This Washington
Inslee Running for Gov; Constantine Cheers Him on Facebook
In what was the furthest thing from a surprise for anyone except perhaps Ted Van Dyke, Congressman Jay Inslee, who has been putting together a gubernatorial bid for months, made it official this morning. You can watch it here
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His announcement sets up what will be a dogfight with Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna, in what is expected to be one of 2012’s closest gubernatorial races. Indeed, Inslee came out of the gate swinging, attacking McKenna’s truthfulness at his post-speech press conference. Chirs Grygiel of the the P-I wrote that Inslee “took the first hard shot of the campaign” when he said, alluding to an AP report that debunked some statistics about the growth in state employee salaries cited by McKenna’s at his announcement, that McKenna “has trotted out some proposals that, according to folks who have analyzed this, are wildly unrealistic and just, frankly, false is the kindest word to use. I don’t think it’s helpful in solving this challenge to use math that is not based on any known system of accounting.”
Judging from the announcement speeches from both candidates, the topline message battle in the race is going to be jobs (Inslee) vs. education (McKenna ). Inslee’s intense focus on jobs struck me as a strong opening message, but I also thought the speech, which clocked in at more than 35 minutes, was overly long and at times seemed a touch unfocused.
The question now is whether any other serious candidates will get in. King County Executive Dow Constantine (disclosure: I consulted on Dow’s 2009 KC Executive campaign) has been mentioned as a potentially strong candidate, but has demurred when asked if he is interested.
This morning Constantine all but endorsed Inslee, posting on Facebook that, "I have known Jay Inslee for many years. Jay is a passionate, hands-on fighter for jobs and middle class families. He has the right values and the work ethic to be successful as we strive to turn around our state’s economy. I am committed to keeping the Governor’s office in the hands of a thoughtful, forward-looking Democrat, and I believe Jay Inslee is up to the challenge."
State Auditor Brian Sonntag, a conservative Democrat who hails originally from Pierce County, has been saying in recent weeks that he is considering throwing his hat in the ring. I have no idea what Sonntag will decide (he has said he will make his intentions known by July 4) but as a political professional I can tell you that he would have a very tough time making it through the primary (a point I’ll elaborate on in a future post, but for now I’ll give you a one word hint: money).
So for right now, at least, it looks like it is going to be the high profile match up political observers have long expected: McKenna v. Inslee. Let the games begin.
His announcement sets up what will be a dogfight with Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna, in what is expected to be one of 2012’s closest gubernatorial races. Indeed, Inslee came out of the gate swinging, attacking McKenna’s truthfulness at his post-speech press conference. Chirs Grygiel of the the P-I wrote that Inslee “took the first hard shot of the campaign” when he said, alluding to an AP report that debunked some statistics about the growth in state employee salaries cited by McKenna’s at his announcement, that McKenna “has trotted out some proposals that, according to folks who have analyzed this, are wildly unrealistic and just, frankly, false is the kindest word to use. I don’t think it’s helpful in solving this challenge to use math that is not based on any known system of accounting.”
Judging from the announcement speeches from both candidates, the topline message battle in the race is going to be jobs (Inslee) vs. education (McKenna ). Inslee’s intense focus on jobs struck me as a strong opening message, but I also thought the speech, which clocked in at more than 35 minutes, was overly long and at times seemed a touch unfocused.
The question now is whether any other serious candidates will get in. King County Executive Dow Constantine (disclosure: I consulted on Dow’s 2009 KC Executive campaign) has been mentioned as a potentially strong candidate, but has demurred when asked if he is interested.
This morning Constantine all but endorsed Inslee, posting on Facebook that, "I have known Jay Inslee for many years. Jay is a passionate, hands-on fighter for jobs and middle class families. He has the right values and the work ethic to be successful as we strive to turn around our state’s economy. I am committed to keeping the Governor’s office in the hands of a thoughtful, forward-looking Democrat, and I believe Jay Inslee is up to the challenge."
State Auditor Brian Sonntag, a conservative Democrat who hails originally from Pierce County, has been saying in recent weeks that he is considering throwing his hat in the ring. I have no idea what Sonntag will decide (he has said he will make his intentions known by July 4) but as a political professional I can tell you that he would have a very tough time making it through the primary (a point I’ll elaborate on in a future post, but for now I’ll give you a one word hint: money).
So for right now, at least, it looks like it is going to be the high profile match up political observers have long expected: McKenna v. Inslee. Let the games begin.
