OLYMPIA — Bob Ferguson could face Bob Ferguson and Bob Ferguson in the August primary.
That’s state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Bob Ferguson, retired state employee from Yakima. and Graham veteran Bob Ferguson.
All three are running for governor of Washington state.
Conservative activist Glen Morgan has scouted two people with the same name as the top Democratic gubernatorial candidates to also run for the state’s top job. They officially filed to run on Friday, at the end of candidate filing week in Washington.
“If we had started a little earlier, we could have gotten six Bob Fergusons,” Morgan said. “…I contacted you around 12 o’clock. I was running out of time.”
Morgan, who answered calls Friday at the numbers listed in the two campaigns, declined to provide the Seattle Times with contact information for either of the Bob Ferguson applicants.
This year, the governor’s seat will be open for the first time since 2012. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, who has led the state for more than a decade, is not running for a fourth term. Attorney General Ferguson raised nearly $7 million in campaign contributions, according to campaign finance reports.
Morgan said the attorney general is “trying to pretend he cares about public safety when he’s turning a blind eye and avoiding solving problems and nearly every activity he’s done as attorney general.” “I think he’s angry about that,” he said. The Attorney General actually made the situation worse. ”
“They’re trying to clear their names,” Morgan said of the other two Bob Fergusons. All three Bobs are running as Democrats, according to voter filing data.
On Friday, Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s campaign appointed former Governor Christine Gregoire to issue a statement on its behalf.
“There is only one person qualified to be governor, Bob Ferguson, who has had a long and distinguished career standing up for the people of Washington,” Gregoire said. “There is no question that the last-minute filings by two unknown candidates are a deliberate attempt to confuse Washington voters. It is nothing short of an attack on our democracy. Washington voters are smart enough to see through this highly deceptive and potentially illegal effort to mislead them.”
State law states that “It is a felony to file a candidacy with a last name similar to that of a person already running for the same office and whose political reputation is widely known, with the intent to confuse or mislead voters.” “Yes.” They took advantage of the public reputation of previous candidates. ”
Jim Walsh, chairman of the state Republican Party, said the multiple-bobbing incident illustrates the pitfalls of the state’s open primary system. In the August 6 primary election, the top two candidates, regardless of party, will advance to the general election.
“The problem is that we have an open jungle primary for the top two places, where people don’t have to be active and, you know, be a bona fide member of any political party. , you can run as anything you want,” Walsh said.
A total of 30 people filed to run for governor last week. The deadline for candidates to withdraw is Monday. The application fee to the governor is approximately $2,000.
As of Friday night, the Secretary of State had not decided how to handle the situation and is still considering it. If he has two or more candidates with names that are “sufficiently similar to confuse voters,” state administrative regulations require that the filing officer (in this case, the Secretary of State) nominate candidates by including the following additional information: It stipulates that there must be a distinction between Ballots for occupation, status as incumbent or challenger, etc.
On Friday, the Secretary of State asked all three of Bob Ferguson’s camps for information about each candidate’s occupation.
