Yakima physician Raul Garcia will drop out of the Washington governor's race to challenge Maria Cantwell for her seat in the U.S. Senate, he said Friday.
Garcia, a Republican, made the announcement via a post on his campaign's Facebook page. He endorsed Republican Dave Reichert's campaign for governor.
"I am tremendously honored by the support I've received in my race for Governor," Garcia said. "Today, I've decided to join forces in a united team for Washington with Congressman Dave Reichert. I will be challenging Maria Cantwell in the upcoming 2024 election. We need a senator for Washington who truly listens and offers solutions instead of politics to the office. Together we can restore health, effective leadership, and unity to Washington."
Reichert formally announced his candidacy on Friday. Reichert is a former King County Sheriff who served seven terms in Congress representing Washington's 8th Congressional District, which covered King County suburbs as well as rural Kittitas and Chelan counties.
Garcia is the medical director at Astria Toppenish Hospital and a Republican. He is a Cuban immigrant who lived in Spain before moving to the U.S. when he was 11.
He worked to promote vaccination among the state's Latino population in 2020 and is the founder of the Partnership for Our Food Security, an organization that sought to educate and protect farmworkers against COVID-19, a campaign news release said.
Garcia had raised $63,256 for his gubernatorial campaign, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
Other candidates for governor are Democrats Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz and state Sen. Mark Mullet. Semi Bird, a military veteran and Richland school board member, is running as a Republican.
Garcia also ran for governor during the 2020 election, but didn't make it past the primary as Jay Inslee went on to beat Loren Culp.
