We endorse: Fraser, Hobbs for lieutenant governor

So many people aspire to be Washington’s next lieutenant governor, the primary election candidates could field a football team. Eleven is a robust showing for a job that political wags like to call “light” governor, compare to the body’s appendix (not needed when there, not missed when gone) or liken to a car’s spare tire (available in an emergency, but mostly kept in the dark).

Not since 1996 – the last time the lieutenant governor’s chair was wide open – have so many queued up to be Olympia’s ceremonial Senate caretaker and Washington’s official economic development cheerleader. (There were 14 candidates that year.)

Democrats are at the center of the action in 2016. Three Senate colleagues have laced up the gloves for an intraparty primary skirmish.

Things heated up last week when Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who's retiring after 20 years, sent a pointed letter to Sen. Cyrus Habib expressing alarm about the charismatic Bellevue firebrand. Owen warned that Habib shouldn’t make promises he can’t keep and worried that Habib, if elected, would “create chaos” as presiding officer of the Senate by pushing an activist agenda.

Habib offers a compelling personal story — blind by age 8, the son of Iranian immigrants — and has raised nearly $600,000, far and above anyone else in the lieutenant governor race. But after interviewing him and five other candidates, we agree Habib’s temperament wouldn't best fit a position that needs a trusted parliamentary mediator, a unifier who honors Senate rules and decorum and doesn't wield the gavel like a political hammer.

By that definition, Sen. Karen Fraser and Sen. Steve Hobbs are the the clear choices to advance. We rarely endorse two primary candidates from the same party, but no Republican this year has Fraser’s and Hobbs’ institutional credentials.

A 23-year legislator and veteran caucus leader, Fraser, 71, is the grand dame of Olympia, respected by both parties as a fair dealer and font of knowledge. She could maintain the tricky balance of having one foot in the executive branch and one in the legislative.

Serving as Washington's first female lieutenant governor would be a fitting capstone decades after Fraser came up through Thurston County's local government scene.

Hobbs has bipartisan backing and a reputation for inclusiveness in nearly 10 years as a senator. The 46-year-old Snohomish County Democrat casts himself as heir apparent to Owen and, with youth on his side, could settle in for multiple terms in a post where tenure makes some sense.

Veterans and service members would find a strong voice in Hobbs, who has given 27 years to active duty and the National Guard. The latter would make him a valuable resource for the governor on emergency management issues.

The Republican with the most upside is Phillip Yin, a Bellevue investment manager and former international broadcast journalist. Yin would thrive in the part of the job that promotes trade and economic development. He has ties to Asia that could give Washington influence reminiscent of Gary Locke, the former Washington governor and U.S. commerce secretary.

But for Yin, as with the other Republicans, the senatorial aspects of the “light governor” job would be a heavier lift.

This story was originally published July 4, 2016 at 2:20 PM with the headline "We endorse: Fraser, Hobbs for lieutenant governor."