Bob Ferguson defeats Dave Reichert in Washington governor race

SEATTLE – If election night vote tallies hold, Democrat Bob Ferguson will be Washington’s next governor.

Ferguson has picked up 56% of Tuesday’s reported statewide votes, while Republican Dave Reichert trailed with 44% as of 10:15 p.m.

“The people of Washington state chose a pragmatic and progressive vision for their future,” Ferguson said Tuesday night to a cheering crowd of Democrats in the downtown Seattle Convention Center. “… I will be a governor that protects our core freedoms, that makes the lives of Washingtonians a little bit better, that cuts down on bureaucracy, that makes our community safer and healthier, that works for our people, not special interests, and that generates more opportunities for the next generation.”

This year marks the state’s first incumbent-free race for governor in more than a decade, as Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, finishes his third term before stepping down.

If Tuesday’s vote margins remain intact, this year will also be Washington’s first incumbent-free race for governor in 20 years that hasn’t been extremely close. When Inslee was elected in 2012, he beat out Republican Rob McKenna by a mere 3 percentage points.

Since 2012, Ferguson has served as the state’s attorney general. The Democrat centered his gubernatorial campaign around upholding abortion access in Washington following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Reichert, the former sheriff of King County and a former U.S. Representative, ran a tough-on-crime campaign, vowing to combat the opioid epidemic by bolstering police forces across the state.

On the campaign trail, Ferguson said he would use the governor’s office to spend $100 million from state coffers to hire additional police officers and create a new hate crimes unit in the attorney general’s office. The former attorney general has promised to continue Inslee’s work on lowering greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution across the state.

All told, the candidates running for governor this year collected $25 million in campaign donations, making it the state’s most expensive race by a long shot. Ferguson’s campaign raised roughly $14 million in donations – double the $7 million raised by Reichert’s campaign.

Washington’s governor serves a four-year term and is paid about $205,000 annually. The governor oversees all branches of state government and holds the power to veto bills passed through the state Legislature. Along with bill-signing, the governor holds the ability to make executive orders, directives to government officials across the state demanding they take certain actions.