state such as those related to race discrimination in jury selection. She also serves as the liaison to the Washington State Bar Association’s Council on Public Defense, which works to reform the state’s public defense system. On her campaign website, McCloud emphasized her commitment to the state constitution. She authored the ruling opinion in the 2017 case Arlene’s Flowers v. State of Washington, which ruled in favor of a gay couple who filed a suit against a florist who refused to sell flowers to them for their wedding. She also authored the dissent from the majority decision in Chris Quinn v. State of Washington, which concerned the constitutionality of a state capital gains tax. McCloud has received endorsements from seven of the eight other acting justices as well as from a number of retired ones, in addition to current or former elected officials including former Attorney General Rob McKenna, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, and Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz.

Sheryl Gordon McCloud PDC link
Sheryl Gordon McCloud campaign website

Related reading: 
Charity or business? Some consumers still confused by Value Village (Cascade PBS) 
How Washington courts allow for private prosecutions (Cascade PBS)
State must protect foster children from abuse, court rules (Cascade PBS)