Nick Brown will become Washington's first Black attorney general
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Nick Brown, a Democrat and former U.S. attorney. Photo: Courtesy of the campaign
Democrat Nick Brown has won the race for Washington attorney general, defeating Republican Pete Serrano, the Associated Press reports.
Why it matters: Brown will be the first Black person to serve as Washington state's top lawyer, and the state's first new attorney general in 12 years.
- He'll succeed Bob Ferguson, who ran for governor instead of seeking re-election this year.
Driving the news: The Associated Press called the race for Brown after a few hours of ballot counting in Washington's vote-by-mail election.
State of play: Brown is a former U.S. attorney for western Washington who also worked as general counsel for Gov. Jay Inslee.
- Serrano is a Pasco City Council member who currently serves as the city's mayor, a position chosen by other council members.
Catch up quick: Serrano co-directs the Silent Majority Foundation, a nonprofit that has filed lawsuits fighting COVID-19 vaccine mandates for government workers and challenging the state's gun laws.
- Brown is on the opposite side of the gun control debate, representing the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility as a private attorney.
- In that role, Brown helped draft and defend Initiative 1639, which, among other changes, raised the minimum age to buy semiautomatic rifles in Washington from 18 to 21.
The intrigue: During the campaign, Brown and Serrano have also faced each other in court, arguing opposing sides of a case that seeks to overturn the state's ban on selling military-style weapons such as AR-15s.
- Abortion has been another dividing line, with Serrano disagreeing with a new Washington law that tries to limit the reach of other state's restrictive abortion laws, and Brown supporting the so-called abortion shield law.
- The candidates also clashed over the role of the attorney general's office, with Brown saying he'd be active in proposing new laws and Serrano saying that's a job for the Legislature.
Go deeper: Democrats notch big wins in Washington state on election night