To the voters of Washington State,

Last year I lost my wife of 38 years who passed away at the hospital in Yakima. That was the worst day of my life.

Today, I fear, is perhaps the second worst day of my life because a dream of mine was destroyed. I realize my campaign would appear to be like an ant running against the bulldozer, but I always thought that we lived in a free country where anyone could run for public office, no matter how much an underdog they were. I have learned that our State’s political elite, led by someone who has my same name and who pretends to care about the law – well, it is all pretend – they don’t want people like me or you to run for public office.

I worked for the State of Washington, just like our Attorney General does today. Unlike him, I never illegally suppressed someone else’s Constitutional right to run for public office. If this isn’t election interference and voter suppression, I don’t know what is. Yet, the AG certainly feels entitled to suppress my rights, with no consequences for his abuses or threats. I read the statement from a 20-year combat veteran who has faced terrorists overseas and he could not resist the threats. If he could not, how could I?

Over a year ago, when I still worked for the State of Washington at Central Washington State University, many of my co-workers had suggested I run for Governor. This was before my wife passed away. That idea always seemed like an unrealizable dream until I met someone willing to help me achieve that dream. Now, I understand, that dream to run for Governor is indeed denied to me. Not because I couldn’t physically do it, but it is because I am not allowed to do so by our political elite.

I am officially signing and submitting the Withdrawal of Candidacy form to the Secretary of State today via my campaign email. I live in Yakima, and I can’t drive to the West Side to do this in person. I do this out of sadness and fear for our future. I read the combat veteran who shares my name did this under duress, and I too, feel extreme duress.

When I witnessed the Attorney General today violate the law, and he did violate the law, in public – on full display for all to witness – when he self-servingly demanded that the Washington State Secretary of State move the AG’s ballot position from #13 to #1 – clearly in violation of the law and the rules – and nobody called him out on this illegal demand, I realized that we have no law left in our state. The law is whatever the political powerful and elite say it is any given day, and they get to violate it with impunity. The rest of us must knuckle under and obey them like the tyrants and kings they think they are.

I had a political platform and policy positions that would have given Democrats a better choice than our State’s lawless AG could ever provide. I’m sorry I’ve been illegally denied this opportunity to live my dream and share these with the public, but I’m retired, widowed, and need to pay my rent. There was no way I could afford the legal costs necessary to defeat the massive threatening power of the state, the billionaires or the other rich elite who clearly enjoy hurting us.

My dream has been destroyed by a man who doesn’t know me, but with whom I had the misfortune to share the same name. The name I was given before he was even born. This doesn’t mean that he gets to destroy all our dreams whenever he wants, but today he destroyed mine. I’ll never have this opportunity again.

I can’t give anyone advice on who to vote for Governor, but it is clear that our state will be a worse place if our current AG gets to break every law he wants, persecutes anyone he wants, and threaten anyone he wants if he thinks they stand in the way of his ego and destruction – like the ant before the bulldozer. Today I was squished, I hope tomorrow you won’t be next. I love our great state. Please don’t vote corrupt leaders into office. Think before you vote.

I’ve attached just one example of the types of dirty tactics they use. This was a letter they served me on Mother’s Day to silence all competition.

I pray that the tyrants won’t win this time.

Bob Ferguson, Yakima


Paid for by: People for Bob Ferguson

1001 Cooper Point Road SW, #140-222, Olympia, WA 98502

 

info@peopleforbobferguson.com

360-463-4409