The security, transparency and misinformation surrounding the state’s election system are all top of mind for candidates hoping to be Washington’s next secretary of state.
The race has drawn eight candidates hoping to fill the spot left by former secretary Kim Wyman last year. Wyman left to join the Biden administration, leaving Gov. Jay Inslee to appoint former state Sen. Steve Hobbs to fill her spot. The winner of this year’s election will serve the remainder of Wyman’s term, which ends in 2024.
Inslee’s appointment of Hobbs marked the first time since 1964 that a Republican is not holding that office.
This primary, Hobbs will face seven challengers.
The candidates include Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson, who is running with no party preference; Republican state Sen. Keith Wagoner; former Republican and Democratic state legislator Mark Miloscia; Republican Bob Hagglund, a Republican who works as a data scientist with United Health; Democrat Marquez Tiggs; Tamborine Borrelli, who identifies with the “America First (R)” party; and Kurtis Engle, who lists his affiliation as the “Union” party.
The top two candidates will face each other in the November elections.
The candidates with the most donation money as of Friday are Hobbs, with more than $386,000, and Anderson, with almost $150,000. The third candidate by donations is Miloscia, who has almost $53,700.