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As golden light bathed a crowd gathered near the steam engine sheds at Berthusen Park in Lynden, there was an air of polite excitement as they listened to Pete Serrano speak about his hopes for the Attorney General’s Office if elected in November.
His speech, meant to be a warm-up act for who the crowd was really there to see — Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert — was punctuated by one word from an audience member.
“Accountability,” she shouted.
“Let’s do that,” Serrano, a Republican, said. “Accountability.”
The word set the tone for Reichert, dressed in a blue and bright green Seattle Seahawks T-shirt and having just come from the Northwest Washington Fair a few miles away, as he explained to the crowd why they should vote for him come November.
“We’re going to bring some sanity back to Washington state,” he said, standing atop a hay wagon. “We’re going to bring back accountability. There’s going to be consequences for wrongdoing.”
But if Reichert is going to be the first Republican governor in Olympia in 40 years to hold the office, he faces an uphill battle against current Attorney General and Democrat front-runner Bob Ferguson.
During the Aug. 6 primary, Reichert came in second with 27% of the vote, while Ferguson clinched nearly 45% of the vote. The next closest Republican, Semi Bird, came in with 11% of the vote.
On Friday, Aug. 16, in front of the Lynden crowd, Reichert leaned heavily on his background as a law enforcement officer. He served for 33 years in the King County Sheriff’s Office, rising through the ranks to eventually become King County Sheriff. During that time, he was part of the team to catch the Green River serial killer.
He also served in Washington D.C. as a member of Washington’s 8th Congressional House District, where he served seven terms.
Multiple portions of the evening were dedicated to telling stories from his time as a deputy, with some tales including a member of the audience who had worked with Reichert in King County.
“When you think about cop stories, they’re happening every day in this state,” he said. “We need to support our cops, it’s one of the reasons I’m running. They need backup … I want to be the SWAT commander and I want you to be the SWAT team.”
While Washington saw a small drop in crimes committed in 2023 compared to 2022 data, the state was ranked last in the nation for the number of officers per thousand residents.
“It’s hard to hold people accountable when you don’t have the police officers and they’re not supported,” Reichert told CDN after the rally, noting multiple people during his campaign have spoken at length about how they feel there’s a lack of accountability.
For Rory and Kelley Kunkel, the accountability message Reichert is sending is important, especially regarding law enforcement.
Rory Kunkle, 68, said one way of holding people accountable for their actions is getting more police officers into the state.
“I’m sure there’s other incentives they can put in place to get the police to come back,” the Stanwood resident said.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
