Polls show Bob Ferguson (D) and Dave Reichert (R) will face off for Washington governor after next week’s primary.
They’re already calling each other liars. Ferguson ran an ad saying Reichert, while in Congress, “voted for a nationwide abortion ban, with criminal penalties for doctors.” Reichert says that’s a lie.
The bills he voted for, which didn’t pass, “would have prohibited abortions after 20 weeks, with exceptions for a mother’s health risk, and in cases of rape and incest,” according to a Seattle TV station (see story here). That’s similar to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s bill to ban abortions nationwide after 20 weeks (see story here).
Washington is a liberal state on reproductive rights. It allows abortion up to viability, which typically is about 23 weeks, and later for the mother’s health or in cases of rape and incest (read statute here). A federal law would override state laws, so Reichert did vote to restrict abortions more than Washington does now.
Still, restricting abortion isn’t banning abortion, so Ferguson’s ad shades the truth. But that’s less than the whole story. No Republican can be trusted on abortion, and as his federal voting record shows, Reichert would intrude upon the state abortion rights if he could. So why would voters who support Washington’s existing abortion rights vote for him?
Reichert’s party is against abortion, and the GOP doesn’t tolerate mavericks, so voting for him is voting for GOP abortion policy, which is a total ban. In that broader sense, it’s Reichert and not Ferguson who’s trying to mislead voters.
Voters should be wary of Reichert because he’s been slippery before. In March 2024 he told a private Republican gathering that he can’t publicly say he’ll vote for Trump, but nodded “yes” he will (see story here). You can’t trust him.
But it’s academic because Ferguson will win in November. Washington hasn’t elected a Republican governor since 1980, and won’t now.
Photo below: Bob Ferguson (left), Dave Reichert (right)
