Ferguson and Reichert clash on crime, abortion and Trump in first debate

Washington gubernatorial candidates Bob Ferguson and Dave Reichert clashed over public safety, abortion rights, and Donald Trump throughout an acrimonious hour-long debate Tuesday, Sept. 10.

The first face-to-face meeting between the two men in the election was marked by sharp exchanges in which Ferguson, a Democrat and the state’s attorney general, and Reichert, a Republican and former congressman, accused one another of lying about their respective records.

Reichert jabbed first, throwing shade on Ferguson’s pledge to bolster public safety by hiring more cops, noting that crime has increased in the last 12 years “and finally Mr. Ferguson has recognized that.”

“I think it’s clear that I’m the only public safety candidate in this race,” said Reichert, who spent more than three decades working in law enforcement.

Ferguson responded: “I will take no lectures from you about public safety when you are voting for and supported a convicted felon for president,” he said in reference to Trump.

“I am not supporting Trump,” Reichert shot back, the first time he had made such a clear public pronouncement in a race where Ferguson has worked strenuously to tie his Republican opponent to the former president, who is this year’s GOP presidential nominee. Reichert also said he would not vote for the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris

When Ferguson didn’t let up, a frustrated Reichert snapped: “You’re obsessed with Donald Trump. I moved past that. I am focused on the problems here in Washington state.”

The exchange was one of many tense moments in the Sept. 10 debate held in the studio of KING 5 television in Seattle and co-sponsored with KREM 2 in Spokane, The Seattle Times and El Sol de Yakima. Early in the event, one of the moderators stepped in to remind the candidates of the debate rules as they traded barbs and interrupted one another.

The two men will meet in a second debate next week in Spokane sponsored by the Association of Washington Business.

Whoever wins the Nov. 5 election will succeed retiring Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and be Washington’s first new governor in 12 years.

Contrasts on crime and climate

Ferguson has cast himself as a reformer who would change the culture of government.

“What we need is someone who’s a change agent, who will change the status quo,” he said Tuesday.

In three terms as the state’s top lawyer, Ferguson has compiled a broad record – through litigation and legislation – on which voters can judge.

Reichert on Tuesday fixed on that tenure. He said the actions of the attorney general in concert with policies put in place by Inslee and the Democratic-controlled Legislature are to blame for residents’ concerns about public safety and higher costs of living.

When not lunging at one another, Ferguson and Reichert did offer contrasts in how they would lead the state.

For example, both argued for hiring more police officers.

Ferguson outlined a detailed plan to seek $100 million for grants to help local governments recruit more officers. He also wants to hire additional state troopers and ramp up Department of Corrections efforts to track down at-large offenders with active arrest warrants.

Reichert vowed to support law enforcement officers’ ability to “hold people accountable.”

“There must be consequences,” he said.

He criticized Ferguson for expanding the state attorney general’s office at a time when police departments have struggled to hire and retain officers. Ferguson countered that he was proud of his office’s work and said it had generated money for the state through legal settlements.

Climate policy is not a cornerstone of either candidate’s campaign. But when asked about an initiative on the November ballot to repeal a signature state policy to fight pollution, the two differed sharply.

Ferguson said he will vote against Initiative 2117 which, if passed, would repeal the Climate Commitment Act that imposes a cap on carbon emissions and requires large emitters to purchase air pollution allowances. But he also said the law “needs to be adjusted,” and pointed to a troubled exemption program for fuel used by farmers as an example of where it could be improved.

“Farmers are entitled to an exemption,” he said. “That hasn’t happened.”

Reichert said he will vote to pass the measure. He has said climate change is real but disagrees with the state’s current approach on the issue. He contends policies enacted by Democrats, including the cap-and-trade program created by the Climate Commitment Act, are driving up the price of fuel and energy without reducing levels of pollution.

He accused Democrats who backed the policy of not telling the truth about how it would affect gas prices. “We were lied to,” he said. “So I say let’s vote yes, pay less. Then let’s find a way forward.”

Sparring over abortion laws

Time and again, Ferguson returned to criticize Reichert as a MAGA Republican who would undermine the state’s strong protection of abortion rights. Washington is known nationally as a haven for those seeking abortions and reproductive care services.

Ferguson vowed Tuesday to preserve existing protections – some he’s helped write and others he’s helped enforce as attorney general – and to bolster them where possible.

Reichert personally opposes abortion but has said he would uphold Washington’s abortion rights laws. He reiterated that position Tuesday.

“I will support and protect the abortion laws that currently exist in Washington state,” he said.

Ferguson scoffed, saying Reichert had told supporters he would work to unravel the state’s abortion protections. He also highlighted votes Reichert took in Congress in favor of national abortion restrictions.

“You say one thing when you’re speaking to Washington people in a forum like this, and you say something else entirely when you think you are behind closed doors,” he said. “That’s been a pattern with you on Donald Trump. That’s a pattern with you on reproductive freedom.”

Afterward, Reichert told reporters he wasn’t rattled by Ferguson’s injection of Trump into their match-up, which aired shortly after a Trump and Harris debate on national television.

“I was angry because the things that he’s been saying are not true,” he said. “So when you get a chance to respond to an untruth, I think you can get a little frustrated.”

Elaborating on comments in the debate, Reichert said he would write in a candidate in the presidential race.

Ferguson did not speak with reporters after the debate.

He won last month’s primary with 44.9% of the vote followed by Reichert with 27.5%. There were 28 candidates in the race.

Ferguson, 59, a fourth-generation Washingtonian, worked for a private Seattle law firm when he won a seat on the King County Council in 2003. In 2012, he defeated a council colleague, Reagan Dunn, for the attorney general’s job.

Reichert, a former King County sheriff, was elected to Washington’s 8th Congressional District in 2004 and served seven terms.

Entering Tuesday’s debate, Ferguson had raised nearly $10.5 million in the campaign to Reichert’s nearly $5 million.

History favors Ferguson as Democrats have won 10 consecutive gubernatorial contests. Washington’s last Republican governor was John Spellman. He was elected in 1980 but lost reelection.

Ballots will be sent to most Washington voters in about five weeks, on Oct. 18.

Reporter Grace Deng contributed to this report. Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com. Follow Washington State Standard on Facebook and Twitter.