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Gov. Inslee at the opening of Capitol Hill Station in 2016
Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday he will not seek a fourth term to lead Washington state setting off what is expected to be a wide open race for this office in 2024.
“Serving the people as governor of Washington state has been my greatest honor,” Inslee said in a statement. “During a decade of dynamic change, we’ve made Washington a beacon for progress for the nation. I’m ready to pass the torch.”
Inslee, 72, became only the second Washington state governor to serve three consecutive terms when he was reelected in 2020. Inslee announcement comes a week after Joe Biden, 80, announced he will, indeed, seek reelection in 2024.
The race is now on for which Democrat candidate for Washington governor will join Biden on the 2024 ballot.
In his statement, Inslee highlighted the economic growth of Washington under his leadership since he took office in 2013.
The super green Bullitt Center ribbon cutting in 2013
Inslee with Dan Savage at a 2012 get out the vote event at the Q nightclub
A “Protect Mueller” rally in Cal Anderson in 2018
Inslee at the Broadway farmers market
“Our last decade of Washington’s storied history is one of growth and innovation,” Inslee said. “I am proud to have played a role in our state’s leadership on so many fronts. We’ve passed the nation’s best climate policies, the most successful family leave benefits, the best college scholarship programs, a more fair legal justice system, and the most protective actions against gun violence. We’ve shown that diversity is a strength worth fighting for. This has been ten years of dynamic success.”
Over the years, Inslee has been a frequent visitor to Capitol Hill for events including a 2012 get out the vote party at the Q nightclub with Dan Savage to the opening of Capitol Hill Station in 2016, to a “Protect Mueller” rally in Cal Anderson in 2018. During the pandemic, we became accustomed to seeing a masked Inslee’s weekly updates as statewide restrictions and vaccination efforts were put in place. Earlier in 2020, he deployed state troopers and the National Guard to join the battlelines at 11th and Pine during the formation of the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.”
In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, Inslee also threw his solar-powered hat into the ring. In 2012 when he was first running for his office in Olympia, Inslee stopped through the Broadway farmers market and rolled out a few lines that sum up what may have been the key to his political success. “The reason I love farmers markets is they unite the rural and the urban,” Inslee said. “They unite the east and the west.”
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