Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington State, has hinted at the possibility of running for president in 2020 on the single-issue focus of climate change.
After The Atlantic updated their misleading headline, Jamal Raad, a spokesman for Gov. Jay Inslee, stated on Twitter that "Governor Inslee believes we need a Presidential candidate who will put fighting climate change front and center in our national dialogue, and is seriously considering running."
Adding that, "No final decision has been made yet."
WA Gov. Jay Inslee didn’t actually announce he’s running for prez just yet. No magic words in that Atlantic piece. From spox @jamalraad: pic.twitter.com/jXruCyuFbZ
— Reid Wilson (@PoliticsReid) January 2, 2019
The current goveronor of Washington State is hedging his odds of a potential candidacy on the idea that "Americans care most about...climate change." He believes if he does run, he will win the presidency with a singular and laser focus approach to being a needed final solution to the issue of climate change.
Todd Myers, Director of the Center for the Environment at Washington Policy Center told Townhall, "Jay talks a good game on climate change but has a record of failing and missing CO2 targets he controls."
Myers further shared that Democrats in the state never got behind Gov. Inslee on his proposed Carbon Tax which never went to the floor for a vote, let alone garner enough support from his own side of the aisle.
"Much of what Gov. Inslee proposed was to increase regulation and taxes. We can debate the merits of climate policy but Jay’s policies are all cost and no benefit," Myers concluded.
Notably, in 2018 Gov. Inslee’s liberal taxpayers rejected the Carbon Emissions Fee Measure referendum which would tax companies and carbon emission producers in the state with a fee of $15 per ton of carbon.
In the long term this fee would increase by $2 every year until 2035.
Gov. Inslee told The Atlantic, he looks forward to running against President Trump, especially on the issue of climate change:
“I’m really happy to be in a confrontation with this person. I’m comfortable in that conversation,” Inslee said. “You have to do two things in beating Donald Trump: One, you have to show dignity and that you can help America to become united again, and you can help America rise to the better angels rather than our lower behavior—[while] at the same time, demonstrating a strength of character and a core conviction that you’re not going to be pushed around or bullied, and you’ve had it with his lower human behavior.”
The Atlantic also reported that Gov. Inslee is gathering donors while considering the launch of an exploratory committee for a potential 2020 run:
Inslee is lining up donors and adding them to the political-action committee he launched in December. An official presidential exploratory committee is next. Aides note that he’s attracted new supporters and fans after serving as the Democratic Governors Association chair last year; with Inslee at the helm, Democrats in November picked up seven governorships. He’s put together an email list of 200,000 climate advocates, which could become a beachhead of support around the country. Friends have offered to move to Iowa for him.
The governor’s intention to potentially challenge Senator Warren for the Democratic nomination was announced in an article published Wednesday in The Atlantic.
After publishing, The Atlantic would update their misleading headline.
Spokesman also says timing of @JayInslee presidential run decision will still be by the end of the upcoming #waleg session that ends in April.
— Natalie Brand (@NatalieABrand) January 2, 2019