(upbeat music) - I am Paris Jackson in the Crosscut KCTS 9 Newsroom.
The long anticipated great reshuffle in Washington politics has begun, as next year's governor's race will be the first contest for an open seat since 2012.
Governor Jay Inslee has declined to run for a fourth term.
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz and D-Issaquah Lawmaker Mark Mullet have announced tentative bids to replace Inslee as other elected officials are lining up to declare their interest for the two statewide seats that Ferguson and Franz would leave empty.
The election of Former President Donald Trump and the armed attack on the US Capitol four years later turned progressive parts of Washington state into the resistance while stirring up a populous hard right conservative base.
Moderate Republicans have melted away as Democrats have consolidated political power.
Several Republicans have also announced their intentions to run for Washington governor.
I'm Paris Jackson.
Find nonprofit Northwest news every day on crosscut.com.
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