KENNEWICK — Democrats have a tough decision to make on Aug. 6: Which candidate do they want as Washington’s chief law enforcement officer for the next four years?
The choice is between Nick Brown, the former U.S. attorney for Western Washington, and Manka Dhingra, a Washington Senator and former senior deputy prosecuting attorney in King County — two “very credible Democrats,” if you ask Andrew Villeneuve.
“They’re both highly experienced,” said Villeneuve, founder of Redmond-based political think tank Northwest Progressive Institute. “They have a lot on their resumes and backgrounds. They’re both people of color.”
Polls show they are neck and neck going into next week’s top-two primary election, which will narrow the field to the two candidates with the most votes.
The Northwest Progressive Institute plans to release updated numbers this week.
Since it’s unlikely both will get enough votes to move on to the general, Democrats have been divided on who to back with cash and endorsements.
The winner is expected to face off against Republican Pete Serrano in the general election. It’s likely the Pasco mayor and attorney for conservative causes has shored up enough of his party’s support to cruise through the primary.
If elected, Serrano would be the first Republican attorney general to hold the office since Rob McKenna left in 2013.
“They know that it’s elimination time. One of them is going on and the other isn’t because Pete is going to have all of the Republican voters,” Villeneuve told the Tri-City Herald.
What does WA’s attorney general do?
The attorney general is a statewide officeholder who pursues legal cases in the public’s interest, proposes bills to the state Legislature, represents the state in certain cases, advises state bodies and the governor on legal issues, and provides written opinions on state law.
The seat is being vacated after a decade by Bob Ferguson, the Seattle Democrat and front-runner for Washington governor going into the Aug. 6 primary election.
The AG race between the two Democrats so far has been flush with cash donations, advertisements, endorsements and public appearances.
Brown has raked in more than $1.4 million in contributions. Dhingra isn’t too far behind with more than $1.3 million raised herself, thanks to a $250,000 personal donation she gave to her campaign on July 23.
Much of Dhingra’s contributions have come from individual health, tech and science workers, as well as tribe and labor endorsements. Brown’s cash is coming from several Seattle-area attorneys, business leaders, labor unions and tribes.
Two ‘qualified’ candidates
Dhingra is running on her work in the Legislature, where she chairs the Senate Law and Justice Committee, as well as her work as a county prosecutor working in mental health courts and crisis intervention for law enforcement.
Access to reproductive health care is a core issue for both candidates, but Dhingra is the only one to earn endorsements from Planned Parenthood and Pro-Choice Washington.
“I’ll protect our democracy, improve health care access, address the fentanyl crisis, curb gun violence, hold corporations accountable, defend workers, protect seniors, small businesses, immigrants and fight for a safe and livable planet,” she writes in the voters guide. “No one will fight harder for our reproductive freedoms and LGBTQIA+ rights.”
Brown is running on his intimate experience with state departments and his knowledge at the federal level.
Before he was selected by President Biden in 2021 to serve as the Justice Department’s top lawyer in Western Washington, he served as general counsel to Gov. Jay Inslee from 2013 to 2017.
It’s in this role that he oversaw work to end the death penalty, oversaw legal strategy when Washington became one of the first states in the nation to legalize marijuana and coordinated Inslee’s legal response to the Trump Administration’s travel ban on Muslim countries.
Prior to politics, Brown served in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, a government law organization that defends the military and soldiers in legal matters.
“During his years in office, U.S. Attorney Brown put an emphasis on protecting civil rights, addressing the fentanyl crisis, combatting gun crime and empowering community voices in our public safety efforts,” read a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office last year, announcing his departure.
Notably, Brown has earned a rare trifecta of endorsements from the Seattle Times, The Stranger alt-weekly and Seattle-based nonprofit newsroom The Urbanist.
“I think many people perceive that Nick has strong knowledge on the civil side of the law and Manka is stronger on the criminal side of the law,” Villeneuve said.
Dhingra has faced some criticism in recent weeks regarding the her relationship with the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
In campaign materials, she has highlighted her role as “Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney with King County,” but the office says she hasn’t worked there for three years and has asked her to change the title, according to a report from KOMO News in Seattle.
Dhingra has explained that Prosecutor Dan Satterberg allowed her to be on a “leave of absence” and that nowhere has she said she is a current employee.
But Dave Horner, a former assistant attorney general, told KOMO he believes it’s a matter of “misprepresenting your credentials.”
