Spokane's 2024 election season is getting more and more crowded.
On Monday, state Sen. Andy Billig, a Spokane Democrat who was also the majority leader in the state Senate, announced that he won't be running for reelection in 2024.
"Part of being a good leader is knowing when it is time to step aside and let others lead," Billig said in a statement. "I have been incredibly lucky to have served Spokane in the Legislature and fortunate to have the strong support of my family and so many friends and neighbors throughout our community."
Billig's announcement is the latest shakeup in what has already been a surprising year for local politics.
A little over a month ago, local Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said she wouldn't seek reelection in 2024 after nearly two decades in Congress. Her retirement appears to have been a surprise to almost everyone — including the nine Republicans who are now scrambling to fill her seat.
But in Billig's case, the pieces seem to have already been in place.
A little over an hour after Billig's announcement, state Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, sent an email to supporters announcing his plans to run for Billig's Senate seat. Soon after, prominent Spokane progressives Ben Stuckart and Natasha Hill declared they'd run to replace Riccelli in the state House.
Riccelli, Stuckart and Hill had previously been floated as potential Democrats who might run for the congressional seat vacated by McMorris Rodgers. Each eventually decided against it. Washington's 3rd Legislative District, which mostly covers the city of Spokane, is reliably blue, but the 5th Congressional District, which covers the eastern third of Washington, is reliably red. When Hill ran against McMorris Rodgers as a Democrat in 2022, she lost by nearly 20 points.
Billig was also floated as a potential Democrat who could run for the 5th District, but he told the Inlander last month that he wasn't interested.
Billig has represented Washington's 3rd Legislative District for nearly 14 years. He was first elected to the state House in 2010, and then to the state Senate two years later, when he replaced Lisa Brown, who is now Spokane's mayor.
In 2018, Senate Democrats elected him state majority leader — a powerful position that was also previously held by Brown when she was Spokane's state senator.
Brown and a number of other local Democrats were quick to congratulate Billig and thank him for his years of service on Monday. In a post on X, Brown highlighted Billig's work on early learning and the environment.
Billig was one of eight lawmakers who spent nearly 18 months negotiating to avoid a government shutdown and working on a plan to break yearslong stalemate over school funding that was prompted by the state Supreme Court's 2012 McCleary decision.
In his announcement, Billig also highlighted his work on sustainable aviation fuels and campaign finance laws. Under his leadership, he said the Senate had passed "nation-leading" legislation addressing issues like climate change, gun safety, voting rights, affordable housing and reproductive rights.
Riccelli has served in the state House since 2012, when he took the seat vacated by Billig, a close ally. In his statement, Riccelli described Billig as a colleague and friend who has "served our district with distinction."
"This is going to be an important election year," Riccelli wrote. "We cannot take our democracy or fundamental rights for granted under relentless ideological attack — and we need to ensure that we have strong voices in Olympia making sure our shared values and priorities are heard and delivered on."
Hill and Stuckart are familiar faces in local progressive circles.
Stuckart served as Spokane City Council president from 2012 to 2019, and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Spokane in 2019. He spent the past four years serving as the director of the Spokane Low-Income Housing Consortium.
"People are fed up with high rent, lack of action on mental health, substance abuse and rising costs," Stuckart said in a statement Monday. "The 3rd LD is one of the poorest in the state, and we need someone who is not afraid to name the big issues but also has the legislative experience to go to Olympia and solve problems."
Hill is a local activist and attorney who has long advocated for civil rights issues in the city of Spokane and participated in protests with Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR). Last year, Hill was selected as interim editor of the relaunched Black Lens newspaper.
In recent months, both Stuckart and Hill have been involved in legal threats involving the city of Spokane.
Stuckart has been working with Jewels Helping Hands, a nonprofit homeless service provider, on a lawsuit arguing that Proposition 1 — the homeless camping ban passed by voters in November — should not have appeared on the ballot. An appeals court ruled against Stuckart and Jewels in December, and the plaintiffs appealed to the state Supreme Court last month.
Earlier this year, Hill threatened to sue the city on behalf of SCAR over a new City Council rule that banned standing as a form of protest during meetings. Hill argued that standing was a form of constitutionally protected free speech. The City Council stopped enforcing the ban because of legal concerns, and voted to remove it entirely on Monday. ♦
