The Center Square– A former congressman and sheriff who helped capture the “Green River Killer” has entered the race to become Washington’s next governor.
Former King County Sheriff and U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, 72, filed to run for governor as a Republican on June 30, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, the longest-serving governor in the nation, announced earlier this year that he will not be seeking an unprecedented fourth term.
Other candidates actively campaigning to be the next governor on the Republican side include Yakima physician Raul Garcia, Richland school board member Semi Bird and restaurant owner Laurel Khan.
Democratic candidates vying for the governorship include Attorney General Bob Ferguson, state Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz and state Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah.
Conventional wisdom suggests Reichert will be the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 gubernatorial contest.
Reichert served as King County Sheriff from 1997 to 2004 and is perhaps best known for helping to bring Gary Ridgway – the notorious “Green River Killer” – to justice. Police arrested Ridgway in 2001 for murdering dozens of women near Seattle from 1982 to 1988. Ridgway claimed to have killed as many as 80 women, but pleaded guilty to murdering nearly 50.
After retiring from law enforcement, Reichert was elected to Congress in 2004, representing Washington’s 8th Congressional District, which includes the eastern portions of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, and crosses the Cascade mountains to include Chelan and Kittitas counties.
He retired in 2019 after his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
