By Jake Goldstein-Street and Jerry Cornfield | Reporters
In Alaska, two men named Dan Sullivan are running for U.S. Senate. One is the current Republican senator. The other is, according to reports, a man recruited by those with ties to the Democratic Party. Washington dealt with a Three Bob Problem in the 2024 race for governor.
Three-term Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson had a front-running campaign. Then two other Washington residents named Bob Ferguson filed for office. Fireworks followed.
Also in today’s edition…
• Bird flu spreads to Washington dairy farms.
• And, a divide over the policy response to the Bend school shooting.
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
Bob Ferguson speaks to a reporter as his 2024 gubernatorial campaign launch event gets underway in Seattle in 2023. (Photo by Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard)
By Jerry Cornfield and Jake Goldstein-Street
Ferguson, the attorney general at the time, threatened to have the two people with the same name criminally prosecuted if they did not withdraw. At the same time, he was pressuring Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to redo the ballot order and add information like occupation for each of them. Hobbs didn’t need to do anything because the other Bob Fergusons dropped out.
Hobbs said Thursday that he tries not to think about that brief episode “from the PTSD I suffered from it.” He added that he would’ve handled the situation the same way now.
“Just like Alaska, we would have clearly called out which Bob was who,” Hobbs said, but “let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”
More on the fallout in Alaska further down.
(Photo by Kirsten Strough/U.S. Department of Agriculture)
By Aspen Ford
The Washington State Department of Agriculture confirmed the first detections of bird flu in two Yakima County dairy herds in early October. This week the agency reported the highly pathogenic avian influenza in Benton County.
In the span of three weeks, 27 dairy farms tested positive for bird flu. Milk from an infected dairy cow does not pose a risk for human consumption, state officials said.
“The virus is moving fast … despite all the efforts that we’ve done within containment,” said Amber Itle, state veterinarian. “Right now, the risk for humans is very low.”
Mary Peltola listens to a question posed by moderator Michelle Egan at a candidate forum held by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association on Aug. 27. Next to Peltola is Sen. Dan Sullivan. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
By James Brooks
The U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing a criminal investigation into Dan J. Sullivan and the Mary Peltola campaign, and the Associated Press — citing an unidentified source — said the DOJ issued more subpoenas related to the investigation on Thursday. In addition, the DOJ is pursuing a civil lawsuit against the Alaska Division of Elections.
This follows the publication of a New York Times article revealing that Peltola’s campaign worked with the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to recruit spoiler candidates that could dilute votes for her principal opponent, incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.
By Shaanth Nanguneri
Oregon’s Democratic and Republican leaders have split when it comes to approaching policy conversations following the Oct. 15 tragedy that was caused by a teen gunman who killed three children and a teacher before being tackled by another teacher and fatally shot by a local parent who followed him into the school.
Democratic lawmakers have largely moved with caution, declining to share specific policy ideas related to gun regulations or school safety in the week after the shooting on the grounds that they are focused on supporting the community. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, responded within days of the shooting by taking aim at the state’s Democratic leadership, blaming the majority party for failing to pass several bills during the 2023 legislative session that would have required metal detectors at schools declared gun-free zones, required the state to fund security officers at schools and would have funded a study on the costs and benefits of creating single secure points of entry for schools.
ICYMI
WA’s election chief says federal noncitizen voting list includes US citizens | by Jake Goldstein-Street
Sean Robinson takes helm as editor of Washington State Standard | by Standard Staff
Thanks for reading The Daily Standard. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.