After Months of Planning, AG Ferguson Pulls Out of WA Gov. Debate

As of this writing, Friday midday, August 23rd. no formal reason for the withdrawal has been released that we know of, and we have not seen mainstream media coverage of the announcement. Ferguson is pictured on the left, Reichert, on the right.

WA State Attorney General Bob Ferguson pulls out of Gov Debate Oct. 11

The Washington State Debate Coalition (WSDC) is a non-profit civic organization out of the Seattle City Club, for the last 40 years, they have presented a series of debates between candidates for state office and other positions.

Earlier this year, they began discussions and planning to provide a debate between GOP Contender Dave Reichert and WA AG Bob Ferguson, who are seeking the Governor's chair with Gov. Inslee not seeking another term.

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For example, September 26th. the WSDC ais hosting a debate between SPI Chris Rykdahl and Challenger David Olson. Their media partners who help coordinate these events include FOX13 TV Seattle, Cascade PBS (NPR) KUOW (University of WA media) and others. There are several other debates planned this fall.

The Gov. event was slated for October 11th, but the Coalition issued a statement on Thursday saying Ferguson had abruptly pulled out.

A portion of their statement, posted on X or Twitter read as follows:

"Despite months of continuous communication and coordination with the candidates for governor, the Washington State Debate Coalition will cancel its Oct. 11 debate in Ellensburg after Democrat Bob Ferguson withdrew from the event. Seattle CityClub Executive Director Alicia Crank said the decision to cancel the event comes after months of planning and repeated conversations with the campaign to stay the course and proceed as planned with the event."

It also said:

“To say that I’m disappointed by this outcome would be an understatement,” said Crank. “In the end, it’s really Washington voters who will be most impacted by this decision. This debate has been carefully developed to provide a neutral, centrally-located venue for the candidates to share their views on the issues that matter most to voters."

So far, there has been little to no mainstream media coverage of the withdrawal, but online media platforms are reacting strongly.

Former FOX Q13 Seattle reporter Brandi Kruse, who has now become a widely followed independent journalist, posted this on her X:

"@BobFergusonAG

withdraws from October debate against

@reichert4gov. No surprise. Bob hasn’t been held accountable by the media and doesn’t plan to start now. He will only do debates hosted by outlets that give him favorable coverage, like @KING5Seattle & @seattletimes"

WA State legislator Travis Cotour posted this on his X account:

"Washington State Debate Coalition cancelled its October 11th Gubernatorial debate because Bob Ferguson backed out. Very disrespectful to voters and the democratic process."