Washington candidates with same name as Dem front-runner withdraw from governor’s race after threats of legal action

On Friday, two additional Democratic candidates named Bob Ferguson filed to run for Washington governor. Ferguson immediately described the filings as an attack on democracy and an “illegal scheme” and lamented that his campaign was "...going to need significant resources to get the message out about which 'Bob Ferguson' to vote for in August."

Government watchdog Glen Morgan posted on Facebook on Friday that he was the "volunteer campaign manager for two of the Bob Fergusons running for governor. They are both superior in every way to the AG running for the same office, and I believe they can provide better choices for the Democrats in our state for that office."

During a press conference Monday morning, Ferguson announced that cease-and-desist letters had been sent to the homes of his rival candidates, threatening them with legal action if they did not end their candidacy by the deadline to withdraw from candidacy at 5 pm Monday claiming their filings were “…an attack on our election system.”

Former King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, who was known for his soft-on-crime policies, backed up Ferguson and called the rival namesake candidates “vandalism to the ballot.”

Satterberg claimed their filings constituted a Class B felony under state law if a person files for to run with a “surname similar to one who has already filed for the same office, and whose political reputation is widely known, with intent to confuse and mislead the electors by capitalizing on the public reputation of the candidate who had previously filed.”

In response to Satterberg’s comments, Washington State Republican Party Chair and state Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) posted on X, “Good to see this guy asking local prosecutors to pursue a B felony. For a decade, he's been ignoring those.”

Ferguson also targeted Republican frontrunner Dave Reichert, even though the former congressman and King County Sheriff was not involved in the campaigns of the other Fergusons. By Monday afternoon, both Bob Fergusons had dropped out of the race.

In a statement to The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, Bob Ferguson from Graham, a 20-year Army vet, announced he would drop out of the race because he doesn't have the resources to for a legal battle with notoriously vindictive Ferguson from Seattle.

Robert Ferguson from Graham wrote, "Because we coincidentally share the same name, that, you know, that it is a felony for two people. I guess what the intent being that they think that my purpose was to deceive the people about who was who, which was not my intent at all. I'm just a little man, I do not have the means to combat this. That's why I signed the paperwork last night, and it's submitted today to withdraw from the race."

He added, "I think the people of the state have been underserved for many, many years. We've just been robbed blind by the current administration, and everyone associated with it. The little man's paying for it, and enough is enough. It's just it's got to stop.” Robert continued, "I served 20 years in the US Army, and multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and who knew the biggest personal threat I would face would be from the Attorney General of the state, and the harassment and threats that I received from him."

Bob Ferguson from Yakima said in a statement to Hoffman, that Monday was the worst day of his life second only to the day his wife of 38 years died because “a dream of mine was destroyed.”

“I always thought that we lived in a free country where anyone could run for public office, no matter how much an underdog they were. I have learned that our State’s political elite, led by someone who has my same name and who pretends to care about the law – well, it is all pretend – they don’t want people like me or you to run for public office.”

He added, “I worked for the State of Washington, just like our Attorney General does today. Unlike him, I never illegally suppressed someone else’s Constitutional right to run for public office.”

“If this isn’t election interference and voter suppression, I don’t know what is.”