OLYMPIA, Wash. — When Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson learned he was running for governor against two other Bob Fergusons, his campaign staff started looking for ways to differentiate the candidates.
The two Fergusons not currently in elected office ended up dropping out, but one opponent thinks Attorney General Bob Ferguson went too far in his attempts to separate himself from the others.
The campaign sent a letter to the top elections official in the state, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, asking him to move the order of the Fergusons on the ballot.
Candidate Mark Mullet, a Democratic state senator from Issaquah, called the move a “clear violation of the law.”
Mullet said, “It shouldn’t be happening.”
On Monday, May 13, an attorney representing Attorney General Ferguson’s campaign requested Hobbs require the other Fergusons to list their full legal names and occupations, and the campaign also wanted Hobbs to change the order of the Fergusons on the ballot.
After a random drawing, the two other Bob Fergusons appeared second and third on the list, while Attorney General Ferguson was listed 13th.
Thirty people originally filed for the office.
Attorney General Ferguson wanted his name ahead of the others, and the campaign’s letter to Hobbs said, “You must also adjust the order in which the three candidates’ names appear.”
Mullet said Ferguson was asking Hobbs to break a state law that requires the order be set by random drawings.
“It wasn’t, ‘Will you please do this? It was, ‘You must change the ballot order.' And to me, that’s what set off my alarm bells,” said Mullet.
Hobbs determined the three candidates would add their occupations to their names.
He said his staff and legal advisors, including attorneys from the Washington Attorney General’s Office, said he should follow the state law on the order of candidates, relying on a random drawing of numbers.
Hobbs said he was advised if he changed the order of the Fergusons, and the office was sued, he faced an “extreme risk” of losing the case.
Hobbs said he was surprised when Attorney General Ferguson’s campaign made the ask.
Hobbs, a fellow Democrat, has endorsed Mullet for governor, but Hobbs said his decision was based on legal advice, including from lawyers at the Washington Attorney General’s Office.
Hobbs would not authorize a release of the written advice, citing attorney-client privilege.
KING 5 News has filed a public disclosure request to obtain a copy of the document.
In a written statement, Ferguson said had the other candidates with the same name remained in the race, the campaign would have sued the state.
Ferguson said the Secretary of State has the authority to find ways to “impartially distinguish” candidates.
When three Bob Fergusons had filed for the office, the Attorney General called the maneuver “dirty tricks” and an attempt to confuse and disenfranchise voters.
“Placing the fraudulent Bob Fergusons next to my name on the ballot would have been a critical step to prevent that confusion. It's unfortunate that Mark Mullet does not support this simple act for election integrity, but perhaps the fact that he would have benefited from that confusion explains his anti-democratic position," said Ferguson.