Four challengers are vying to unseat incumbent Lt. Governor of Washington Denny Heck. Here’s why

Among the races on the ballot to be decided by Washington voters in the Aug. 6 primary is the one for the state’s lieutenant governor.

The lieutenant governor’s role could be compared to being the vice president of the state. The office holder takes over the role of acting governor whenever the governor leaves the state or is otherwise unable to do the job. The lieutenant governor is also president of the state Senate and oversees what happens in that legislative body.

Washington’s current Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, a Democrat, is running for re-election and hopes to hold his position for another four-year term. Heck, 71, was elected to his post in 2020 after spending eight years serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. Heck also previously served as a Washington state representative.

In his role as lieutenant governor, Heck serves on the Advisory Committee of the Export Import Bank of the United States and is a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors.

Heck also chairs the state’s Rules Committee.

Along with Heck on the primary ballot, voters will see a handful of challengers, including Democrat David Griffin, Republicans Bob Hagglund and Dan Matthews, and Liberal Republican Party candidate Patrick Harman.

The Spokesman-Review spent some time talking with those four challengers to see what they’re all about. Incumbent Denny Heck did not respond to a reporter’s request for an interview.

Here’s a bit about the challengers and what they had to say:

David Griffin, DemocratDavid Griffin, of Lake Stevens, said he’s running for lieutenant governor because he wants to see change happen in state leadership. The people of the state deserve a more transparent government, he said, pointing to when gas prices spiked this time last year after state officials said they would only go up a few cents.

“I know the incumbent for lieutenant governor has been in office just for four years,” Griffin said. “But he’s been in political office off-and-on for 40-some years.”

Griffin has not held elected office before, but he did run to be a state representative about 15 years ago, he said. He lost that race in the primary.

If elected, Griffin said he would try to communicate with the public more than Heck has, saying he’s confused as to what, if anything, Heck has accomplished these past four years.

“If you’re going to be a leader or somebody who’s representing the people, it’d be nice to know what he’s done instead of standing in the background and letting everybody else lead you,” Griffin said.

Griffin said he’s socially liberal in some regards and supports abortion rights. At the same time, he also wants the government to be small and stop “sticking its nose into people’s business.” He said he is a supporter of Second Amendment rights.

When asked what sets him apart from his opponents, Griffin said he is a guy on the street and not a politician who has spent their life making insular decisions.

“I’ve worked in multiple different industries, from sweeping the floors to being a vice president of operations,” Griffin said. “I know the business world, I know the union world. I’ve seen it all.”

Griffin is a manager at Lake Stevens Co-op Supply, Inc.

Bob Hagglund, RepublicanAlso of Lake Stevens, Bob Haglund said he’s running for lieutenant governor because he thinks the state government needs to create more people-focused policies and move away from its longtime partisan-run functioning.

Hagglund said he has been frustrated by Heck’s support of efforts to transition the state away from natural gas.

“We just don’t have enough energy to meet our needs without it,” Hagglund said, adding that he thinks Heck has prioritized “policy over the public.”

Hagglund said the longtime Democratic-led state Legislature and government has let challenges like homelessness, affordability and substance use disorder heighten in the state. Just as President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Hagglund said it’s time for some elected officials to pass the torch.

Hagglund has been twice elected as district chair in the state Republican Party. He was also elected once to serve as chair of the Snohomish County Republican Party. He ran an unsuccessful bid for secretary of state in 2021.

“I’ve spent a lot of time within the party trying to bring sanity and civility,” Hagglund said, “and really try to fight extremism while promoting our values. I feel very qualified to take that to Olympia.”

Hagglund is a data scientist who worked at UnitedHealth Group up until he recently resigned to focus on his campaign full time.

When asked what sets him apart from his opponents, Hagglund said his skill set of working well with others really fits the needs of the job.

Patrick Harman, liberal RepublicanPatrick Harman, of Oak Harbor, said he feels he is qualified to be governor, but he is not well known enough. He has made bids for local office in the past, he said, but he can’t get past the “good ol’ boys.”

Although he doesn’t have previous elected experience, he said he served as a legislative aid and learned a lot doing that.

“I enjoy politics,” he said. “This is my attempt to serve my community and state.”

Harman said in his campaign, he wants to emphasize his commitment to democracy. He said the lieutenant governor has little-to-no ability to make policy changes, and he wants to keep it that way.

When asked what sets him apart from his opponents, Harman said he is the only one who feels confident that he could serve as governor if the acting governor got sick or hurt. He also said none of his opponents have explicitly stated that they are committed to democracy.

“This is an important time in our political system right now,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who are trying to tear down our democracy.”

Harman said he’s self-identified as a liberal Republican because he tends to be more moderate on social issues, but fiscally he is very conservative.

“I want to avoid increasing the cost of government,” Harman said. “I want to reduce taxes. But I don’t want to just whack at it – I’d do it intelligently.”

But for issues such as abortion, Harman said he isn’t a woman and doesn’t have a dog in the fight. But if abortion were made illegal in Washington, the cost of government would increase, he said, because the state would have to pay for prenatal care.

“Abortion should be legal. That’s between a woman and her doctor, in my opinion,” he said. “I don’t think a male-dominated Legislature is qualified to make that decision.”

Dan Matthews, RepublicanDan Matthews, of Mukilteo, said he’s running for lieutenant Governor because he’s disappointed in the state government’s “attacks on the family” in Olympia.

“When they declare in law that the state of Washington has primary responsibility to the raising of children,” Matthews said, “that’s really upsetting to parents and the real caregivers. Faith and family are central to my life.”

Matthews said he wants agenda-driven politics to give way to civility and statesmanship.

“I’m not really a politician,” he said. “I’m more of a unifier and peacemaker.”

Matthews is a decorated Air Force veteran who flew planes in both the Vietnam and Gulf wars. After he left the Air Force, he went on to work as a pilot at Boeing. He said his experience directing teams of people makes him a strong contender for lieutenant governor.

In 1970, Matthews served as a legislative intern under Sen. Francis Holman – an experience that had a marked influence on his life.

“He didn’t have an agenda other than serving,” Matthews said. “If everyone aspired to that kind of excellence, that kind of service and perspective, we’d be so much better served.”

Matthews previously held elected office on the Shoreline School Board.

When asked what sets him apart from his opponents, Matthews pointed to his background of leadership and team-building.

“I bring people together,” he said. “I definitely don’t drive people apart. I think the partisanship where the lieutenant governor has just echoed the governor and not really risen above that … I’ll make every effort to echo the sentiments of the public and be accountable to the public and not so much to some party.”