Inslee to announce candidacy for governor

Jay Inslee, Bainbridge resident and 1st Congressional District representative since 1999, will officially announce a 2012 bid for governor on Monday.

Inslee, 60, will face Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna, who formally announced his candidacy shortly after Gov. Chris Gregoire announced earlier this month she will not see re-election in 2012.

Inslee had an unsuccessful run for governor in 1996 when he lost to in the primary to Democrat Gary Locke, who went on to serve two terms as governor.

Inslee will make his official announcement Monday morning in Seattle at a South Lake Union Lab, Targeted Growth Inc.

After moving to the island in 1996 Inslee won his current political seat in the 1998 election. He also won the 4th Congressional District seat in 1992. He has a law background as both an attorney and prosecutor.

He currently serves as a member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he has worked on green energy initiatives.

The last Republican elected governor was John Spellman in 1980.

The race for Inslee's position figures to be crowded. Former Democratic state Rep. Laura Ruderman and Republican James Watkins, who lost to Inslee last year by almost 20,000 votes, have filed to run for the 1st District seat.

State Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, filed this week, and Rep. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, announced in May that he was considering running if Inslee didn't seek re-election.

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