Washington attorney general candidates Democrat Nick Brown and Republican Pete Serrano offer two different visions for leading the state's highest legal office.
Brown served as general counsel to Gov. Jay Inslee from 2013 to 2017, later working as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington from October 2021 to June 2023. After resigning as U.S. attorney, Brown accepted a partner role at Pacifica Law Group.
Serrano is the current mayor of Pasco and previously served as a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Energy at Hanford from 2015 to 2019. He founded the conservative Silent Majority Foundation in 2021 and works as the legal nonprofit's general counsel.
Last week, on Sept. 18, both candidates presented their plans for the role during a debate hosted by the Association of Washington Business in Spokane. Each candidate spoke briefly with the Inlander.
ROLE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Serrano wants the attorney general to focus on advising the state and governor on legal issues, refrain from giving opinions on policy issues and advise regulatory agencies on their limitations."The Attorney General's Office needs to focus back on what its mission constitutionally is," Serrano said during the debate. "Get back to advising the regulatory agencies. Do not let them run amok. Do not let them expand their own powers. Confine them and constrain them to their actual obligations, liabilities and duties."
Brown believes the attorney general's role is broad, and the foremost obligation of the office is to advocate for the people of Washington and focus on improving their lives.
"It is also to advise and defend the state government to make sure they are acting in the best interest of their client, agencies and the people," Brown said at the debate.
He would utilize the Consumer Protection Act to advocate for Washingtonians.
FENTANYL CRISIS
Brown wants to focus on the root causes of the fentanyl crisis by going after cartels and those importing drugs. He stresses the need for the attorney general to partner with federal and state law enforcement, and emphasizes the need to treat addiction."A lot of the work is how do we address people's addiction issues, provide support and help for them," Brown says. "The attorney general has some really important work to do in that space — helping agencies and helping local governments provide better services."
Serrano visits Spokane for medical appointments and says he has walked downtown and seen the crisis. He wants to provide extra prosecutors and defenders for the prosecution of drug charges. He would use the funding from opioid lawsuit settlements to help provide treatment and says current leadership is not doing enough. He wants to collaborate with law enforcement, providing additional policy training for officers, and is proud to have Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels' endorsement.
"In Pasco ... we're taking that money from those settlements to make sure that folks have the ability for treatment," Serrano says. "The attorney general has a whole lot of opportunity, again, making sure that there's a settlement agreement and there's money, and making sure that there's adequate prosecution, working with federal and state and local law enforcement officers."
SEAN FEUCHT V. SPOKANE
In June, right-wing evangelist Sean Feucht filed a lawsuit alleging that the Spokane City Council members violated his freedom of expression and religion when they passed a resolution in 2023 denouncing former Mayor Nadine Woodward for appearing with Feucht and former state Rep. Matt Shea at a religious event.Shea was expelled from the state Republican caucus in 2019 after collaborating with those involved in the armed occupation of Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Touring to host Christian worship events, Feucht is an anti-COVID vaccine activist and has made derogatory remarks about the LGBTQ+ community. Serrano is Feucht's attorney for the case through the Silent Majority Foundation.
Serrano acknowledges the ethical obligation to be removed from the Feucht lawsuit if he is elected attorney general. His reasoning for representing the pastor is to protect individual rights to preach and to participate in a religious ceremony.
"The First Amendment not only protects your right to free speech, your right to worship, but also your right to congregate and be together, and in my opinion, the resolution that we're challenging impacts not only Mr. Feucht's ability to do so and preach here in Spokane, but those parishioners that would like to worship with him," Serrano said.
Brown believes Serrano chooses to take cases like Feucht's because he has similar views. Brown says he is glad that the city of Spokane is "vigorously" defending itself in the lawsuit and thinks it's another example of Serrano not being in step with the people of Washington, but catering to those with extreme viewpoints.
"His defense of that person and some of the extreme views that the person has, I think, is yet another example of the extremist views that Pete has, frankly," Brown says. ♦
