Democratic King County Council member Bob Ferguson---running against fellow county council Republican Reagan Dunn to replace Rob McKenna, who's running for governor, as attorney general---issued a statement today about two state supreme court rulings in cases involving McKenna. (The first ruling said that McKenna has the right to fight against the federal health care reform law on behalf of the state; the second said that McKenna has to represent the state Department of Natural Resources in a case involving a power company that wants to take over a piece of state-owned land through eminent domain).

Ferguson applauded the ruling in the DNR case and had no specific comment about the health care case, saying only, "I have been clear that on my first day in office, I will withdraw Washington State from that lawsuit. Instead, the Attorney General should focus on protecting Washington consumers, our environment and ensuring public safety."

Regarding the DNR ruling, Ferguson said, "It shouldn’t take months of legal wrangling and a Supreme Court decision to force the Attorney General to represent a separately elected official"---DNR head Peter Goldmark---"in an important legal matter."