Nick Brown, the former U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, is jumping into the race for state attorney general, becoming the second major Democratic contender in the race, with state Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond.
A former legal counsel to Gov. Jay Inslee, Brown, 46, resigned as U.S. Attorney in June in preparation for his widely expected 2024 campaign launch. He had served fewer than two years in the federal position after being nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September 2021.
"Making the decision to resign is certainly the hardest professional decision I have ever made in my life and not one I made easily. There is something unique about writing a letter of resignation to the president of the United States," Brown said in an interview.
Brown said he had spent most of his career in public service and was thinking about "the best way to serve and the right time." He decided to take his first shot at elected office in the first open-seat attorney general race since 2012, a path opened up by incumbent Bob Ferguson's bid for governor.
Growing up in Steilacoom, Pierce County, Brown said his parents "always pushed me to give a damn about the community and my neighbors" and to care about making the state "a better place."
Brown went on to graduate from Morehouse College and obtained his law degree from Harvard University. During his second year in law school, he was a contestant on the wildly popular TV reality show, Survivor, competing in the Australian outback.
Brown served in the Army in the Judge Advocate General Corps, including a stint in Iraq for which he was awarded the Bronze Star.
He worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Seattle from 2007 to 2013, handling more than 100 criminal cases before joining the Inslee administration as general counsel.
In an interview, Brown emphasized his criminal law experience as a veteran prosecutor and pointed to arrests of fentanyl traffickers under his watch as U.S. Attorney.
The state attorney general's office directly handles few criminal prosecutions, stepping in only when asked by counties for assistance or at the request of the governor. But Brown said the office can also take a lead in policy and enforcement, including on issues such as gun violence and access to safe, affordable and discrimination-free housing.
While touting his years as a prosecutor, Brown said he favors a balanced approach on public safety.
Although he said prison sentences are justified for certain people who have harmed communities, Brown said "prison is not a solution for substance abuse problems. Prison is not a solution for homelessness."
Brown will have some catching up to do when it comes to fundraising in the 2024 race, and faces a more experienced candidate in Dhingra, 49, who entered the Legislature after winning an expensive special election in 2017 to fill the 45th District senate seat left vacant by the death of Republican state Sen. Andy Hill.
Dhingra announced her candidacy for attorney general earlier this year and has already raised more than $235,000 for her campaign, according to state Public Disclosure Commission filings.
Dhingra also brings long experience as a prosecutor, serving for more than two decades as a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for King County. In the state Senate, Dhingra serves as Deputy Majority Leader and chairs the Law and Justice Committee.
"I have spent my career fighting for the people of Washington, in the courtroom and in the state Senate delivering real change to improve peoples lives," Dhingra said in a campaign launch video.
Showing her law enforcement badge, Dhingra vowed in the video to be
a shield for Washingonians, "no matter what you look like, how you identify or where you come from."
Either Dhingra or Brown would make history if elected attorney general, a position held since 1887 by a succession of white men, with the exception of Christine Gregoire, who served from 1993 to 2004, when she was elected governor.
Brown would be the first Black person to hold the office; Dhingra would be the first Indian American and second woman in the position.
So far, no Republican has filed for the office. The deadline to get on the 2024 ballot is next May.
