We endorse: Bring back Washington Attorney General Ferguson, Secretary of State Wyman
When it comes to Washington attorney general, voters would do well to choose an aggressive, accomplished pro just as if they were hiring an attorney to represent their family. They should re-elect Bob Ferguson.
During his two terms, this Editorial Board has been appreciative and at times critical of Ferguson’s bold actions, but there’s no question the Democratic watchdog has the teeth to fight corruption and fraud.
Critics say Ferguson, 55, is out to get President Trump. They aren’t wrong. In the last three years, the AG has sued the administration over 80 times beginning with the president’s decision to restrict immigrants from Muslim countries and including Trump’s reallocating of Defense Department money to build a wall at the border with Mexico.
But Ferguson also challenged the Obama administration. In 2015, when the federal government was shirking its responsibility to clean up more than 50 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste at the Hanford site in Eastern Washington, Ferguson went full-throttle.
With regard to consumer protections, Ferguson makes companies like Comcast and Juul Labs answer to him. The North Seattle resident also expanded the AG’s office to include a civil rights division, which took on a Richland florist who refused to sell to same-sex couples — all funded by money won in court victories.
Under Ferguson, the office of 1,200 lawyers and staff has netted tens of millions of dollars in corporate settlements. In June, he got the agrochemical giant Monsanto to pay $95 million for dumping PCBs into state waterways, with around two-thirds of that headed to the state general fund.
If re-elected, Ferguson should double down fighting opioid distributors who continue to fuel Washington’s drug epidemic.
The challenger in this race, political newcomer Matt Larkin, says Ferguson’s challenges of Trump have a hyper-partisan feel. The Woodinville Republican cites an upward trend in crime and homelessness; he sounds like he should be running for county prosecutor, not state AG, when he says his focus would be to “clean up the streets.”
But Larkin, 39, worked less than three months as a deputy Pierce County prosecutor several years ago before leaving to help run his family’s water pipeline company. Yes, he has a Gonzaga University law degree, but he isn’t qualified to be Washington’s chief elected lawyer.
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Our consistent advice to voters is to choose skill and experience over party, which is why we’re again endorsing Republican Kim Wyman for Washington secretary of state.
Since 2013, the former Thurston County elections director and auditor has seamlessly rolled out a slew of reforms and updated the statewide database, making it easier for Washingtonians to register and vote by mail.
Washington is one of five states that exclusively use mail-in ballots. As others look for successful models during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wyman’s been a go-to expert. In 2016, our state was targeted by Russian hackers, but election security defenses foiled those attacks and no data was compromised.
Wyman, 58, also fought hard for money to build a state library and archives building, helping preserve irreplaceable pieces of history at risk of fire and water damage.
Her challenger is state Rep. Gael Tarleton, 61, a Seattle Democrat. The former Pentagon intelligence analyst convinced us she’d be proactive against cyber attacks, and she has the right set of priorities.
Tarleton has repeatedly claimed the incumbent is passive on threats to critical election infrastructure, both from abroad (Russia, malign terrorists) and at home (Trump’s scandalous cuts to the Postal Service). And indeed, Wyman has been put in a political box: If she doesn’t sound alarm bells, she’s seen as bowing to the president and the Republican agenda; if she’s too alarmist, she’s seen as sowing public distrust in the mail-voting system and election outcome, as Trump has done.
But overall, Tarleton’s candidacy seems like a solution in search of a problem. Wyman has earned our confidence when it comes to overseeing election efficiency and integrity; we see no reason to change gatekeepers now.
Recognizing, of course, that the true test won’t come until Nov. 3 and the days of white-knuckle ballot processing that follow.
ABOUT OUR ENDORSEMENTS
The News Tribune Editorial Board interviewed candidates and did other research before making our picks for the 2020 election. Endorsements are intended to promote civic discourse and encourage voters to dig deeper. Board members in this set of interviews include: Stephanie Pedersen, TNT president and publisher; Matt Misterek, editorial page editor; Karen Irwin, editorial writer; Matt Driscoll, local news columnist; and Pamela Transue, community representative and former president of Tacoma Community College. Read more about the candidates in our online Voter Guide.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 4:30 PM.