Inslee faces political newcomer as he seeks rare third term
By Rachel La Corte / Associated Press
Last year, it looked like Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s political career would end with a long-shot presidential bid that ended a year before he finished out his second term.
But Inslee decided to seek a rare third term, taking Democrats who were lining up to take his place by surprise. He faces Republican Loren Culp, police chief of the small town of Republic, in the Nov. 3 election.
Governors in Washington aren’t subject to term limits, though most haven’t served more than two terms. The last three-term governor in Washington was Republican Gov. Dan Evans, who served from 1965 until 1977.
Ballots have been sent to the state’s more than 4.7 million voters, and elections officials are expecting record turnout.
Since Inslee, 69, announced his decision last summer, he’s been confronted with a series of challenges: the first known U.S. coronavirus case announced in January; a state economy rocked by the ensuing pandemic; frequent skirmishes between police and protesters during months of demonstrations against police brutality in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis; and wildfires that affected both Eastern and Western Washington. And Boeing announced it will consolidate production of its two-aisle 787 jetliner in South Carolina and shut down the original assembly line for the plane in Everett.
Inslee said everything the state has confronted this year has “increased the stakes of this election.” He says the decisions he has made related to coronavirus restrictions and mask mandates has saved lives, and said that if given a third term, efforts to tamp down the pandemic will continue, along with efforts he said the state still must make to address areas ranging from homelessness and economic insecurity to reforming the mental health system.
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