Ailina Cunningham, Staff Writer
Since 2013, Jay Inslee has been the governor of Washington state. Inslee entered office with former experience in the Washington State House of Representatives as a legislator between the years of 1988 to 1992. In addition, Inslee served several terms in the United States House of Representatives between 1993 and 1995, being a member of several committees that benefited Washington state. These committees included the House of Energy and Commerce Committee in addition to the subcommittee on energy and power. In March 2019, Jay Inslee even attempted to run as an official candidate in the presidential race. Governor Inslee ended his campaign on August 21, 2019 to focus on his reelection campaign in Washington. During that notorious election in November 2020, we voted not only for a president but we also voted on a more local level for our governor, the head of Washington state.
This year Democratic party candidate, Jay Inslee, was opposed by Loren Culp, a Republican party candidate. In the end, with 4,056,454 votes counted, the winner, who will serve Washington until 2025, was announced to be Jay Inslee. Inslee captured 56.6 percent (2,294,243 people) of the votes while his competitor Loren Culp secured a respectable 43.1 percent (1,749,066 people).
There was a 0.6 percent total of people who wrote in a vote that was neither Jay Inslee nor Loren Culp which amounted to 13,145 people. As we look at the governor’s job and what Jay Inslee plans to implement to help the people of Washington state, he has made it clear on his official website what his plans are going forward, This plan is a five-step program of economic recovery, health care implementation, education focus, climate, clean energy focus, and justice and safety. For economic recovery, Jay Inslee is focusing on helping small and local businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic by helping the state open up in stages. This is allowing businesses to create revenue to sustain themselves as we attempt to end this pandemic. In regards to focusing on health care, Jay Inslee has publicly announced his support for the Affordable Care Act which would provide affordable health care for all members of Washington state as well as the rest of the nation. Inslee signed into an official policy that no Washingtonian will be left without health care due to a pre-existing condition that would otherwise disqualify them for private insurance.
Within his plan to provide education services, Governor Inslee mentions in his official statement that he has provided billions of dollars for education with no plans to stop. Jay Inslees’ campaign website mentions that “Jay values our teachers and he’s worked to increase educator pay more than any other state and to lower class sizes so our educators can focus on giving our children the best possible education.” As for clean energy, Inslee wants to focus on bringing in solar and wind as sources of energy to rely on moving forward. On Governor Inslee’s official website, Inslee claims that he wants Washington to rely 100% on clean energy by the year 2045. Pertaining to his plans in criminal justice, Inslee will be focusing on police reform, a difficult and daunting task to undertake. It looks like we have quite a forward-thinking governor. Congratulations, Jay Inslee, to your reelection!
The Belltower 