“We didn’t always agree on things, but at the end of the day we always respected each other and our respective offices and the roles that we played, and so we had a very good working relationship,” Gregoire said.
Gregoire acknowledged that the relationship between a governor and attorney general can be challenging and that she saw that with other colleagues around the country, but said there was always a mutual respect between herself and McKenna.
“I think sometimes it’s easier when the governor is of a different party than the AG,” McKenna told Cascade PBS.
McKenna explained that he believed it is easier because a governor is not as tempted to treat the AG’s office as their own personal lawyer, and that during his time as AG he saw more conflict between governors and attorneys general of the same party.
“Governors may be less likely to appreciate that the AG is an independently elected constitutional officer when they’re of the same party, but when you’re of a different party, you don’t assume that [they’re] going to do you any favors,” McKenna said.
McKenna said one of the highest-profile cases the two agreed on during their time in office was the Hanford cleanup site. Gregoire, who was the state attorney general prior to her time as governor, had long been battling the federal government over the issue, and McKenna joined her in that battle when he became the attorney general.
Gregoire and McKenna noted that during their time in office they had only one notable disagreement on federal policy – the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” introduced during then-President Barack Obama’s administration. McKenna signed onto a lawsuit in 2009 to overturn provisions of the ACA, much to Gregoire’s chagrin. McKenna was later sued over this decision by Washington women who said they were helped by the ACA.
“At the end of the day, I think it’s healthy to have diversity of representation in state office and in the legislative body, that way the public knows they’re well-represented,” Gregoire said.
While Gregoire and McKenna were able to see eye-to-eye on most things, there are noticeable differences between current attorney general and gubernatorial hopeful Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, and current Pasco mayor and attorney general hopeful Pete Serrano, a Republican.
Ferguson earned 45% of the vote in the gubernatorial primary; his opponent, former King County Sheriff and former Congressman Dave Reichert, had over 27%.
Three candidates were on the primary ballot for attorney general – two Democrats and Serrano, the sole Republican. While Serrano garnered 42% of the vote, he barely eked a win over Nick Brown, who had nearly 36% of the vote. Manka Dhingra lost to both with 23%.
Interestingly, Ferguson and Serrano are currently embattled in a legal fight over high-capacity magazines in Washington. Ferguson is representing the state as attorney general while Serrano is representing defendant Walter Wentz of Gator’s Guns in Kelso.
In April, a Cowlitz County judge ruled that the state’s ban on magazines with the ability to hold more than 10 rounds is unconstitutional, although the ban is still in place for now. Ferguson, as the state attorney general, requested the bill that was later signed into law.
The Washington Supreme Court will hear the arguments eventually, but Ferguson said he is unsure if that case will be settled before the November election.
In an interview with Cascade PBS, Serrano said he would likely hire an outside firm to handle any other challenges to state gun laws that might arise if he is elected to office.
Ferguson said it would be his expectation as governor for an attorney general to do their most basic duty and defend state laws.
“You defend state laws, whether adopted by the people through the initial process or the Legislature through that state process,” Ferguson said. “At the most fundamental level, that’s the duty of the office and the duty of the attorney general.”
Ferguson and Serrano also couldn’t be more different on the issue of former President Donald Trump.
While Ferguson filed nearly 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration during his time in office regarding issues such as travel bans and environmental issues, Serrano said he believes the references to Trump as a threat are “hyperbole.”
Still, Serrano insisted that he would protect Washingtonians’ right to choose, regardless of his own beliefs, as well as other state laws, if challenged.
“If the federal government’s going to tell us how to run our state, whether it’s Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, I have zero interest in what their opinion is,” Serrano said. “So whether it’s abortion, whether it’s cost of medical care, medical access, whether it’s hiring practices – I don’t really care what the president thinks.”
Sarah E. James, an assistant professor at Gonzaga University in the political science department, said the importance of party alignment between the attorney general’s office and the governor’s office depends on whether states are hoping to push major policy reform in areas such as cannabis legalization or immigration, for example. If a governor and an attorney general are opposed on an issue, not a lot will get done, she explained.
How states choose to engage with the federal government are really important aspects of American politics “given our style of federalism, where states actually have a lot more power than you see in most constitutional democracies,” James said.
“I think it’s really important for people to either celebrate or panic about what’s happening at the national level, but then to also think about what’s happening at the state level … Because it’s actually in some ways even more important than the national politics for our day-to-day lived experiences,” she added.
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