Filing deadline for Washington state candidates ends Friday. Here’s who has filed so far

Election season in Washington state is officially in full gear this week as candidates for the 2024 election can now file with the Secretary of State to declare their intent to run for office this year.

As of Thursday more than 800 statewide, local and federal candidates had filed.

Many offices are up for grabs as longtime leaders in various offices will retire, such as Gov. Jay Inslee, or take a swing at another open seat, such as current Attorney General Bob Ferguson who is running for governor this year.

Filings will continue through Friday and candidates must file before the 5 p.m. deadline that day. Readers can stay up to date on candidates’ filings by going to the Secretary of State website.

Primaries in Washington to determine the top two candidates for each office will be held Aug. 6.

Here are some of the takeaways from the first few day of filings:

Seventeen candidates (so far) say they want to be governor

Seventeen candidates have filed to run for the office currently held by Inslee for three terms.

Current state Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, and AG Ferguson were two of the candidates who filed Monday as Democrats. Ferguson is far-outpacing other candidates in the gubernatorial race so far, with more than $6.8 million in campaign donations according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Mullet has raked in over $1.1 million.

Dave Reichert, who held a Congressional seat from 2005-2019 in the 8th district, filed for the position on Wednesday as a Republican. As of Thursday Reichert had raised more than $2.5 million in his campaign.

While Misipati “Semi” Bird snagged the state GOP’s endorsement for governor in April, he had not yet filed for the office at the time of this writing. Bird has raised nearly $485,000 so far in his campaign.

Other candidates include Libertarian Michael DePaula; Independent candidates Frank Dare and William Combs; nonpartisan candidate Brian Bogen; Trump Republican Leon Lawson and Republicans Martin Lee Wheeler, Jim Daniel, and Bill Hirt; Democrats Edward Cale IV, EL’ona Kearney, Don L Rivers, Fred Grant, and Cassondra Magdalene Hanson; and one candidate with no party preference, Brad Mjelde.

Republican Tiffany Smiley enters the race

After losing to U.S. Senator Patty Murray, D-WA, in the 2022 election, Smiley is returning this time to try to unseat another incumbent, this time a candidate from her own party in Washington’s 4th Congressional District.

Smiley will run against Republican U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse, who was unable to snag an endorsement from the Washington State GOP at the convention in April due to his vote to impeach former President Donald Trump in 2021. Only 10 U.S. House Republicans at the time voted to impeach Trump.

She will also run against Trump-endorsed candidate Jerrod Sessler, another Republican in Washington’s 4th Congressional District. Sessler was endorsed by the Washington State GOP in April at the state convention in Spokane.

House says investigation against lawmaker isn’t campaign-related

House Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, told McClatchy she believes the Legislature’s decision to release results Monday from an investigation launched months ago regarding workplace violations were “campaign related.”

On Monday, reporters were provided results from an investigation at the Legislature that Caldier violated the House’s respectful workplace policy, after Caldier named three people involved in a previous investigation regarding claims of bullying to news outlets including McClatchy.

In December, the lawmaker contacted several news outlets and provided the names of some of those involved in the investigation.

But Chief Clerk of the Washington House of Representatives Bernard Dean told McClatchy in an email that there isn’t much discretion over the timing, and said that House policy is to release investigatory reports “after they have been ‘provided to a member.’”

“While the report was completed in April, we were unable to schedule a briefing with the Republican (Leadership) members of the Executive Rules Committee until late last week,” Dean said. “We also provided Rep. Caldier with a copy of the report late Friday. Once the report is provided to a member, we are obligated to release it.”

Some familiar names show up again for office

Former House Rep. Jesse Young, a Gig Harbor Republican, is running for the seat left open by Rep. Spencer Hutchins, R-Gig Harbor, who announced earlier this year he would not be seeking re-election.

Young was ousted from his seat in the House in 2022, which he had held since 2014, when he sought election for state Senate in his district but lost to Sen. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton. Randall is now running for a U.S. House Representative position in the 6th Congressional District.

Republican Joe Kent is also returning this year seeking election to the 3rd Congressional District and again running against U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who beat Kent in the 2022 race for the congressional seat. Kent secured the state GOP endorsement for the position at the convention in April.