The ice has broken in state politics | Horsey cartoon - The Seattle Times

The ice has broken in state politics | The Seattle Times

Politics in Washington has suddenly come out of an incumbent-induced freeze that has blocked the paths of aspiring officeholders for a decade.

Jay Inslee has had a lock on the governor’s office for 10 years. Bob Ferguson has held the attorney general’s job for the same length of time. Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler beats both of them, having won six four-year terms in office. Now, they are all moving up or moving out. And Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz is expected to join them.

Inslee, who very likely could have won a fourth, record-setting term, announced on Monday that he will be done at the end of 2024. “During a decade of dynamic change, we’ve made Washington a beacon for progress for the nation,” Inslee said in his announcement. “I’m ready to pass the torch.”

Ferguson, who very much would like to catch that torch, wasted no time in declaring his candidacy for governor, thereby opening the competition to succeed him as AG.

Kreidler’s decision to call it quits is no surprise. It comes in the wake of internal staff turmoil that led Inslee and legislative leaders to call for his resignation last year.

Franz has been champing at the bit to run for governor and is expected to announce her candidacy soon. Assuming she takes the shot, that will be a fourth statewide elected office without an incumbent seeking re-election next year. A wave of legislators and local officials are suddenly eyeing those four jobs and those who make the move will, thereby, open up their lower level positions to an eager batch of new aspirants. After a period of remarkable stability in state politics, Inslee’s decision has started a chain reaction that will reverberate through all levels of government.

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