WATCH: Washington state governor candidates debate over key issues heading into the election

e e e e e e for for for for Public Safety Public Safety Public Safety over and over and over again if there is anything they can agree on individuals have a right to feel safe in their communities it's that Public Safety we blame victims and we excuse criminals is top of mind for Washington state this is an election that could impact a young woman's access to reproductive care a parent's ability to provide a meal or whether a person has a roof over their head Republican Dave rker feeling great excited and Democrat Bob Ferguson feel good about how the race is going both believe they are the best person for the job it's up to you to decide which one will lead the state in the new year good evening and welcome to the 2024 Governor's debate from Seattle to Spokane from Tacoma to topenish we are diving into the issues you care about issues that are top of mind for voters all across the state of Washington this Governor's debate is brought to you by King five by The Seattle Times by keme 2 news and El de Yak on behalf of our partnership and our sponsors we thank you so much for joining us us tonight I'm Joyce Taylor from King five and it's a pleasure to be your moderator tonight joining us is Jim Bruner from the Seattle Times political reporter and from creme 2 Mark Hanrahan also joining us is Gloria ianz from elol deak her questions will be presented on videotape which the candidates have not seen she could not be here tonight and now let's meet the candidates Republican Dave rer served in the US House from Washington's 8th congressional district from 2005 until 2019 before becoming US representative rker was the King County Sheriff for 8 years also buying for your vote in November is Washington attorney general Bob Ferguson a Democrat who has served as Washington's attorney general since 2013 prior to that he was a King County council member for nearly a decade and now to the rules as was mutually agreed upon prior to tonight Mr rker will give his opening statement first Mr Ferguson will give his closing statement last each candidate will have 1 minute and 15 seconds to answer each initial question 45 seconds will then be allowed for follow-up discussion responses and rebuttal and as agreed the candidates will not ask each other direct questions so with that let's get started we begin with you Mr rer you have one minute for your opening statement uh thank you and thank you for joining us tonight I'm pleased to be here and my name is Dave rard I'm running for governor um I grew up in the Renton Highlands in an 800 squ foot home with nine people six brothers and sisters and um rather poor neighborhood um we struggled I ran away from home and uh and lived in uh my car uh for about six or seven months I've had a life of service though I know what life and death are all about a life of service of coaching of police uh being a police officer of being a member of Congress and uh serving in uh Central America and working on human trafficking my campaign is based on a criminal justice system the the homeless I'm um I'm interested in in finding homelessness and education um and I'm running out of time thank you Mr Riker Mr Ferguson one minute for your opening statement thank you to the moderators Congressman thanks you for joining us for this debate and most importantly to you the washingtonians who are viewing in look Washington state is facing many significant challenges we're going to talk about them tonight homelessness Public Safety our education system an opioid epidemic and Washingtonian is paying too much for groceries for gas and the cost of housing we need a governor who's a change agent while at the same time and critically defending our core freedoms like reproductive Freedom I'm the only candidate in this race who rejects all political donations from large corporations and corporate packs why because I advocate for you I'm focused on washingtonians as your attorney general I've stood for you and taken on powerful interests when they don't play by the rules I'm the son of a public school teacher I'm the son of a career boing employee I know who I am I know who I'm fighting for each and every one of you our first question tonight is from Seattle Times political reporter Jim Bruner with the focus on Public Safety Jim thank you you've both named Public Safety as as a top concern that you are campaigning on according to the Washington Association of sheriffs and police Chiefs overall crime rates in Washington started to decline last year but murders vehicle thefts are still significantly higher than they were in 2019 other crimes have also risen in recent years hate crimes for example as Governor what would you do differently to address these issues and please be specific and Mr Ferguson first thank you thank you Jim and thanks for taking this issue on first because the first plan I put out my website in this campaign was on Public Safety folks can go to my website and they can see that here's what I would do that's different one statistic you did not include but it's equally important is the fact that Washington state ranks last per capita and number of Law Enforcement Officers we have in the state of Washington my plan includes putting into my first budget as Governor $100 million to hire additional Law Enforcement Officers all across the state that's money that can be used by local jurisdictions to add to salaries or use for hiring bonuses you also mentioned hate crimes part of my plan includes hiring more folks with the state patrol but specifically to create a hate crimes unit to make sure we're addressing those crimes as well that's a part of my detailed plan for addressing Public Safety and lastly as attorney general I'm proud to leaded a Criminal Division that works with local prosecutors when they don't have the jurisdiction to bring a case they can turn to my team we have broad cases on behalf of jurisdictions all across the state Republican prosecutors Democratic Pro prosecutors all across the state they may endorse Dave they may endorse me but they agree on one thing they can send their toughest cases to me and to my team and will prosecute those cases to the fullest extent of the law and Mr rard well I think it's clear that I'm the only Public Safety candidate uh in this race I have a clear record uh my 33 years in the sheriff's office um also worked on the homeland security committee for four years in Congress uh chairman of the emergency preparedness subcommittee and after so many years in law enforcement I find it interesting that all of a sudden Mr Ferguson recognizes that there is a crime problem when he's been the attorney general for 12 years in fact murders have almost doubled since the time he took office as a turn as attorney general domestic violence is up 134% crime has increased over the last 12 years and finally Mr Ferguson has recognized that um we are the lowest per capita in the entire country as it relates to the number of police officers um serving our state so we are uh for example the state patrol is about 200 officers down wsp or wsp is 200 Officer Down SPD 600 King County 150 Mr rord I'm sorry that's time yep the follow up here um Mr Ferguson as as your opponent here has mentioned Washington you know you have been Attorney General 12 years Washington is ranked 51st among the states in the District of Columbia I believe in police per capita for all that time according to the association of sheriff's police Chiefs where have you been on this issue there were some bills in the legislature that I don't recall you expending any political capital on or publicly really supporting that would do what you're suggesting now which is give local localities money and help in hiring local police officers where have you been and why should voters trust you to take up this issue now well first we did sign in support of legislation to do exact that I can finish my answer so I did that number one number two let's get one thing straight Dave said I'm the only Public Safety candidate Dave I'm sorry I'm going to take no lectures from you about Public Safety when you are voting for and supporting a convicted felon for president who by the way is also a convicted sexual abuser in that race for pres I support a prosecutor you support a convicted felon so you have no standing say you are somehow the only Public Safety candidate and let's be perfectly clear I in my time as attorney general working with prosecutors across the state when they cannot charge those cases some endorse him some endorse me but they're United and bring me the toughest cases the murders the attempted murders so we can prosecute those cases Mr reer would you'd like to respond to that yes sir and candidates do pivot during a campaign they bring up new issues You' bringing up some issues that you've talked about differently when you were in Congress is it what's your response to Mr Ferguson here well well first of all I I think I've worked probably the most serious uh serial murder case in the country of this in the history of this country uh I think most people are aware of that uh secondly I am the only Public Safety candidate in this race because I understand police officers I was one uh just to address the this is not a money issue as it relates to police departments and Sheriff's offices across the state this is an issue about trust for cops and let me just and and and I can explain that later as we go through the debate but let me just also say I hate to disappoint you Bob but I am not supporting Mr Trump I'm making that announcement tonight I am also not supporting Mrs Harris and that is time gentlemen we're going to move on can I respond to that I'm sorry please I mean Donald Trump he's telling you the people of Washington state he's telling you that he doesn't support Donald Trump any longer you reported this Jim you spoke to a group of Republican party activists and you said you are supporting Donald Trump specifically what you did spe true Mr Ferguson I'll take my back his his campaign is built on lies gentlemen we're so so Congressman that may be you got to tell the truth Mr Ferguson we're going to interrupt you every time you lie we're going to move on you got to tell the just be clear I'm not going to interrupt my time every statement that you've made every ad that you've had on TV gentlemen I'm going to have to just reinforce the rules you've agreed not to ask each other direct questions we're going to ask you to not interrupt one another respectfully I am going to give Mr Ferguson 15 seconds and Mr rer 15 seconds then we will move on to the next to Mr Ferguson Dave you may think interrupting people is okay back in Washington DC where you sered it's not okay here I will not let you do it number two it's been reported the c times when you were asked about Trump you said if I say I'm supporting Trump I'll be in trouble politically what's my head doing and you were nodding and your own supporters acknowledge that as was reporting the shall time so the idea you're going to come here you are obsessed with Donald Trump I am not obsessed with Donald Trump please move off of Donald Trump and stop your obsession with Donald Trump and if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen gentlemen with that we are going to move on long I'm sorry it's going to be a long night if he keeps interrupting me and keeps trying to add more time I'm just saying you need to enforce the rules I took I took my time Mr Ferguson and now you've added extra time our viewers who really want us to cover as many topics as possible they can so that they can decide how they're going to vot keep interrupting me I'm respecting your rules I'm going to ask you I'm going to ask you that you enforce them with Mr interrupt me as the moderator I am going to move on to the next topic gentlemen respectfully we're going to turn to the homeless crisis and housing in our state according to the 2024 point in time count more than 31,000 people are experiencing homelessness across Washington how will you address the crisis how do you plan to pay for it would you raise taxes Mr rer you first please well first of all um this homeless crisis has also gotten worse under the lack of leadership of Mr Ferguson's 12 years as etern as attorney general um the the homeless crisis is really a drug and substance abuse crisis it's also a mental illness crisis um Mr Ferguson supported the legislation that legalized drugs on the streets of our cities across this state he legalized drugs uh such as fentanyl which is a poison and people are dying from fentol we are handing out kits called survival kits the taxpayers are paying for these survival kits that contain a needle a syringe some aluminum foil um a pipe and some Naran that's a survival kit we're not helping the people on the street and I would pay for this pay for um helping the homeless through the1 billion that we somehow misplaced during the covid monies my time is up thank you Mr Ferguson please a point of agreement we agree that the issue of homelessness is complex mental health chemical dependency and affordability all play a key role in addressing this crisis the difference here is we have very different ideas about how to address said my opponent said repeatedly that we should send the unhoused the homeless to mcneel Island as a solution or to Evergreen State University by the way because he thinks it's closing for some reason you've said those things over and over again those are not serious proposals to a serious situation in contrast we in my office as Attorney General have taken on some of the most powerful corporations in the world who have fueled the opioid epidemic by not playing by the rules what have we done by bringing those cases recovered more than a billion dollars and yes that's with with the be a billion dollarss and I've insisted in those agreements the money can only be used by the state and by local governments to invest in treatment and First Responders and they can only use those dollars to address the opioid epidemic so there's a clear contrast in this race with someone who's gain the resources getting money for treatment getting money for First Responders I'm proud to be endorsed by the State firefighters who are on the front lines of dealing with these issues and there's a clear contrast with my opponent who wants to send these individuals to McNeil Island where we keep are sexually violent Predators I'm going to follow up with another question uh about housing in our state it is the most one of the most what you can spend 45 seconds on the rebuttal let me just get this question you can use that time you choose um our state is one of the most expensive places to live in the country as you both know rents have soared uh the according to the housing affordability index in May of this year a median inome household can afford to buy a median priced home in only three of Washington's 39 counties what do you propose to do as governor to create the desperately needed more affordable housing Mr rer okay so housing uh there are so many things that interconnect with the cost not just housing but the cost of everything that we buy and you've got to go back to Crime crime ties into uh people who are living on the streets so now we're talking about homelessness crime and homelessness people living on the street using drugs sleeping falling asleep and or or um totally uh wasted living in in the doorways of our businesses the businesses closed we lose jobs the economy starts to suffer the other issue here is taxes and regulation so taxes uh let's just talk about the the the the the gas tax for example that adds a cost to everything that we buy in this state not just gas but food clothing and everything else that we buy in Washington state and do feel free to finish your sentence before you do move on but Mr Ferguson thank you I appreciate this question because I've been to all 39 counties and in listening to folks in all 39 counties the issue I hear most frequently is this specific issue affordable housing and there's much that we can do as a state as a state we need to construct a million units of affordable housing housing of all kinds in the next 20 years in my voters pamphlet statement I put in black and white in my first term as Governor or we're going to construct 200,000 units of new housing how are we going to do that public private Partnerships when I meet with business Executives they talk about the need for housing they're ready to invest when I met with a small business owner in central Washington who runs a restaurant he's had to scale back the hours of his restaurant because workers in that local community cannot afford housing there's bipar and solutions we can come together as a state to address a real crisis we're going to turn now to some of the initiatives on the ballot those questions coming from Mark hran from creme 2 mark thank you uh Mr Ferguson this question goes to you first this fall voters will decide on the fate of four initiatives including I 2117 which would repeal the state's climate commitment act which calls for having the state's largest polluters pay for carbon emissions are you going to vote for this initiative and if not what should the state's role be in fighting climate change so I'll be voting a no on the initiative in other words I'm opposed to repealing The Climate commitment act and just want to elaborate that for a moment uh this will be a critical issue facing our voters and I believe that the climate commitment act needs to be adjusted for example farmers are entitled to an exemption under climate commitment act that hasn't happened yet when I'm elected governor I've met with farmers in Odessa we're going to make sure that the state follows through in the promise to make sure those farmers get the exemption they're entitled to something else I would change with the climate commitment act look the that act helps fund a working family's tax credit that's helping out Working Families all across the state we need to expand the amount of money going to that working family tax credit to help washingtonians all across the state finally what I'll add is there's a transition coming to a clean energy economy in this state we need to embrace that why it's good for clean air it's good for clean water but guess what it's also good for jobs I was in wachi went to an Apprenticeship Training Program there what were those hundreds and hundreds of washingtonians training for clean energy economy those are jobs for washingtoni all across the state and that's a key reason why I also support the ACT but it does need to be adjusted as we move forward Mr record so I have a great record on the on climate uh in Congress I worked on Alpine Lakes wild Sky uh mountains to sound Greenway those are all Great accomplishments in making Washington State green clean and pristine and we all want that um the problem with the gas tax is we weren't told the truth we were lied to we were told it was going to be pennies it's more than pennies it's gone up to cents at some points we're competing with California now to see who can have the highest gas tax now when we do that again I'll go back to my previous statement everything that we buy goes up everything that's hauled in trucks grown on farms and here's what what's bothersome the the voters did not have an opportunity to Really voice their opinions on this case so I say let's vote Yes pay less and then let's let's let's have a discussion with the members of our state legislature and Find A Way Forward uh that's not placing the cost of green clean um of energy efforts on the backs of hardworking washingtonians we'll stay on the same topic and this question will go to you Mr Ferguson first before the law took effect washingtonians were told the cca's impact on gas prices would be minimal maybe a few cents a gallon in a reality it quickly led to higher prices around 25 cents or so a gallon do you think the public was misled about the cca's impact on gas prices and would you take any steps to reduce gas prices and bring them back in line with States like Oregon yeah it's time to move forward and what's going to haveen move forward and I talked earlier about making sure for example farmers get that exemption they're entitled to to make sure they're not paying too much in gas prices we need to make sure we're holding gas corporations accountable when they're not playing by the rules I do want to add though that my opponent denies that humans even contribute to climate change and you can go to rker re interrup r.com you actually listen to his there's aape of all these things you also said Dave I love Donald Trump's policies well guess what a lot of those policies eviscerated environmental laws clean air clean water I know Dave because as attorney general I challenge those rulings in court and one time after time go to Riker ral.com you can actually listen to his voice saying all these things Mr reer the question centered around if you think washingtonians were misled about the cca's impact on gas prices and what steps would you take or would you take steps to reduce gas prices and being them bring them back in line with States like org well first of all you vote Yes on the initiative and yes we were misled and yes the farmers and the truck drivers were misled uh they were told they were going to have an exemption when no language included at all in that bill that allowed for an exemption they've had to now sue the state of Washington to try and get that exemption and as far as far as the Donald Trump policy yes I agree with some I said some of Donald Trump's policies and that is guess what lower taxes hard and tough on crime let's hold people accountable and responsible uh to the laws of Washington state let's stop blaming victims and excusing criminals yes I agree with lower taxes yes I agree with tough on crime uh yes I agree with tougher on the borders and border security we're allowing terrorists into our into our country Mr rker that's time thank you our next question comes from Gloria ianz editor of elou deak we have her questions as you know on videotape this first question is focused on Farm worker protections Washington has a multi-billion dollar agriculture industry and Farm Workers are vital to our estate Fruit Harvest a recent law give these workers over time though farmers and Growers want the state to roll the back would you recommend changes to new Farm worker over time rules and worker protections Mr rord yeah I I agree that uh workers need to be paid fairly and uh and meeting with ranchers and Farmers across the state they have exactly the same feeling they want to pay their workers fairly and they want to treat them fairly they want to create a great work environment um they uh are interested in negotiating obviously I think the last uh attempt at at negotiating with workers in in the state of Washington was to raise the weekly uh work hours to 50 hours and pay overtime for everything over 50 hours and the reason for that is they have uh crops that need to be harvested in a certain amount of time so I would look forward to working with the workers and the farmers together to find some agreement some compromise and base our decision um on how we move forward with a fair treatment of workers on on facts and and bringing people together to talk about and work through these issues to find the final solution Mr Ferguson so I agree with Dave greater uh resources for Farm Workers greater pay for for Farm Workers something I agree with there's a difference here in this race though and that is that I've been specifically advocating for Farm Workers in my time as attorney general I'm proud to be endorsed by the national United Farm Workers so for example when Farm Workers were mistreated here in Washington state they turned to me and my team we worked together to bring litigation against companies that mistreated them sometimes in very Stark and inhumane ways we didn't just prosecute those cases successfully we won millions of dollars what do you do with those millions of dollars put those dollars back in the pockets of Farm Workers I've been to Central Washington and met with those Farm Workers my team has met with those Farm Workers my kids their teenagers in high school I communicate to them how important Farm Workers are to our economy to putting food on the table they participate in a summer program the last two summers where they meet with Farm Workers they help out their kids while the Farm Workers in the fields to get exposed to what folks do in our society who do some of the most difficult work that few people want to do that makes a huge impact on all washingtonians so there will be no greater friend to Farm Workers when I'm elected governor than me my record proves it I look forward to advocating for them when I'm their governor thank you could I add something to that yes 45 seconds okay yeah it won't take that long um I I would like to point out too that I was a supporter of DACA and dreamers when I was in Congress so um I want to make sure that those people that have come uh to Washington state from other countries uh that they're treated fairly that they have an opportunity to move forward in our in our community they're so critical to the businesses and the Farms that we operate here in Washington state I want to make sure that they have a pathway to citizenship and they can build their families and their and their family businesses here in Washington state and I'd like to respond to that because this is important for Farm Workers and all washingtonians to here Dave you said your line about Donald Trump that I quote you saying I love Donald Trump's policies you tried to correct me and say no I said I like some of them no you're incorrect folks can go to that website record veld there is audio of you Dave saying I love Donald Trump's policies and I can assure you Donald Trump's policies and his behavior is the antithesis of what Farm Workers are fighting for in our state his policies would have harmed Farm Workers and too many communities of color all across our state and all across our country I know know this Congressman because I fought against Donald Trump I beat him in court over 50 times to protect our environment to protect our rights and defend our freedoms you sir said I love Donald Trump's policies our Stark difference could not be [Music] more 15 seconds 15 seconds Bob that's not true I do agree with some of Mr Trump's policies I've explain those uh agreements um you're not being truthful uh please be truthful and you're obsessed with Donald Trump I've moved past that I'm focused on the problems here in Washington state thank you both we are going to move on to reproductive Health now in Washington state after the Supreme Court struck down excuse me we're going to talk about budget first we will come back to that topic Jim thank you um Washington's last uh government government tax uh revenue forecast was down $500 million from previous estimates uh it's not a crisis for state for state government yet but I the next Governor could face Financial pressures balancing the services that washingtonians expect expect and both of you in case some cases proposed even new programs and balancing that with what's actually coming in how would you keep the state on a strong financial footing do you think there are any new taxes the state should consider some in the Democratic party want a wealth tax on the very wealthy for example or would you look to cut spending and in your answer is please please be specific on a tax or a program if you want to cut something tell me what it is you want if you're considering a tax tell me what that is tell our viewers what that is and Mr Ferguson first thanks so much so I'm a believer that past performance is your best indication of future action my time on the King County Council I served on the budget leadership team and actually was the budget chair for a multi-billion dollar budget it's not the state budget but it's big how do we produce bip Parson Balan budgets that provided for the citizens and residents of King County because we worked together when I was the budget chair it was two Democrats and two Republicans even though Democrats controlled the majority of King County Council we locked ourselves in a room and we hammered out that budget line by line and could bring it to the full Council or all voted for it that's the approach I'll take I've done that as attorney general I've expanded Services the work that we do taking on Donald Trump over and over again having a civil rights division advocating for Farm Workers and winning huge cases how' we do that I didn't go to the state legislature and ask for more money I got smart with our budget to prioritize as a result the Tri City Herald from a pretty conservative part of our state wrote an editorial praising me saying Ferguson runs his office like a business that's what we need more of in state government prioritize our spending make sure we're spending more of our budget on things like education and making sure we're focused on serving all washingtonians Mr reer well first of all uh running your office like a business u in the last 12 years you've hired 400 additional attorneys you now have 800 we have 800 attorneys working in the Attorney General's office and we've lost hundreds of police officers that doesn't make any sense to me and it also doesn't make any sense to me is in regard to being budget conscious so we have a $4.1 billion Surplus right now in the state budget 2.8 billion of that is available for us to use and and apply to different problems across the state the problems that that that we can address really our crime uh hold people accountable um there has to be consequences when we start holding people accountable for example if you're a drug addict I know in parts of this state what's happening is you are waiting for grocery stores you are waiting for department stores to open you walk in you fill your arms with Goods you walk out you sell those goods for 40 or 50 bucks and you buy yourself a hit a dope that's what's happening and that's what's causing the rising cost in in in all of the goods across our country that's one of the things homelessness is another That's goes back to fentol and my opponent legalized fol helped to legalize fentol the congressman mentioned my budget so I'd like to respond to that so yes Dave you're right we have 8800 attorneys and I'm proud of each and every one of them guess what those attorneys do we grew our Criminal Division in our office to make sure we're fighting on behalf of washingtonians we create an organized retail theft unit in our division to prosecute those cases we created a consumer protection division that can now take on the biggest corporations in the world that fueled our opioid epidemic what's the result more than a billion dollars for washingtonians the AG's office Dave is a revenue generator for the state of Washington we return hundreds of million dollars in case settlements we return millions of dollars to washingtonians the total is literally in the billions of debt relief and dollars back in the pockets of Washington that's how you run a budget that's how you run in office okay look you hire 800 attorneys and you create a task force that does nothing in two years you make two shoplifting arrests the state patrol doesn't even have enough people to have an auto theft unit and we're losing 100 cars a day in King County Pierce County and snow homish County I just talked to the state troopers yesterday they don't have an auto theft unit Bob you're using your money to hire attorney to sue people and that money is not being used to stop crime on the streets of Seattle because we all know the crime has increased over the past 12 years murders have increased by 50% domestic violence up 134% uh we could go on about every five minutes there's a crime committed here against a person in Washington state I want to follow quickly Mr rer you I didn't really hear an answer from either of you looking forward on the state budget but um I there are going to be times perhaps if you're Governor where you know your desire to keep taxes low you you even said you would cut property taxes might conflict with some of the demands that are that are out there for services there are uh people out there now in school districts around the state looking at closing schools they're saying that we need to revisit the funding formula and how the state sends dollars to school districts if it comes down to it would you consider a new Revenue Source or are you just an absolute hardliner on no tax I think that's one of the things that different differentiates uh Mr Ferguson and I and that is I'm going to veto any new tax law that comes to my my desk when I'm the governor that needs to happen we've been taxed to the hilt I hear that in every part of the state that I go to and when you start looking at the programs that we want to fund we have the money within our budget one of the problems is that money is being misspent and on programs that just don't work and we're going to find out which programs work which ones don't we're going to shift monies and we are going to create those was Private Public Partnerships uh here in Washington state so for example one um one of the major uh organizations here companies in Washington state spent $780 million on homelessness and told me total waste of money so sorry so I'm happy to answer that question more directly so my apologies not getting it to an earlier so I think an earlier question went to the climate commitment act I support that I was clear about that and also importantly he opposes it what does that mean that means cuts to our budget on Transportation cuts to our budget on fairies he also opposes the capital gains tax some that a very small number of washingtonians pay a couple thousand but brings in hundreds of millions of dollars for early learning and for child care I support that I think those are the right kind of Investments and by the way Dave it's entertaining to listen to you talk about uh budgets because when you served in Congress for 14 years you guys couldn't balance a budget you drove up deficits year after year after year during your time in Congress heck when you're a sheriff you overspent your budget in the sheriff's office in King County we are going to move on now to our next topic reproductive Health here in Washington state after the Supreme Court struck down Ro v Wade a study from udub medicine showed a 50% increase in out ofate patients seeking abortions and an average one week delay for all patients seeking Services which can negatively impact a pregnant person's health what will you do as governor to respond to the increased demand for services Mr R well first of all I want to I want to make it clear that uh when I'm Governor uh I will support and protect the abortion laws that currently exist in Washington state this is a question that's been asked and answered since 1970 that's when the first law was implemented uh as a patrol officer in Federal Way my job back in the mid1 1970s was to keep an abortion clinic open um when protesters tried to close the sidewalks and the driveways I will do the same uh as Governor I will protect those laws and um and work with uh our members of the house and the state legislature to Senate uh Senate to uh protect uh access to abortions the question was what will you do as governor to respond to the increased demand for services and the one we delay that women are now experiencing because of the influx of out ofate patients um would you answer this question Mr Ferguson yes uh yes of course so question yes so of course we'll be making sure we make investments as a state to make sure that all women whether coming from out of state or within state are able to access the full range of reproductive Freedom which again is a critical critical difference in this case when the Seattle Times editorial board endorsed me by the way editorial board that endorsed Dino Rossi Republican over Chris greguar Rob Mckenna over janley they pointed out Dave that you said the same thing to them what you said here I'll never interfere with reproductive freedom but they pointed out in their editorial that what you said again on audio to an extreme pro-life group that seeks to ban abortion Nationwide that you would in your own words once again seek to unravel abortion Protections in Washington state and that's consistent with your history you went back to Congress and you voted three times for a nationwide abortion ban that criminalizes doctors look you do not support a woman's right to choose you say one thing when you're speaking to Washington people in a form like this and you say something else entirely when you think you are behind closed doors that's been a pattern with you on Donald Trump that's a pattern with you on reproductive freedom and that is something that the Washingtonian Washington voters will need to hear over and over throughout the rest of this campaign I wanted to follow up on something that you said Mr Ferguson and then I will let you rebut Mr rard in your political ad you did characterize your opponent's votes in Congress as a straight out ban not mentioning that there would have been exceptions after 20 weeks such as saving the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest that was not in your ad was that ad misleading did it lack context certainly not misleading in fact Spokan TV station reviewed it and said no such thing it's a 30 second ad all that Dave tried to defend his vote what's factual about those three votes he took in Congress for Nationwide abortion bans that criminalize doctors is the following he would have made certain abortions that are legal in Washington state illegal while precisely at the same time criminalizing doctors that is no not okay and that is entirely consistent with what he says behind closed doors over and over again you've said Dave that you believe life begins a conception I'm sorry there's too much at stake to your question in a posts world to risk reproductive freedom for the women of Washington state with an individual who voted to criminalized doctors who perform abortions that are legal in Washington state Mr re can can we talk about your record in just for a um you did while in Congress support three bills Banning abortion past 20 weeks past 20 weeks the last bill allowed abortions after 20 weeks to save the life of the mother and in cases of rape or incest it also required a second doctor be present to save the unborn child can you please for us explain your voting record how it squares with what you said yourself in a recent campaign ad that you quote do not believe any politician regardless of personal belief has the right to make that decision for any woman yeah so uh again Mr Ferguson is not being honest with the people here in Washington state those three votes um were based upon viability uh legal terminology viability at 20 weeks so I actually voted three times for abortions access to abortions uh at viability it's almost the same law that exists here in Washington state which is 24 weeks so if Bob is saying that I voted to ban abortions at viability Bob believes that Washington States law uh then is not is a ban if he doesn't believe in Washington state laws then he also believes in a ban so I did not vote to ban U abortions nationally and um thank you you're out of time okay I noticed that we're going to move on to the topic of Transportation Mark yes thank you this question initially goes to Mr Ferguson providing efficient transportation is an important role of state government but people in Eastern Washington often feel left out the north Spokan Corridor which has been in the works for more than 20 years is one such example Governor Insley recently tried to cut funding for it how would you work to make sure both sides of the state have top-notch roads and transportation routes thanks for that question in fact I think I mentioned earlier I've actually been to all 39 counties and when you get to all 39 counties you're going to have conversation the folks about their roads for example I met with the calispell tribe the northeastern part of the state there's a bridge near their reservation in that more isolated part of our state they took me to that bridge to show to me it's failing it needs to be replaced I've had exactly those kinds of conversations all across the state we need to continue investing in our transportation and our infrastructure how do we do it to your question and the way I talked about before I believe in Byars and solutions especially when on an issue like this communities across the state are suffering from a of resources for exactly this purpose so look we have to have a governor who's got a track record of balancing budgets that are bipartison as opposed to an individual who drives up deficits when he's back in Congress and overspends his Sheriff's budget so that'll be a focus of mind this is important for our economy this important for jobs and as Governor we're going to make that happen Mr Reicher well uh Mr Ferguson should have an opportunity to visit all 39 counties he's been the attorney general for 12 years I've been campaigning for about 12 months or more um uh the problem is that we have totally ignored our road systems here in Washington state we're just now getting around to repairing some of the bridges and roadways here in Washington um when you ignore systems like the ferry system when you ignore systems like uh our freeways highways and and bridges they they become deteriorated and I think what's happened is there's not been an effort to prioritize um the major projects that we need to accomplish here in Washington state so one of the first things we need to do is to look at the systems across the state what are our priorities what do we need to fix first we have the money to do this we just need to rep pre re re prioritize and reshift our resources um all right thank you and a quick followup if elected governor Mr Ferguson what would you prioritize and please use specifics if you can in terms of Transportation projects in Washington oh we're going to make sure we have a balanced approach across the state Eastern West Eastern Washington and Western Washington and so for me it's prioritizing getting out listening to people talking to both Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature to make sure we're putting together a package that meets the needs of all washingtonians I add Dave it's not getting all 39 counties in my time as attorney general been to all 39 counties in my campaign for this office specifically I'm back on around a second time to all 39 counties why I launched my campaign in Spokane then we went to Central Washington only then did I come to Western Washington so this campaign get out here directly from Washington on exactly these kind of issues that's what I've been doing Mr reer the question was what projects would you prioritize in terms of Transportation projects in the state yeah I think one of the first things that I would do is prioritize the fery system uh it's it's totally uh inoperable um again it's it's another part of our transportation system that's been totally ignored and what we should do is is look at uh hybrid ferry system uh diesel uh that can be trans uh transferred to Electric at a later date if we so choose to do that we've got to get passenger only fairies on on board and operating as quickly as possible uh we have private uh boat operators that are transporting people in between the islands that's not a safe situation people that's a Lifeline for the people who live in the island so the fer system I think should be one of the major priorities thank you we are now going to move to a question from Gloria ianas from elol De Yak this is a question about indigenous boarding schools a recent Federal report on indigenous barding School raised attention on the 17 that operate in Washington state children weren't allowed to speak traditional languages and were separated from their families at at least 970 children died Nationwide is there more the state can do to help tribes heal from the trauma caused by the boarding schools Mr rer uh absolutely um we would look for I would look forward to working with the tribes and and making those safe places for our children and and uh the families of our indigenous uh U community members Mr Ferguson oh great um and I sorry I have a minute 15 for this great okay just want to make sure um thank you so much for that question um I don't just look forward to meeting with tribes about this I've been doing it uh my team is actually putting together a group to address this specific issue working with tribal leaders and tribal members all across the state what has gone on with boarding schools in our state just like in other states is a true tragedy and I've heard that loud and clear from tribal leaders and tribal members as I've met all across the state with every tribal Council all across the state I'm proud I'm the only candidate running for governor that's actually endorsed by tribe by tribe more than dozens I might also add this issue is critically important we're going to follow up on it but also an issue that impacts tribes disproportionately is the issue of missing and murdered and dangerous women my team put together a task force we went to legislature and got funding for a team my office yesterday additional lawyers and guess what they're doing they're standing up for tribes bringing cases bringing accountability and solving cold cases of missing and murder indigenous women all across the state that's what leadership looks like right is reaching out communic those folks and sometimes yes you need additional resources to bring Justice to survivors and bring accountability for folks who violate the law we're going to move to the topic now of gun control in Washington Jim the Washington legislature recently passed uh an assault weapon ban um Mr Ferguson you supported that and I think promoted it for many for many years um the state has enacted a raft of gun control gun safety laws in recent years uh Advocates uh for for further gun safety restrictions point to the ongoing rash of of shootings that seem to greet Us in the news every day and they're still looking for per perhaps more restrictions um perhaps even on existing assault weapons things like that at the same time people who value the Second Amendment and some of the gun stores that are operating under the current restrictions say it's just going to drive them out of business I'll start with you Mr Ferguson should the state go further are there any other restrictions that you're looking at with licensing or tracking of of guns in the state I think we're always keeping an open mind but I think it's important to start from a place of I'm someone who supports the Second Amendment but just like I can't yell fire in this place right now and there's not a fire even though I have a First Amendment speech there are restrictions on all of our constitutional rights including the Second Amendment so I believe in responsible limitations that's why I need support the ban on the sale of assault weapons and the ban on the sale of high capacity magazines as attorney general i l on this that issue I propose that as agency request legislation I don't have to do that but I felt this issue was so important I fought for it I advocated for years and got it across the Finish Line without a single Republican legislature voting for my opponent opposes the ban on the sale of assault weapons my opponent opposes the ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines my opponent even opposes Universal background checks supported by more than 60% of washingtonians this is an issue that's close to my heart we need to make sure that we're protecting washingtonians kids in schools we just saw another recent tragedy that's become all too common after the Moto shooting several years ago here in Washington state I met with family members impacted by that senseless tragedy and that frankly is what moved me Jim to become a leader in this issue and Advocate it so that never happens again in Washington state Mr rer do you feel comfortable where the state is do you think any the restrictions go too far would you propose any new ones well what I what I would like to do is focus on gun crime and I have a record of doing that when I was the sheriff we put together a group of people people uh the first time in history I would say that we brought ceasefire and the NRA to the same uh conference aable to discuss gun crime so we came up with the King county firearms Coalition which uh was very successful in reducing gun crime and gang violence U that was actually moved to the safe cities initiative which was a a Clinton Gore initiative we were one of the 10 safe cities recognized across the country we're the only County Sheriff Sheriff's Office that was recognized as reducing gun crime and again that's that's an example of bringing people together looking at the problem looking at facts finding Solutions and actually having uh results uh it was later uh change to project safe neighborhoods which was a bush Cheney uh initiative um I would look forward to um implementing programs similar to Safe cities similar to project safe neighborhoods and bringing people together to address the issue of gun crime again you have to hold people accountable and responsible those people that are committing crimes with guns we have 45 seconds each for one more question from Mark yeah staying on the same topic we'll start with you Mr Ferguson according to the CDC Firearms have now overtaken car crashes as the leading cause of death for children 18 and younger what can we do to reduce that number while still respecting the Second Amendment yeah I think one more thing I would add to my leadership on this issue now for many many years on one of the more challenging issues facing our state and not being afraid to lead on that in contrast to my opponent but one thing I hear when I talk to example for teachers and Educators all across our state who are worried about what's going on in the classroom when I ask them uh what they see what I hear is response over and over is mental health issues mental health issues and mental health issues they see a real need for more mental health counselors in the classrooms in the schools to help kids who are suffering from mental health issues but also to improve the learning environment for all kids in the classroom so as attorney general that is an issue that I've LED on and as a governor would be a priority in my budgets as well Mr record how do we bring that number down well first of all we've got to ask the question how did we get here and we're not holding again we're not holding people accountable and responsible hiring 800 attorneys is not the way to go about solving juvenile crime most juvenile crime is committed by 13 and 15 year olds our teachers don't even feel safe in their classrooms um so we have got to one of the things we need to do is make sure that our youth centers our detention centers are actually used for detaining juveniles and not adults we've moved adults from the prisons into our youth centers they should be the adult should be moved back to our prisons make space for our young people who are committing crimes so we can help them get the help that they need and I agree with the issue on Mental Health we have two minutes now for closing statements for each of you we will start with you Mr rker our I appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight I think as most people uh can probably tell um I am not a uh debate uh expert I am a I am a man who uh grew up in the Ron Highlands um again nine people in an 800 squ ft home I grew up in a home of domestic violence I lived in my car uh checked on my brothers and sisters and and uh um went into the air force joined the Sheriff's Office was fortunate and blessed enough to be a member of Congress and I find myself in this position today uh coming from that humble place in the Marton Highlands being a candidate to be your Governor I have shown as the sheriff and as a member of Congress that I can lead make decisions tough decisions in some cases life and death decision I have the experience through all of and blessed with the career that I've had to have the experience that has brought us to this moment today where we're facing some of the most major issues that we faced in this state in our history and number one is crime crime has gone through the roof under the leadership and he talks about leadership under the leadership of Mr Ferguson under the leadership of his good friend and governor Mr Insley homelessness has gone through the roof Mr Ferguson encouraged the legislature to legalize fenol to legalize other drugs on the streets cost have gone up here in Washington state and we talk about a responsible budget maker to my right when we are paying more and more and more each day and being taxed more and more each day Mr Ferguson thank you to the washingtonians tuning in to this conversation and you've seen a real contrast in our respective Visions for the future of the state of Washington reproductive Freedom you heard tonight he went back to Congress and voted three times for Nationwide abortion bans that criminalize doctors he said to an extreme pro-life group that he would seek to unravel his word abortion protections here in Washington state I'm endorsed by Planned Parenthood I'm proud of that I will defend your reproductive Freedom he went back to Congress and voted dozens of times to repeal and gut the Affordable Care Act stripping away protections for those of you with pre-existing conditions in contrast I fought to defend the Affordable Care Act in court you've heard about him and Donald Trump he says I love Donald Trump's policies he even bragged to a group that he has a signed meah hat at his home I can assure you we don't need a sign Mega hat in the governor's mansion what we need is someone who's a change agent who will change the status quo look I got my in politics by challenging a 20-year incumbent from my own party took on that incumbent and I won as an attorney general I've taken on presence of both political parties standing up for workers in the Tri Cities standing up for clean air and clean water and standing up for your rights that's what we need as a governor my priorities are Public Safety when I'm Governor we'll hire more police offic hire more police officers we'll make sure you're paying less for gas and groceries and for housing we'll improve our education system our Workforce training and apprenticeships my family's been the state for five generations I'm looking forward to watching this debate later on with my kids and family but this election is not about my family it's about yours make Washington State better for every single family at the end of the day as Governor I'll protect your rights I'll defend your freedoms I'll change the status quo and I ask for your vote for governor of Washington state thank you very much and thank you Mr Ferguson thank you Mr Reich our thanks to the panel Mark Hanrahan and Jim Bruner and Gloria ianz from elou De yakop voters you have much to consider as you decide who will lead our state over the next four years we thank you for your time tonight and we wish you a good evening thank you thank you thanks [Music] [Music] for