Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck leads a five-candidate field for state's deputy chief executive

Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck has a double-digit lead over four challengers and is well positioned to advance to the general election this November, the Northwest Progressive Institute’s July 2024 Top Two survey of the August electorate has found.

24% of 581 likely voters interviewed last week by Public Policy Polling for NPI said Heck was their choice for Lieutenant Governor this year, while 43% said they were not sure who they were voting for. Of Heck’s four August challengers, Republican Dan Matthews looks likeliest to move on to November, with 13% of respondents saying they’d vote for him. 9% backed another Republican, Bob Hagglund, who has run unsuccessfully for state and local office before. 8% picked Democrat David Griffin, and 3% picked Patrick Harman, who amusingly describes himself as a “Liberal Republican.”

The office of Lieutenant Governor is one of nine elected statewide positions in the state’s executive department. Aside from filling in for the governor, the Lieutenant Governor presides over the Washington State Senate as its President and serves as a liaison to consuls based in the region on behalf of the state government.

Within the Senate, the Lieutenant Governor also chairs the powerful Rules Committee, which decides what bills will get to the floor, and can influence its decisions.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2024/07/lieutenant-governor-denny-heck-leads-a-five-candidate-field-for-states-deputy-chief-executive.html