Inslee, Culp advance to November ballot in Washington governor race

Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee advanced Tuesday in Washington's primary election as he seeks to become the first incumbent elected to a third term in the state in more than 40 years.

Inslee was leading decisively in early returns. He briefly ran for his party's Democratic presidential nomination last year and has been a frequent and high-profile critic of President Donald Trump.

“At such a pivotal moment, Washington state needs the opposite of Trump-style chaos,” Inslee said in a statement. “We need strong, steady leadership united around our common goals and values.”

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More than 30 other people also ran in the gubernatorial primary, vying to face Inslee in November, when he'll be a heavy favorite.

Republican police chief Loren Culp was finishing second as early ballots were counted. Culp is police chief of the tiny town of Republic in the northeastern part of the state. He got national attention after saying he wouldn’t enforce gun regulations approved by voters in a 2018 initiative.

Initiative 1639 raised the age limit to buy some weapons from 18 to 21 and requires enhanced background checks for people who buy those weapons. The law also makes a person criminally liable if their gun isn’t secured with a trigger lock or kept in a gun safe and it’s used to cause injury or death.

The 69-year-old Inslee is seeking a rare third term as governor. Governors in Washington state aren’t subject to term limits, though most haven’t served more than two terms. The last three-term governor in Washington was Republican Gov. Dan Evans, who served from 1965 until 1977.

Inslee is a former congressman and served as Democratic Governors Association chairman in 2018.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.