The Times recommends: Bob Ferguson for state attorney general

Bob Ferguson is the right attorney general for Washington state in these times.

Yes, the Democrat has sued the Trump administration, count ’em, 80 times, a feat that his challenger cites as a sign of his hyperpartisanship. But Ferguson defends every case as one that Washington state has standing in, that its citizens could be harmed by the administration’s overreach.

From the original travel ban to the U.S. Census question, environment disputes to U.S. Postal Service cuts, Ferguson has led 34 cases and joined 46 others. He says, in each, the harm to state residents was the deciding factor. In the latest, Washington, California and other states are arguing against a Texas-led effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Driving Ferguson’s participation are the 825,000 Washingtonians who have health care because of the act’s Medicaid expansion or premium subsidies.

Now, the Trump administration is rushing to nominate a right-leaning successor to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg after her death this month. And that might not bode so well for Washington’s citizens.

Ferguson has expanded the AG office’s environmental focus and continues a robust consumer protection practice. One criticism is that he brings the enforcement hammer down too quickly on businesses that might not realize their errors and face large fines, rather than a firm but friendly correction warning.

Additionally, we’d like to see Ferguson be a stronger advocate for open government, ensuring state agencies are bending over backward to comply with state open government laws.

Ferguson, a former King County council member, has a strong, constructive vision for the office, said to be the largest law firm in the state with more than 500 lawyers and 600 other employees.

His opponent, Republican Matt Larkin, is corporate counsel for his company’s third-generation manufacturing business in Bothell and was a Pierce County prosecutor for a few months. His criticism is that Ferguson’s penchant for suing the Trump administration is over the top; his focus would be more in the state.

But these times have called for Ferguson’s national fights, while he has attended to state business.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson should be reelected.