Former U.S. attorney to face off with Pasco mayor in race for Washington attorney general this fall

Democrat Nick Brown and Republican Pete Serrano will advance in the race to be Washington’s next attorney general.

Primary election ballots counted so far Tuesday night showed Serrano taking the lead with 42% of the vote, followed by Brown, who pulled 36%. Democrat Manka Dhingra trailed in Tuesday’s counts with 22% of the vote.

Brown, 47, stepped down from his post as U.S. Attorney for Western Washington last year to launch his campaign for attorney general. He has never held an elected office .

Serrano, 43, is serving his second term on the Pasco City Council and also serves as the city’s mayor. Serrano previously worked as an environmental lawyer for the U.S. Department of Energy at Hanford.

Washington’s attorney general serves a four-year term and oversees nearly 800 public lawyers across the state.

Longtime Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, announced he would not run for re-election last year and instead laughed a campaign to replace outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee.