Gov. Jay Inslee has enough donors to qualify for the presidential candidate debates, Washington state has a new LGBTQ commission, and a state lawmaker has resigned. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins talked about all of it with Morning Edition host Kirsten Kendrick.
Inslee met the threshold of 65,000 unique donors to “double qualify” for the back-to-back debate events, scheduled for June 26 and 27 in Miami.
The Democratic National Committee limits the number of candidates on the debate stage to 20, Jenkins said. Because Inslee met this threshold as well as the other — 1 percent or higher in at least three qualifying polls — he will be prioritized for selection in the debates. Jenkins said he’s the 13th candidate to double qualify for the debates.
In Washington state, a new commission has been created to address the unique problems and needs of the LGBTQ community.
“This commission will advise agencies on the development and implementation of comprehensive and coordinated policies, plans and programs to address those needs,” Jenkins said. He added that the group’s structure is similar to the state’s other minority commissions.
Jenkins also discussed the sudden resignation of Sen. Guy Palumbo, a “newer member of the Legislature,” he said. Palumbo is going to be Amazon’s director of public policy for Washington state.
“That’s a fancy way of saying he’s going to be a lobbyist,” Jenkins said. “He’s likely going to have to register as a lobbyist in Olympia to do this job.”
Listen to the full conversation to hear more about these stories.
