Washington governor joins 2020 presidential race

SEATTLE — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee launched his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, declaring climate change the nation’s most pressing issue and promising to build his White House bid around it.

“It is time for our nation to set a new priority,” Inslee told supporters gathered at a solar panel business in Seattle. “This is truly our moment. It is our moment to solve America’s most daunting challenge and make it the first, foremost and paramount duty of the United States, and that is to defeat climate change.”

The 68-year-old former congressman becomes the first governor to enter a race dominated by senators. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper are eyeing presidential campaigns.

It will not be easy for Inslee to garner attention with six prominent senators — Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — already running. Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke also are expected to make highly anticipated 2020 announcements in the coming weeks.

But Inslee says his emphasis on combating climate change will set him apart from his competitors and from Republican President Donald Trump.

“Climate change is a unifying issue,” Inslee told The Associated Press in a recent interview, calling it a moral necessity and an economic opportunity.

He promises substantial investment in clean energy sources that reduce American dependence on fossil fuels. “This issue is connected to virtually every other value system and thing we want to do in our communities,” he said, mentioning environmental justice, infrastructure, clean energy, health care and national security.

Inslee argues that no presidential candidate has hinged a campaign as heavily on climate and environmental policy as he will. He plans his first trip as a candidate to Iowa next week, with events geared to climate issues. Trips to Nevada and California will follow.

He may have a larger opening on climate since billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer has passed on a national campaign, opting instead to continue his advocacy for impeaching and removing Trump from office. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who has spent millions of dollars on climate issues, may run.

Steyer hasn’t indicated whether he’ll use his fortune to back a presidential candidate, but he welcomed Inslee’s announcement, tweeting Friday, “It’s good to know that a climate champion like GovInslee will be in the race, pushing the country to recognize what is at stake.”

Inslee has not specifically endorsed the Green New Deal introduced by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, though he said last month that he was “thrilled that this … resolution has been brought forward” as a way to push for action.

He has argued separately for an issue-by-issue approach that adds up to sweeping change. He generally avoids promising specific reductions of carbon emissions under an absolute timeframe. The Green New Deal targets 2030 for the U.S. to become net carbon neutral.

Despite his emphasis on climate policy, Inslee says he’s not a one-issue candidate. A former congressman, he pitches his breadth of personal and political experiences as ideal to bridge political and cultural divides among the Democratic base and the broader electorate.

In Congress, he voted against the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and for a ban on certain military-style guns. In Washington, he has signed a new paid family and medical leave program and expanded the Medicaid government insurance program under Democrats’ 2010 health care law.

Associated Press associate polling director Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.