SPOKANE, Wash. – Monday marks eight days away from the primary election in Washington.
Voters will decide which candidates will remain on the ballot for November’s general election. This includes candidates to be Washington’s next governor.
One of the candidates near the forefront of this race is Semi Bird.
It’s been nearly 40 years since Washington has had a Republican governor. Bird hopes to break that streak.
He is campaigning on familiar talking points for Washington voters like homelessness, housing affordability and crime. Bird said he has plans to audit every department in the state to see exactly how the state’s $72 billion budget is being spent – then assess cuts from there.
His solution for the surging drug use: up the ante on drug possession laws.
“Fentanyl, methamphetamines, should be a class-A felony. It should be a mandatory minimum prison sentence,” said Bird.
He also said he blames the presence of three cartels for the surging number of drugs and overdoses the past few years and explained that is who these harsher punishments are geared towards.