(calming music) (calming music continues) Hi, everybody.

Thank you very much, and thanks for watching us here on the WSU Tri-Cities campus.

I am Matt Loveless, as Mary said, a scholarly assistant professor of broadcast journalism at Washington State University.

I'll be moderating tonight's forum.

I call it a forum.

We will get responses to a number of questions on topics related to the attorney general position here in Washington State.

We will not have rebuttals for this forum.

In fact, through our mission and public media, we've prided ourselves on giving our candidates here a very fair opportunity in a non-hostile environment to state their position on any number of issues.

And for those watching on television or via stream, we did wanna let you know we do have a live audience here at the WSU Tri-Cities Auditorium.

We'll get a chance to ask some questions the audience submitted later in the program, but we'll set a few ground rules here.

The candidates know these.

These questions tonight come from, or are vetted by, our State League of Women voters.

Now generally speaking, we have response time set at 60 seconds for each of the planned questions in the program.

There will be an electronic timer.

This timer will turn yellow at 15 seconds and then red when that minute is up.

We ask candidates just to finish up their thought quickly so we can move on to the next.

There are no opening statements, but we will have time at the end for one minute closing statements.

Each candidate will answer first an equal number of times.

We're gonna rotate those responses equitably.

Our promise is to keep things fair throughout the course of this program.

And we also have some rules for our live audience.

One, please mute your cell phones.

And please hold your applause until after the close of our forum.

We also ask no recording of this forum is allowed.

We are streaming this on a number of places.

We have passed out index cards to those in the audience who wish to ask a question of the candidates.

The League will vet those, will bring them to me before the end of the program.

We already have some in from our audience members.

We appreciate that.

Alright, now let's talk about this race.

An attorney general position unchanged for the last 12 years in the state of Washington, but Bob Ferguson is now running for governor.

We'll have somebody new in this position.

What is the position?

The AG advises the governor and legislators, represents Washington's interests on things like Supreme Court decisions and just generally advocates and advises for any number of legal issues facing the state.

Three candidates filed to run in the primary.

All three agreed to be here tonight.

That's our first collective election victory.

Nick Brown, former General Counsel for Governor Jay Inslee.

Appointed, 2021, to be the US attorney for Western Washington.

Manka Dhingra is here, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney in King County and a deputy majority leader in the Washington Senate.

And Pete Serrano, an attorney in the city of Pasco.

Served as an environmental lawyer for the US Department of Energy at Hanford.

Now serving as mayor on the Pasco City Council.

We wanna thank you all for your time and travel to this event tonight.

We really appreciate it.

And with that, let's get started.

Again, these questions created vetted by the League of Women Voters of Washington State.

I mentioned we don't have opening statements, but we can tee them up by being a little bit broad here.

As I read those single sentences of your resumes, I'll let you sort of fill in some of those gaps.

The question is, why are you running, and why are you the best candidate for the position?

Mr. Serrano, we'll start with you.

One minute.

- Thank you.

I appreciate that.

I've decided to run because for the past several years, as you mentioned, Matt, I worked for the Department of Energy.

Then, I worked for Energy Northwest.

So I've known the very critical infrastructure, and energy issues, and environmental issues that are pervasive throughout the state of Washington.

I also worked on cases early in my career where we kept the federal government in check by suing the United States Environmental Protection Agency when it failed to give notice and comment to the public that they were gonna regulate rates by charging, in particular our client, a 10,000 municipality organization, $40 million to retrofit plants, their wastewater treatment plants.

They failed to provide notice and comment to those folks.

And the government has an obligation to be transparent, and open, and honest with the people.

Recently, for the past three years, I've fought back to pull back on government transparency and also to protect individual rights as the government's overreached.

So I believe that those principles are the bedrock of our freedom, and that's why I'm the best candidate.

- [Matt] Thanks Mr. Serrano.

Mr. Brown.

- Thank you for the question, Matt.

And first of all, thank you to the League of Women Voters, to WSU Tri-Cities, and Northwest Public Broadcasting for having us all here tonight.

This is an incredibly important race, and I'm excited to be the next attorney general for the state of Washington.

I was raised in Pierce County by two parents who were veterans and lifelong public servants.

And all throughout my life they pushed me to give a about what happening about my community and the people in it.

And as a lawyer, I've always striven to be using the tool of law for justice, to help people.

And that was true when I served in the US Army JAG Corps and helped soldiers and families and represented my country.

That is true when I served as the US Attorney for the Western District of Washington and led a large public law firm.

And that is true when I served as Governor Inslee's general counsel, working on complex law and policy issues.

That experience, I think, makes me uniquely qualified for this position to represent the people of the state of Washington, to make sure rights and liberties are defended, and to make sure that our core values are always upheld on behalf of the state.

- [Matt] Thank you Mr. Brown.

Ms. Dhingra, you're up.

- Thank you.

Good evening, everyone.

It is such a pleasure to be here with all of you today.

Thank you for being here.

You know, I have spent my entire career fighting for the people of Washington in the courtroom as a senior deputy prosecuting attorney and in the state Senate, making sure that I'm standing up for survivors of violence, immigrants, women, LGBTQI individuals.

And I ran in 2017 because I was appalled by what had just happened at the federal level.

And it's important that we have people who wanna stand up, and fight for their values, and work on tough issues, and deliver results, and not do things that are politically convenient.

And I'm running to be the next Attorney General of Washington to make sure that regardless of where you come from, what you look like or who you are, that you are protected in this state.

This is not an appointed position.

This is an elected position, and you need someone who has both the legal expertise and the political expertise.

And that is what I bring to this job.

And I would be honored to have your support.

- Excellent.

Thank you very much Ms. Dhingra.

Good job staying on time here.

Like I said, this will go quickly.

And question number two, we'll get right to it.

In this position, you would get the opportunity to advocate or create.

An example from just a week ago, Attorney General Ferguson launched a youth helpline here in the state of Washington.

So looking ahead, what do you think will be the three most important issues that the AG's office will be addressing just during the next year?

Mr. Brown, we'll start with you on this one.

- Well, I think that's the best question here tonight about what are we gonna prioritize moving forward?

And I think AG Ferguson has set a standard and a legacy for each of us to build upon moving forward.

And there are things I would like to continue, but from my vantage point, no matter where I travel in this state, what I hear from people are some common themes.

They're very concerned about public safety issues.

How do we deal with firearm violence, the fentanyl crisis?

How do we keep people safe from discrimination in their homes, their jobs, and communities?

That is going to be a principle priority of my office moving forward.

We are all concerned about defending our democracy and our liberties.

And I am very concerned about how those are being attacked now at the state and national level.

And certainly with the prospect of a second Trump administration, we have to have an attorney general who's ready to stand up and defend the liberties here.

That includes our voting rights, abortion access, protecting our environment.

And I will always be an attorney general who advocates for the people, the people that don't have a voice that are often left outta these conversations, and working to defend their liberties and advocate for the people struggling to get by will be a big focus of the office.

- Mr. Brown, thank you very much.

Ms. Dhingra, three most important issues - Thank you.

You know, I will say it will depend on what happens in November.

If there is a Trump administration, then we have to do everything we can to protect Washingtonians, making sure we're protecting reproductive rights, LGBTQI rights, that we are focused on consumer protection, that we are focused on data privacy.

Those are all the laws that I have worked on as a state senator.

I have written and passed those laws and those are the laws the attorney general's office will be in charge of enforcing.

So I will be ready to go on day one.

Assuming Trump doesn't win, I'll mention three top priorities.

Consumer protection is very important to me.

The manner in which all of us, especially our elderly, are targeted for fraud is becoming more and more sophisticated.

We need our laws to keep up with technology.

And we have to make sure the AG's office is going out and educating people on their rights.

We have to make sure we're protecting our environment, making sure we have clean water, clean air.

And I have to say access to healthcare is critical.

No matter where you live in the state of Washington, everyone should have access to healthcare from the top of the heads down to their toes.

- Thank you very much.

Mr. Serrano.

- Thank you.

The three primary focuses will be safety, transparency, and making sure that we protect the people of Washington and your rights, regardless of who's in office, whether it's in DC or in Olympia, regardless of whether I agree with that individual or those individuals, regardless who's in the majority passing laws.

Safety.

As Mr. Brown mentioned, we've got the fentanyl crisis.

That needs to be prosecuted.

We need the ability to have the tools of an attorney general who's hyper-focused with local prosecutors, with local sheriffs, with local police departments.

As the mayor of Pasco, for anyone who's come here from across the river, you know that we are consistently one of the safest cities in Washington.

For the six years I've been on city council, I've made that a high priority.

I'm currently the mayor of that city, and I want to make sure that my city remains safe.

Now, I do that presently in that seat.

I'll do it as attorney general and make sure that you're safe down here.

As far as transparency, we need an attorney general who's open and honest with the people.

We're not currently seeing that in the administration, and I'll work to rectify that.

And then lastly, focusing on your rights, regardless of who's in the other offices.

- All right, Mr. Serrano, thank you very much.

Let's move on to question number three and right now the attorney General's office involved in kind of 10 active lawsuits, at least the ones they have listed: Kroger, Albertsons merger, price fixing on prescription drugs, social media lawsuits.

You can find details of those on the attorney general's website.

So question three is, how would you decide whether to bring a lawsuit against a person, a business, or an agency?

I'll start with you, Ms. Dhingra.

- Thank you.

You know, it's very important that the attorney general's office enforce the laws of the State of Washington, and we have to make sure that we are being vigilant and that we are holding bad actors accountable.

I am a litigator.

I have spent 20 years as a King County prosecutor, but you also have to make sure that you are working with people, you are finding solutions, and you are making sure that the changes you make are sustainable.

I mentioned healthcare.

We have to make sure we're taking a look at healthcare mergers all across the state.

And I don't just mean hospitals.

We have to take a look at insurance, pharmacies, pharmacy benefit managers.

That is really, really critical.

We have to make sure we are holding our polluters accountable because, as a mother, I need my children, my grandchildren, to have clean water, clean air.

We need to make sure that we don't have lead in our soil or cancer clusters.

So it is a responsibility of the attorney general's office to make sure we are implementing our laws, and enforcing our laws, and making sure we are holding bad people accountable.

- Mr. Serrano.

- Thank you.

You know, the two titles that I appreciate as an attorney are advisor and counselor.

You know, the primary scope of the AG's office is to provide advice, counsel and representation to the state of Washington and its agencies.

My first critical element will be to make sure that we are adequately advising those agencies in-house to make sure that the rules and regulations they're passing are, in fact, constitutional.

We'll provide that openly and transparently.

And when bad actors come in from outta state and they want to, you know, subvert the rights of the individuals of Washington, whether it's, as Senator Dhingra said, polluting our waters, polluting our soils, making sure that they're held accountable for their activities.

You know, as to which particular individuals or agencies, I don't have a list of that running yet, but the key element is to make sure that we are protecting the people of Washington, whether it's from internal or external forces, to make sure that their rights are protected, their future's protected.

I wanna make sure my kids have a future to grow up in Washington, and that's a big part of why I'm here.

- Thanks, Mr. Serrano.

And Mr. Brown, how would you decide whether to bring a lawsuit?

- Well, it's important that everyone understand that at base, the attorney general is the lawyer for the people.

That is why we have a separately elected constitutional officer, not solely to represent the state government, but to represent the people.

And I will always keep the people's interests top of mind for me.

And the analysis will always be, no matter the subject, is this in the best interest of Washingtonians, are we the right agency to bring that case, and do we have a case to bring it?

If these three things line up, then I will aggressively litigate on behalf of the people of the state of Washington.

And moving forward, there are gonna be a number of really big challenges.

As the consumer protection advocate, we have to make sure that people are not being defrauded by big corporations, that are misleading them in their business practices.

And we have to be unafraid to bring those cases.

I'm very concerned about healthcare issues, particularly with healthcare consolidation.

As hospitals talk about cutting back on services and taking away abortion access, we have to make sure that we're litigating there moving forward.

And I am a proud alumni of Governor Inslee.

And environmental protection is the top of mind for me.

And bringing those cases to protect the environment is going to be a huge priority.

- Thank you very much, Mr. Brown.

Alright, let's move on to the next question, especially as we talk about businesses and mergers, the current attorney general in many states are in a number of cases against the United States government itself.

So what would be your policy on challenging federal policies or actions?

Mr. Serrano, your first here.

- Yeah, thank you.

I appreciate that.

You know, in my private experience as general counsel of a non-profit organization, Silent Majority Foundation that I founded, one of our first lawsuits was to sue the Biden administration to make sure that workers were protected, that their healthcare, their freedom of religion, and their freedom of expression was at the top of the priority.

I have no issues suing, whether it's the state agencies or whether it's the federal agencies.

Regardless of who's in that office, as we've consistently said, each one of us, the, excuse me, most important people to look towards are the Washingtonians.

Every single resident needs a voice.

That comes from this elected office, regardless of whether you and I agree or disagree, I will be there to represent you.

And I'm gonna look at what the agency's doing and how it impacts Washington.

And if there's a direct hit that impacts our rights, I will stand for you, regardless of who's in that office, and regardless of the rulemaking that's being proposed.

- Alright, Mr. Serrano, thank you.

Mr. Brown.

Same question to you.

- Yeah, absolutely.

We have to be unafraid to litigate on behalf of the people of the state of Washington, whether that means against the national government, whether that's the Biden administration or the Trump administration, whether that means other states, or whether that means big corporations.

You have to have an attorney general who's fearless in the moment and is going to advocate on behalf of the people of Washington.

And because I've been the United States attorney for Western Washington and spent many years working with the Department of Justice, I think I bring a wealth of experience to bringing big multi-jurisdictional cases.

And I have a great understanding of how the federal government works and how to bring those cases on behalf of the people of Washington.

And we're gonna have big challenges, whether that means the Trump administration or the Biden administration.

We have to be diligent in watching the back of Washingtonians.

And I give AG Ferguson a lot of credit.

He obviously made lots of headlines suing the Trump administration, but he also sued the Biden administration to protect abortion medication here in Washington.

And that set the stage for some of the national litigation to make sure that was protected here in the state of Washington.

And that is a great model moving forward.

Does it protect Washingtonians?

If yes, then bring the case.

- And Ms. Dhingra, any policy on addressing federal issues?

- Absolutely.

You know, I ran for office for the first time in 2017 because it was important that regular everyday people, people who don't come from the political establishment, run for office.

I stood up to challenge the status quo.

And that is what I've been doing for the last seven years.

You know, very early on in my career, I was told that the only thing you truly own in your life is your reputation.

And I'm honored to have the reputation of being someone who fights for tough issues.

I'm honored to have the reputation of being someone who delivers results.

And I'm honored to have the reputation of being a champion for working people.

I had the career that I'm very proud of as a senior deputy prosecuting attorney, as someone who fought for survivors of violence.

And this, this what I'm doing is to really make sure we have leaders who are committed to their values and are going to do what's right and not what's politically convenient.

And that is what people are going to get from me.

And this is why, frankly, I have over 200 endorsements from individuals and organizations all across the state.

- Ms. Dhingra, thank you very much.

Well, let's talk about one of those specific issues, perhaps.

If there is a change in federal policy calling for the mass arrests of undocumented immigrants, a question of interest, particularly in this part of the state and has been proposed by some of those federal candidates, what would your response be, Mr. Brown?

- Well, we have to step back a moment and think about who we're talking about.

We're talking about people.

We're talking about families, We're talking about children.

People that are friends and neighbors in our communities all across Washington State.

And if there are threats to their liberties, their rights, their constitutional rights here, whether they are citizens of the United States or undocumented, we need an attorney general who's ready to defend their rights because that is our role, to defend the people of the state of Washington.

You know, the last six months of my time with Governor Inslee were the first six months of the Trump administration.

And I remember quite vividly when the first Trump Muslim ban came out, and that set shockwaves across this state and across this country.

And I was honored to be on the ground helping the Inslee administration respond to that, working with AG Ferguson and his team to respond to that, to bring a case on behalf of the people of the state of Washington.

And we not only change the arc of justice for the people here, but all across this country.

And that is the attitude that we have to bring and the challenges that we might have under a second Trump administration are going to be severe, and we have to be ready.

- [Matt] Thank you, Mr. Brown.

Ms. Dhingra, same question to you.

- Thank you.

You know, I'm a proud immigrant.

I was actually born in Popal, India.

My mother, a young widow at the age of 33, moved to this country with my brother and I because our immigration laws enabled her to do so at that point in time.

And if or when elected, I will be the only immigrant attorney general in the country.

And I cannot tell you how important it is to have that voice at the national stage.

This is the American story.

We have to make sure that we are protecting all Washingtonians.

When Trump talks about rounding up immigrants and deporting them, he's talking about people who look like me, people who look like they don't belong, and he's gonna what?

Stop and detain us?

That is unacceptable, and it is never going to happen in the state of Washington.

I'm very proud to have worked on legislation and passed legislation called Keep Washington Working to make sure that we are protecting all Washingtonians, regardless of their legal status.

And that is what I'm committed to doing as, hopefully, the first immigrant attorney general in the United States.

And I'm honored to have the endorsement of One America.

- Thank Ms. Dhingra.

And Mr. Serrano, same question.

- Thank you.

I appreciate the senator's personal story there because the most important thing we have in this situation to ensure that those who have come here legally, that they're protected, that anyone that's waiting in queue to have their status that's applied for citizenship, or residency, or anything of that nature, that they remain protected, and that they don't get caught up in any type of potential future mass arrest, as you said.

That would be the focus, is to protect those who have been desperately waiting to live the American dream because they've been patiently waiting, they've crossed the Ts, dotted the Is, and they want to live that American dream.

We shouldn't be allowing anyone, regardless of where they're coming from, the northern border, the southern border, or the ports, to skip the line and cheat those folks out of their ability to live the dream.

So I would be hyperfocused on making sure those individuals are well protected.

I personally don't see mass arrests forthcoming.

I think it's more hyperbole and so, you know, I'd rather focus on protecting folks who are waiting patiently.

- Alright, thank you Mr. Serrano.

All right, let's move on to question number six.

Let's stay on the topic of some of the active work of the AG's office.

Are there any pending cases or issues when you would assume office that you might drop?

Or to ask the question just a little bit more broadly, what would you change from what the current AG is doing?

Ms. Dhingra.

- Thank you.

You know, I'm not talking about lawsuits being dropped, but hoping to resolve.

We've had the True Blood Lawsuit.

This is about individuals who are in our state hospitals because they've been charged with felonies.

The state has been paying millions of dollars in fines.

We have to resolve this lawsuit.

We need an attorney general who is a champion of mental health and has a statewide voice.

This is an issue that impacts every single human being in the state of Washington.

They either are struggling with mental health issues or they know someone who is.

We need an attorney general who will make sure that we are providing appropriate levels of care around the entire mental health spectrum.

That means forensic mental health, it means civil commitment, and it really ensures that we are creating structures so that people can move within these different systems effortlessly.

But we have to make sure that the next attorney general resolves the True Blood Lawsuit, which really is not the humane way to treat individuals who are struggling with severe mental illness and are currently in our jails and prisons.

- Thank you very much.

Mr. Serrano, anything you would change or do differently?

- Yeah, one of the things that I think I'd change, I've talked to several prosecutors They've said they've requested assistance from Bob Ferguson's office.

And the question that they've gotten in return is, "How will this affect my legacy?"

Mind you, these are organizations, duly elected prosecutors stand for your and my rights to prosecute crime in our communities, and the first question is, "What's in it for me?"

That's problematic.

We need our prosecutors to be well-informed, well-funded, and to make sure that they know that the AG's got their back when issues come.

There's no question there are often conflicts that arise.

I've talked to our local prosecutor across the river in Franklin County where I reside, and he is told me about some of these conflicts, whether it's an officer involved shooting or something of that nature.

Typically, they'll refer it out to a different prosecutor.

But the AG's office has looked to create or has created an organization called Office of Independent Investigations.

We need to ensure that there's fair and adequate treatment of each one of these prosecutors and they receive what they need to do their job.

- Mr. Serrano, thank you very much.

Mr. Brown, same question.

- Sure.

I mean, the framework that we need to bring to this is much like some of the conversation we've already had.

When one of us takes over as the next attorney general, we're gonna have to sit down and read through the cases, talk to our leadership team, and understand the current focus, and interest, and cases that we have and evaluate those, and continue to represent the people of the state of Washington.

I will continue to defend our gun safety laws that are working to keep us safe from gun violence.

I will continue to be aggressive in our consumer protection cases that are keeping our victims of fraud protected from big corporate interest.

And that is the work we'll move forward.

And as I said earlier, there's a great legacy from AG Ferguson to build upon, and I have a lot of experience in this.

When I became the US attorney, I took over from a Republican administration, and the first thing I did was sit down and analyze the cases that were brought under my predecessor, and work with my team, and figure out the best way to move these cases forward on behalf of the state of Washington.

And the last thing I'll say is there's a lot of ways to solve problems for the people of the state of Washington.

Sometimes that means cases.

Sometimes that just means using your convening authority.

And sometimes that means just getting people together to try to solve these problems without a case.

And we have to bring that mindset to the job.

- Alright, thank you very much.

Well, let's move on to question number seven.

As the attorney general's office sometimes called upon to prosecute police misconduct, particularly excessive use of force cases, wondering what criteria you would use to decide when to pursue such cases?

Mr. Serrano.

- Thank you, I appreciate that.

And as I mentioned, we have issues where prosecutors have sought intervention from the attorney general's office and he is declined.

The first thing I would do is I'd look at the facts and evidence.

I mean, I'm a lawyer.

That's what I'm supposed to do.

I look at the facts, the evidence, and the law.

And the question would be whether or not it's truly an excessive use of force.

One of the issues in talking with various police officers and police unions, whether it's here locally or throughout the state, that I hear is the AG's office provided an excessive use of force and a use of force policy.

I believe it's 12 pages, and it's, from what I've been told, very unclear, very uncertain.

And it lacks the ability to be implemented easily and in a streamlined process.

So mind you, these officers are making split second decisions, and they've got a policy that's kind of hunkered down in verbiage that they can't understand.

First thing I'll do is review that and coordinate that with my team, and say, how can we actually implement something that these officers can be well trained on and they can implement in a way to safely protect Washingtonians?

- [Matt] Thank you very much.

Mr. Brown.

- I think this is one of the most important issues the state is gonna be facing in the coming years.

And we all want to be safe.

No matter where we live, no matter who we are, we all want to be safe, whether that means you're a Republican living in a conservative part of the state, or you're a very liberal person living in a different part of the state.

We all wanna be safe from gun violence or from police misconduct.

And that I think is actually something that should unify us, not divide us.

When we have a situation where somebody's rights have been violated, whether that's by a perpetrator of a crime, who is just a citizen, or whether that's someone who is in uniform, we bring the same analysis.

You look at the law, you look at the facts, and decide is that person's rights violated?

Do you have a case to make?

And then you bring it if you can.

And we should be unafraid.

And I've worked with law enforcement all throughout my career.

When I started my career in the Army JAG Corps, I worked with Army military soldiers.

When I served in the Department of Justice, I worked with federal and local law enforcement agencies from all across the district.

And I continued that work as United States Attorney.

And I know how hard their work and how valued their jobs are, but we have to hold them accountable when crimes have been committed.

- Mr. Brown, thank you.

Ms. Dhingra, same question to you.

- Thank you so much.

You know, our law enforcement officers have a really tough job.

They're called when no one else can show up.

And when you call them, they have to come.

As a senior deputy prosecuting attorney, I actually helped create the 40-hour crisis intervention training for law enforcement.

I was a trainer at the Criminal Justice Training Commission for 10 years before I stepped down to run for office.

And as a senator, I actually did a lot of work on police accountability.

And I'll tell you one of my favorite superhero Spider-Man, they always say what?

That, "With great power comes great responsibility."

And we give our law enforcement officers the power to take a life.

And with that power comes the responsibility to use that appropriately.

So I will always take a look at the facts and the evidence to make sure that we are doing the right thing.

And I'm the only person I know who has received an award from both the NAACP for my leadership and passion for equity and justice and been Legislator of the Year by Washington Police Chiefs and Sheriffs.

And I'm very proud of both of those awards.

- Ms. Dhingra, thank you very much.

And in the last responses you used the words responsibility.

Accountability was a word you used as well, Mr. Brown.

This next question sort of segues into that.

As we've had some recent discussions with candidates for the Washington legislator on legislative privilege, certainly not as a common a term as we might know as attorney client privilege, how would you reconcile these privacy privileges?

This includes work product privilege, which protects prepared documents leading up to some legal proceedings with the need for transparency as the public is asking for that more and more?

Mr. Brown, we'll let you start here.

- Well, we are at a time in our state and frankly in our country where public distrust of people in government, people in politics, elected leaders, appointed leaders is at an all time high.

And part of the reason for that is that they don't think that the government is being honest with them.

And the best way to ensure that and to improve some of these trust issues is to demand transparency at every level in the legislature, in local government, and any leader who holds a position of authority.

And that is something that is reflected, not only in our values, but in Washington law.

We have one of the most robust public records act in the country.

And that is provided the public with more transparency than they might otherwise be a guaranteed in other states.

And as the attorney general, I'm gonna be committed to growing that work, to being more transparent.

When I was Governor Inslee's counsel, one of the first things that we did is ensure that he never used the executive privilege in the governor's office to withhold records.

It was the first governor in history to do that.

As his general counsel, that was my job to ensure that we stuck to that, and we showed that government could still work with that level of transparency.

- [Matt] Thank you, Mr. Brown.

Ms. Dhingra, same question.

- You know, I spent my career at the King County prosecutor's office where we were subject to public disclosure.

And that is the way I have always led my professional life is subject to the public disclosure.

And as a senator, I have never exerted legislative privilege because I fundamentally believe when people truly understand the work that I do and how I do it, I personally think they're gonna be very impressed.

So I welcome people asking for my work product.

I welcome them asking for the way I have been doing the work on behalf of the people of Washington.

That is the way I have existed my entire professional career.

And that is the way I will continue to be.

- Ms. Dhingra, thank you very much.

Mr. Serrano, reconciling that gap between privacy privilege, and the public's right to know.

- Yeah, as I mentioned, I started my career in Washington DC suing the USCPA.

A big foundational principle of that rule making challenge was the Freedom of Information Act.

The Freedom of Information Act, or, as Nick's mentioned, the Public Records Act here in Washington State, grants the people the right and ability to request documents, records, and information from its government.

As Nick mentioned, it is extremely robust.

It provides you and I the ability to talk and request what they're doing.

We absolutely need to maintain that transparency.

I've been involved in several, both, again, starting my career, suing on the Freedom of Information Act, then working at US Department of Energy assisting with facilitating responses to Freedom of Information Act requests, at Energy Northwest, assisting with public records requests, and now in private practice I've sued on both.

And so I think there's a real balance there where we need to advise the legislature, hey look, you need to be more transparent with the people.

Similarly, in the city of Pasco, we always work towards that transparency.

- Alright, Mr. Serrano thank you very much.

Mr. Brown, you've talked about working with Governor Jay Inslee a couple of times.

These next couple of questions sort of address that idea of working together, the thing everybody likes to say, maybe the public doesn't feel like many like to do.

But the question is, how do you envision the relationship between the AG and the Governor, and let's say this, irrespective of who wins that race in the fall?

Ms. Dhingra, we'll start with you.

- Thank you so much.

I actually really pride myself in being extremely bipartisanship.

You know, last session was a short session.

Most people get two or three bills passed.

I got 12 bills passed.

Very substantial, huge bills dealing with trafficking, sexual assault, gun bills.

Every single bill was bipartisan.

I even had Republican support for my gun bill.

I was very proud of that.

Didn't expect it, but I was very proud of that.

And to me, that is how you show up to do this work.

You have to show up in an honest way.

You have to talk about values.

You have to fight for the right things.

And you have to make sure that everyone, everyone, regardless of what they believe in, has a seat at the table.

Because when you are focused on solving real problems and doing it in a meaningful way, people respect that, and they show up for that.

And that is why I have the reputation that I do of working on tough issues and bringing everyone together to do it.

I am often called to negotiate tough builds in the legislature, work on tough policies because of that.

And regardless of who's in the governorship, I will make sure that I have a great working relationship with everyone.

- Ms. Dhingra, thank you.

Mr. Serrano, same question to you sir.

- Yeah, thank you.

I think regardless of who's in the governorship, it's gonna be extremely important that I have the ability to advise them according to their needs.

Similarly, presumably, unless a lot of seats are picked up, I'd be a Republican working with Democrat legislature in both houses.

So I realize that we may not agree on a lot of things, but at the end of the day, God willing, those who are elected to those positions are really focused on the people of Washington.

And if we can work together for the betterment of the people, we're gonna do a lot, especially this will be a forced by partisan manner.

I mean, simply put, you have your legal advisor from one party who's in the minority right now, and advising those who may be in the majority party who have differing views.

And I think it'll be great for the people of Washington to see, hey, look, our chief legal officer is advising, regardless of of who it is, the same streamlined...

The first question, is it constitutional?

And does this help Washingtonians?

And we'd start there, and I think we'd be able to work really well together.

- [Matt] Thanks Mr. Serrano.

Mr. Brown.

- Sure.

I actually think we have more in common than we recognize.

As I said earlier, we all wanna live in safe communities.

We all wanna have schools that our kids can go to.

We all wanna live in a safe, and healthy, and clean environment.

That's regardless of whether you're Republican or a Democrat.

These are shared values that all Washingtonians have, I think.

And as long as we keep that at principle, we can work with anybody.

And I've got a lot of experience working with people who have disagreed with me on tough issues.

When I was Governor Inslee's counsel, I was often working with law enforcement communities on very difficult issues around body cameras or police accountability and use of force policy.

And those were sometimes very contentious conversations, but I always felt like that we left with a shared respect, a shared understanding, even if we disagreed.

And I know what it's like to work in the governor's office, I've been the governor's council, and I remember those meetings quite frequently when AG Ferguson and his team would come, and we'd have to hash out some difficult issues.

But as long as we keep in mind that we're working together for the people of the state of Washington, and we include the people in those conversations, and not just simply reside together in Olympia, or wherever our offices are, that is gonna make this the best place possible.

- And Mr. Serrano, you touched a little bit on this.

You'll start with this response here, but a similar question between the AG and the state legislators.

My question is, how does that relationship work and how can you get it to work well?

- Yeah, again, I think the foundational principle is by statute, the attorney general is the advisor to the State of Washington, meaning its agencies and its elected officials.

That's the statewide officials inclusive of the legislature.

And so I won't pretend that I've been there advising them as the attorney general, but simply put, there's an opportunity to advise.

I've seen Attorney General Ferguson's office author a lot of bills that say, at the request of the AG's office.

My present intention is not to do that.

Let the legislature legislate, let the attorney general advise and assist with making sure that those actions by the legislature are constitutional and they're protective of the people.

Again, I think hopefully we all have the same goal.

Make Washington safe, make sure that the rule of law is followed, and let's do what's best for the people.

And so I'm anticipating that even with the hard conversations, well, they have the ability to focus on the people and their rights.

- Thank you very much.

Mr. Brown.

- Thank you, Matt.

I think it's the same general principle as with dealing with the governor.

Regardless of our politics, our interests, or priorities, as long as we keep the interest of the people moving forward and keep that in focus, we'll be okay.

And throughout my career, I've had substantial experience doing just that.

As the US Attorney for the Western District of Washington, it was my job to work with our federal agency partners all across the district and advise them on their laws, on their requirements, and to try to keep people safe.

And the same thing was true with civil cases.

I did that for a number of years.

I did that when I was an assistant United States attorney working with federal government agencies, providing them with legal advice.

And I did that in Olympia when I worked for the governors, meeting with legislatures, talking about the bills they were passing, advising them of the legal issues that we were seeing from the governor's office.

And I will bring that experience to bear moving forward on behalf of the people of the state of Washington.

And I've done that in private practice.

I've served in private practice representing state and local government agencies all throughout Washington.

And I have clients today who are government entities, and I'm advising them on their rights and their obligations.

And that experience I think will be a great benefit as the next attorney general.

- And Ms. Dhingra same question to you as a state legislator.

- You know, it has been a very long time since we have had an attorney general come from the legislature.

I will be one such attorney general and you know, the job of the attorney general is twofold.

You have to have that legal expertise, but you gotta have the political expertise as well.

I will tell you that the vast majority of the Democratic legislatures have endorsed me.

And I can tell you, I suspect maybe some of our moderate Republicans might be voting for me as well.

But it really is about making sure that you have that relationship of trust, you have the ability for people to work with you and make sure you can deliver results.

And that is what I will be bringing because I do have the legal background, the political background, and the great relationship with our current legislature.

And I think we can really work on tough issues and deliver results because of that relationship that is built on mutual trust.

- Alright, thank you very much Ms. Dhingra.

Well, let's move on to our next question.

And considering the US Supreme Court's decision that the Second Amendment restricts local and state governments from regulating firearms, how will you address the enforcement of Washington laws regarding firearms?

Mr. Brown, you're first here.

- Thnk you.

And gun safety issues are such a pressing issue all throughout Washington.

We continue to see acts of gun violence, and that includes shooting where people are committing crimes, and that includes suicides and suicide attempts.

And we should be hyper-focused to do everything we can to make sure that this is as safe as place as we can be.

The Supreme Court's decision is clear about what the Second Amendment does and does not do.

What it does not do is does not limit states from continuing to come up with gun safety solutions.

And Washington State, to its credit, has continued to act gun safety measures.

I'm proud to represent the Alliance of Gun Responsibility in court.

I've been doing that for years.

I was proud to help write Initiative 1639, which is at a time when the legislature could not pass a bill around banning assault weapons, we passed that.

The people of State of Washington passed that.

I was so proud to write that and then defend that in court against the NRA and other gun advocates.

And we need to continue that approach.

And I actually have cases right now continuing to represent the State of Washington gun safety laws, and we need to bring that fight because it keeps people safer.

- [Matt] Alright, Ms. Dhingra, same question to you.

- Thank you.

I was the first candidate in the State of Washington to make gun violence prevention a campaign issue.

Again, I do think that you lead with your value instead of doing what's politically convenient.

And ever since that, in the last seven years, I have worked on gun legislation.

I worked on making sure we have a statewide ban on bump stocks, that we are addressing coast guns, that we have laws that ensures that we have safe storage, that we have background checks, that we have training for individuals who are buying weapons.

I already talked about the bipartisan gun bill that I had just this last session.

We have to make sure that individuals who have been found to be a danger to themselves or others actually surrender their firearms.

And that is what I'm committed on doing as the next attorney general is really making sure that we are enforcing our laws across the state.

And I'm honored to have been endorsed by the Alliance for Gun Responsibility.

- Thanks, Ms. Dhingra.

Mr. Serrano, same question to you, sir.

- Thank you.

I think this question's interesting because it pits the rights of the people against the protection of the people or the protection of criminals.

What we have that we need to be concerned about is public safety.

We need to ensure that those who have committed crimes, that those who have had history of acts of violence don't have the ability to inflict further violence on each other.

Nonetheless, we need to look at the Second Amendment.

We need to look at Article I, Section 24 of the Washington Constitution, which it makes a fundamental right, the right of firearms ownership.

So when my wife goes out at night with my kids without me while I'm on the campaign trail, she has the ability to save herself.

She has the ability to make sure that she's protected through obtaining a proper concealed carry permit.

That's what I wanna make sure.

Whether you're in Pasco, whether you're in Renton, whether you're in Yakima, if you're someone who needs the ability to protect yourself, you've gotta have that ability.

And we need to make sure as the attorney general, that criminals are prosecuted to keep our streets safe.

- Mr. Serrano, thank you very much.

And you sort of hint at the gray area there.

There's a lot more than just saying the word gun laws.

Let's get to some of that nuance because Washington laws provide for the issuance of what are called extreme risk protection orders.

That's when family members or law enforcement can seek to have firearms taken from individuals deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

Concerns been raised about sort of the uneven implementation of some of these laws in a number of jurisdictions across the state.

What would you do as an attorney general to change this situation?

Ms. Dhingra, you're first.

- Thank you so much.

This is what I was alluding to in my last answer.

As attorney general, we have to make sure that we are providing the resources that local law enforcement, need to ensure that we are removing guns from those individuals who have been found by a court order to be ineligible to possess a firearm.

I've had this conversation with a lot of prosecutors across the state, as well as law enforcement officers, and I can tell you that they would welcome the attorney general's office stepping in to help in this regard.

Law enforcement knows that one of the most dangerous calls they respond to is a domestic violence call.

We also know that individuals who have been charged with or have a conviction of domestic violence are at a greater rate of engaging in violent behavior.

So as AG, I'm committed on making sure that we provide the resources needed for every local prosecutor and law enforcement to make sure that those individuals who are found to be ineligible to possess a firearm do in fact surrender that firearm.

- [Matt] Ms. Dhingra, thank you.

Mr. Serrano, same question to you.

- Thank you.

And I appreciate the Senator highlighting the issues that we see that are pervasive with domestic violence.

When someone is subjected to that, they need a voice.

That voice needs to be the law, the rule of law, whether it's the attorney general's office, local police, or their local prosecutor.

One of the issues we do see, however, as you've mentioned Matt, is with extreme risk protection orders, is we see them unfairly implemented.

And I know, we're lawyers, we go to court, we look at the judge in the black robe, and hope to God that individual is actually unbiased and placing the facts, the law, and the elements of the case right at the front and center.

We gotta ensure that the police, that the local prosecutor are well trained on these issues.

So when the legislature adopts a law on these, the attorney general needs to be, as I mentioned, the use of force policy, from what I've been told on local law enforcement, is muddled.

We need to make sure that any of these extreme risks protection orders, the elements are very clear statutorily, and that the police, that the judge can implement the right factors in the right case, and not just make a biased opinion that's unfortunate.

- Thanks, Mr. Serrano.

And Mr. Brown, that same question to you, sir.

- Sure.

I think it's important to step back for a moment and recognize what these laws do.

Extreme risk protection orders, safe storage requirements, these laws saved lives.

You know, during the COVID era, suicide rates went up all across the country in almost every state.

They actually went down in the state of Washington.

We went from having a top 10 high suicide rate per capita to closer in the twenties.

And that didn't happen by accident.

It happened because the Washington State has enacted and enforced gun safety measures that reduce harm and keep people safe.

And that is the spirit we need to bring.

And this is particularly around suicide deaths.

You know, as much as we debate and argue about firearms related issues, I think we've all been touched by suicide by a friend, a colleague, a neighbor who has committed suicide or attempted suicide.

And the fact is that these laws have saved lives over the last few years.

And so we need to partner with law enforcement to explain the legal requirements to make sure they understand what their obligations are and are not.

And if they need resource help or additional help understanding of those requirements, that is the job of the attorney general.

- Thank you very much, Mr. Brown.

And during those responses, we about reached the halfway point of this program.

I'd ask our candidates take a deep breath.

We're moving on to part two of program, and we'll get to some audience questions here in just a few, but a few more from the League of Women Voters from the state of Washington.

How would you address allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the criminal justice system?

Mr. Serrano, we're back up to you.

- Yeah, again, as lawyers, we're always looking at the evidence presented, you know, and so when I hear that a prosecutor is, you know, abusing his or her authority, whether it's a prosecutor, or a sheriff, or a local police department, or individual, the first thing we do is look at what's before us.

You know, if there are general allegations, how are they substantiated?

I can't go to a judge and say, hey, I win the case because you like my hair today or you like what I bring to the table.

We need to make sure that those allegations are founded.

If they are founded, the AG's office should either look in-house to help solve the issue.

I've talked with one of Mr. Brown's counterparts who is the Eastern District of Washington US attorney.

No longer, but he was, and he suggested, "Hey, why not just refer some of these issues to the USAO, the US Attorney's Office."

That might be another partner that we could look to and say, hey, we've got issues in X, Y, Z county.

We're not resolving it in-house.

Can you, us attorney step in, provide some assistance to give us maybe a better view of what's going on here?

And so I think there's a lot of opportunity to make up that space.

- [Matt] Thanks, Mr. Serrano.

Mr. Brown, how would you address allegations of prosecutorial misconduct?

- I've spent the vast majority of my career as a lawyer in public service, as a prosecutor, as a defense lawyer in the army, working for state government, working for federal government.

And I think all of us should demand that our public officials are held to the highest standard, whether that's a politician, or elected leader, someone in law enforcement, or a prosecutor.

And if there are allegations of prosecutor misconduct, we need to investigate those thoroughly to make sure that we can build that trust and accountability in the public.

Nobody here, nobody watching at home, wants their local prosecutor to be violating the law or to be violating the rights of someone that they're dealing with.

And prosecutors have immense power and authority.

When I was the United States attorney for Western Washington, every indictment brought by the federal government had my name on it.

That was a power and responsibility that I took very seriously.

I reviewed every indictment closely.

I talked to my team about those cases to make sure that we had the right case, the right person, and we were the right venue to do that work.

And if anybody on my team would've been violating their law or their ethics, we would hold them responsible.

And moving forward, the AG should be engaged in that work to make sure that people have trust in their elected leaders.

- [Matt] Mr. Brown, thank you very much.

Ms. Dhingra, same question.

- Thank you.

You know, as a prosecutor for two decades, you know, I can tell you that when I was hired by Norm Melek, I was told very clearly that the job of the office is to do justice.

Not to get convictions, but to do justice.

And that has stayed with me my entire career because, as I mentioned before, with great power comes great responsibility.

And we know the ethic rules for prosecutors are much higher, as they rightfully should be because they do have a lot of power, they have a lot of discretion, and you gotta make sure you are holding people accountable, but you gotta make sure that we have cultures that are talking about justice, not about convictions.

This is what I did when I trained at the Criminal Justice Training Commission under Sue Rahr.

She was talking about changing police culture from having guardians of our community instead of warriors in our street.

I have changed cultures my entire life, and that is what I will continue to do to make sure that we are holding people accountable for the great power that they're given by the state.

- Ms. Dhingra, thank you very much.

First time we've had Spider-Man invoked twice in a debate before.

Alright, let's move on to the next question.

Washington tribes have seen increasing self-governance and self-determination as independent sovereign nations.

The question is, what would your policy be regarding state and tribal relationships in respect to some common legal issues?

Mr. Brown.

- Well first of all, Batman is my favorite superhero.

- [Matt] That would be the most controversial statement of the whole thing.

- Washington is blessed to have so many tribal nations within our state boundaries.

We have 29 federally recognized tribes here, and they bring an independent spirit and culture that benefits us all.

And Washington tribes are the first people of Washington.

And as the first people, they have treaty rights that we need to respect all the time.

And their sovereign rights need to be respected all the time.

I have a great deal of experience working with our tribal communities.

When I was an assistant United States attorney, I used to prosecute cases arising off of our tribal reservations, and I worked with tribal governments and tribal law enforcement.

When I was the governor's council, I worked with the tribes all across the state on gaming policy, on public safety issues, on environmental litigation.

Have deep relationships with the tribal community.

And as US attorney, it was my job in Western Washington to treat them as sovereign nations and with the same respect that we would treat any other nation.

And that has proven to be a benefit for the state of Washington.

And as we move forward looking at some of the immense challenges we have around environmental issues, around healthcare issues, there's a lot the non-tribal communities, the state government can learn from them.

And I intend to bring that partnership as attorney general.

- Thank you Mr. Brown.

Sorry for throwing you for your train of thought there at the beginning of that one.

Ms. Dhingra I wanna ask you that same question.

Your role as attorney general in terms of maintaining those legal relationships with the tribe.

- You know, it's really important to and treat our tribes as the sovereign nations that they are.

And that has to mean that you show up with respect.

But there are so many issues that we have to work together on to make sure we are providing solutions.

I was very proud to work on the task force that created the first in the nation Missing Murdered Indigenous Women's Task Force.

I'm really proud of the work that we have done in creating a cold case unit for missing murdered indigenous women at the attorney general's office.

You know, I was really proud of the work that I did on 988, creating an entire crisis system for the state of Washington to address mental health and substance use disorder.

And you know what we did when we created that?

We didn't forget about the tribes.

We created the first in the nation Native and Strong line to make sure that our tribes could also get the culturally competent services they need because we're seeing such a high rise in suicides and opioid issues with our tribal partners.

And last session, I was so proud to deliver on the warrants bill in making sure that we have full faith and credit for our tribal warrants.

- [Matt] Ms. Dhingra, thank you very much.

Mr. Serrano, same question.

- Yeah, thank you Matt.

As you mentioned, as I mentioned, what brought me up here nine years ago to Washington State was working for the Department of Energy right here in this backyard at the Hanford site.

A lot of the work that I did as Environmental Council crossed over with the tribes.

We respected their treaty rights.

We'd negotiate entrances onto their sacred land when necessary.

We'd avoid them when necessary.

We would work out mitigation strategies when we needed to do some work that might impact some particular areas.

Move forward, several years ago, the Colville Tribe, the Colville Nation, purchased land just north of Pasco, where the city of Pasco has been very welcoming and receptive.

If you look at the airport, you'll see the First Nation stuff, the signage, the information about those tribes within the airport that we wanted to respect and show off those nations.

Lastly, you know, right now the three cities of the Tri-Cities are working with several tribes on river shore reconveyance.

These are federal issues that impact us locally.

And so I've had the opportunity to sit down and engage with the tribes and say, "There are common interests.

What can we do to serve each other?"

- Mr. Serrano, thank you very much.

Alright, let's get onto question number 15 here in this forum.

The question is, how would you handle a request for a legal defense by an elected state official in a case where perhaps you disagreed with their legal theory on that particular case?

- I'm sorry, would you repeat that?

- How would you handle a request for a legal defense by a state legislator where perhaps you disagreed with their theory on the case?

- You know, as a lawyer, you gotta go where the facts and legal precedence takes you.

I actually clerked for one year with the State Supreme Court, and that is what I learned from Justice Barbara Madsen.

You cannot come to an issue with preconceived notions of the result that you want.

That is when judges and lawyers get into trouble.

We have to make sure that we are staying true to the facts, we're staying true to the evidence, and we are giving the best legal advice that is based on precedence.

And if that is not the result that people want, well that is the result that we have.

- Thank you very much.

Mr. Serrano, same question.

- One of the primary functions of the attorney general's office is to advise the legislature.

That's through what's called attorney general's opinions.

Online, I think they date back to like the 1960s.

And in paper, my understanding is they go back almost to the inception of the State of Washington, well over almost 150 years at this point.

Those attorney general's opinion may change.

They may change with administration, with new attorney general, but the critical element is what they're supposed to do is analyze the question or questions presented, and then analyze the supporting law and provide a conclusion.

That way the legislator can move forward with sound advice, with legal advice.

And so if someone comes with a preconceived notion, regardless of whether it's my current client or a future client, my job as Senator Dhingra said, is to look at the facts and the law.

Lady Justice is blindfolded.

I believe that's intentional.

It's an act that someone's undertaken to make sure that she doesn't perceive things that aren't there.

As the next attorney general, that's what I'll do, make sure that I'm advising according to law.

- [Matt] Mr. Serrano, thank you.

Mr. Brown, same question to you.

- You know, all throughout my career, I've been working with clients in the government side, in private practice, and advising them of what their rights are, what the legal theories that we can advance.

And that takes a great deal of experience to understand how to deal with various types of clients.

And I would view the legislature as no different.

Our job is to represent them, explain the law to 'em, explain what their legal options are, and then move forward.

Lawyers get to make the legal theory arguments.

Clients get to decide the big decisions in the case, whether to appeal, whether to sue, whether to drop a case, but lawyers get to litigate on their behalf.

And that relationship, that experience comes over many, many years of working with lots of different types of clients.

And I hope that we will have a policy and a relationship where we can work with the legislature early in the process.

AG opinions take months to develop.

Legislation is moving quickly, developing quickly, and the AG needs to be working with them directly as they're building laws and writing laws, so we make sure that we get to the end of the day with a product that is legally defensible and reflects the legislator's interest.

- Mr. Brown, thank you very much.

Now, we're gonna move on to some audience questions.

We appreciate those in attendance here for filling out some cards for us.

We want to ask some questions of your constituents here who wanted to hear what you had to say about a number of issues.

Mr. Serrano, you get to start with this round of questions.

This question is, "What will you do to stop Project 25 in Washington State?"

And further, explain your understanding of Project 2025.

- Yeah, my understanding is the Project 2025 project is funded by the Heritage Foundation, and the primary concern is that were Donald Trump to be reelected as president, that there'd be particular gutting of agencies.

Whether or not to stop Project 2025 is the right answer, I don't believe that's ever the right answer to presume something that, on paper, has a premise will be carried out exactly how it's intended.

So what I would look at is, the first question I would ask is whether or not any of these actions violate the constitutional rights of Washingtonians.

If, for example, removing a particular agency, or an administrative head, or slashing a budget in a way violated our rights, I would stand for you to make sure that your rights are protected.

Similarly, if we have no play in that, we have no play in that, regardless of whether it's modifying an agency, removing an individual, or terminating a budget that the State of Washington has no control over.

- Mr. Serrano, thank you very much.

Mr. Brown, same question about Project 25.

- Sure.

And for folks that don't know, and there's a lot happening in the political universe for us to follow everything, but Project 25 is a very specific blueprint for the actions of a Trump administration, should he be reelected later this year.

And it details, in my view, some pretty extreme plans for the next federal administration that would violate people's rights, that would violate not only their rights, but their liberties.

And we need to make sure that attorney generals all across this country are gonna be standing guard to protect the people in their states.

And I will certainly bring that attitude and experience to bear for the people of the State of Washington.

I don't wanna sue a presidential administration just to have my name in the headlines, just to bring a case because it might make me more popular.

But if I need to bring a case to protect the people of Washington, whether that's a trumpet administration or anybody else, we will absolutely do it.

But I think we should take Donald Trump at his word and his staff at their word, and they are outlining some very extreme plans.

And we need to take the fight to them, should those plans actually get enacted.

- [Matt] Mr. Brown, thank you very much.

Ms. Dhingra.

- Thank you.

You know, Trump told us he's gonna pack the Supreme Court, and he did.

He told us he was gonna overturn Roe, and he did.

I ran in 2017 because Trump got elected in 2016 because we have to do everything possible to make sure that we are protecting all Washingtonians.

We live in a country where my mother had more rights than my daughters currently do.

That is completely unacceptable.

We cannot sit by and let this country be dismantled.

I will do everything possible as attorney general to make sure we're protecting the rights of every Washingtonian and, in fact, every American because that is what Washington has been doing for the last eight years.

And I'm very proud of Bob Ferguson for standing up to the federal government.

And I'm proud to have the sole endorsement of Planned Parenthood because this is where it starts when you start attacking a woman's choice over her own body.

And that is not gonna happen under my watch.

- Ms. Dhingra thank you very much.

Alight, let's move on to our next question, another audience question.

"What would you do, if elected, to protect the rights of people with disabilities?"

Mr. Brown, that one starts with you.

- Yeah, I think that's a really important question because all around us, in our communities, and our own families, and our neighborhoods we have all sorts of different people.

And that's what makes this a great state.

And people with disabilities are often a protected class that gets forgotten about as we talk about defending people's civil rights, defending their liberties.

And we cannot forget about all the people in our community that are living with disabilities, some which are obvious to our eyes, and some which are hidden because of mental health challenges and others.

And we need to do as a state to be working diligently on policy and litigation that protects their rights.

When I was the US attorney for Western Washington, I was so proud to have a civil rights division that would aggressively go after civil rights violations for people with disabilities.

That included access to buildings, public buildings, and facilities.

I was the chair of the Civil Rights Committee for all of the US attorneys in the country.

And we took these issues very, very seriously because they are part of our community.

They have rights like everybody else, and they need to have the same freedom and opportunities that the rest of us have.

And the AG's office Civil Rights Division is one of the most important tools to protect people moving forward.

- [Matt] Thank you, Mr. Brown.

Ms. Dhingra, same question.

- Thank you so much.

You know, I am really honored to have won national awards from American Psychiatric Association, from NAMI Washington.

That's a national alliance on mental illness.

And it's because of the work that I've done with individuals with special needs.

I was proud to work on and pass the bill, Nothing About Us Without Us, which means really making sure you are creating space for everyone to actually have a voice when laws are made about them.

I'm proud to always say that I'm going to be an attorney general, not just for the adults in the state of Washington, but also for the children of the state of Washington.

I would love the Civil Rights Division to take a look at what is happening with our special needs students in our schools.

We have to make sure that their rights are being met through our schools, through the state.

It is unacceptable to me that we still ship many of our special needs student outta state because we cannot meet their needs in state.

So yes, I will be taking a look at everyone across the state to make sure that their rights are adhered to.

- And Mr. Serrano, just to restate the question, how would you protect people with disabilities in Washington State?

- I appreciate that.

I have several people who are very close to me who have disabilities, and they know that I am there for them all day, every day.

They know that I'm there to protect their rights, and I take a great privilege in defending their rights.

I look at the Office of State Public Superintendent.

They are failing our children in education.

To get an IEP, an individual educational plan, is nearly impossible.

To have it enforced is nearly impossible.

To get the right tools for your child or someone's theoretical child, nearly impossible.

The AG can do a lot by pushing down on those executives who fail their duties.

And so whether it's the children in schools or whether it's adults who are living with other disabilities, I'll be there for you.

- Mr. Serrano, thank you very much.

Alright, let's move on to our next question.

This one from local nurses here.

"How would you work to promote Safe Staffing legislation?"

With some context here on the card, says, "Currently nurses are forced to take more patients than what is considered safe."

Ms. Dhingra, you're first, - Thank you for that question.

You know, I gotta tell you, all of us who have ever had the unfortunate need to be in a hospital, it is the nurses who take care of us, that make the biggest difference.

I'm actually honored to have received an award from our nurses for negotiating meal and rest break a few years ago.

And to me, this is where you have to make sure that you are taking care of the people who are responsible for taking care of others.

During COVID, who did we figure out the essential workers were?

It was the people that we didn't really think too much about.

It was our grocery workers.

It was our nurses.

It was the people who were responsible for taking care of other humans.

So we gotta make sure that we are taking care of our caretakers and our caregivers, you know.

And I give you that example of negotiating that bill because that is what I do.

I'm called in to negotiate tough issues because I make sure we can listen to everyone and come up with a solution that works for everyone.

And I'm very proud of the award I got from the nurses for doing exactly that.

- Thank you very much, Ms. Dhingra.

Mr. Serrano, safe staffing legislation and the attorney general's role in that?

- Yeah, again, we've seen the current attorney general who's actually sponsored legislation.

My goal is to stay away from that, but advise the legislature and what they're doing.

But let me circle back to what I'm doing now.

Right now, I'm representing about 57 various hospital workers, most of whom are nurses.

Others are maintenance individuals.

These are individuals who are working to make sure that when you and I go into the hospital, we are well served and we are taken care of.

Their employer violated their rights, and I'm there standing for them to make sure that they have the opportunity to go back to work, work in safe conditions, and that they're there to serve their patients.

So what I can do is take those personal instances, maybe help those folks lobby for the legislation that they need.

Say, "Hey, here's a heads up, here's a bill."

It's forthcoming."

Whatever the case is, and then advise the legislature accordingly.

These are human rights issues.

Do your job.

- Mr. Serrano, thank you very much.

Mr. Brown, same question to you.

- Sure, well, I would be remiss if I didn't start by noting that I was raised by a nurse.

My mom started her career as an Army nurse.

That's actually how my parents met when they were both stationed in the Army at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital.

And so both my parents come from a public health background, and I know how vital they are and how hard they work without glory or pay.

And they work in very tough conditions and conditions that are getting tougher by the day.

It is the job of the attorney general to be an advocate for all of the people in the State of Washington.

That includes nurses.

That includes doctors.

That includes our patients.

But staffing levels are at a real crisis in many healthcare facilities across Washington State.

And those staffing levels has a direct impact not only on patients, but on worker safety.

When you don't have safe staffing levels, you have nurses, and doctors, and staff members at a hospital that become victims of assault, or harassment, or discrimination.

And it's the AG's job to advocate on their behalf, not only in a legislative context because the attorney general is not a legislator.

You're a litigator and a leader for the people.

And so we make sure that our laws are enforced and continue to advance laws that ensure safety.

- Mr. Brown, thank you very much.

All right, let's move on to question 19.

Just handed one from the State League of Women voters.

"How important do you think the attorney general's role is in consumer protection issues?"

Mr. Serrano, you're first.

- Yeah, thank you.

The Consumer Protection Act, as designed, is there to protect you and I from fraudulent business activities.

When the AG's office does the job the right way, it's a tremendous tool to protect us.

When the AG's office abuses it, it is one of the most egregious acts of abuse of power in my position.

From my view, I've seen it.

When the AG sponsors legislation and says "This particular issue is a violation of the Consumer's Protection Act, and it's not a consumer protection issue, he's gone way out of his lane.

I won't do that.

I will stand.

I will make sure that you have the right and access.

I will say this.

I give that office solid credit when it does its job.

I've had a couple of friends who had elderly parents that were abused by various issues.

Had 'em call up.

48 hours, issue's resolved.

'Cause I know that office can do good work.

So, it's a tremendous tool to protect us.

- All right, thank you Mr. Serrano.

Mr. on the attorney general's office role in consumer protection?

- Well, the Consumer Protection Act and the Consumer Protection Division is one of the divisions that most of the public intersects with.

If you're ever dealing with an issue in an AG's office, odds are it's the Consumer Protection Act because for generations of attorney generals now, it has been the tool that we use to protect everyone's rights.

I remember when I was an intern with AG Gregoire before she became governor, and she was just coming off the tobacco litigation.

It was a public health litigation.

I how proud I was of her, and her team, and the state of Washington for leading the country.

AG Rob McKenna did some great work in the consumer protection space.

And AG Ferguson has also done great work, and we need to continue to keep that as the principle tool that we defend people.

I am particularly concerned about how marginalized and vulnerable populations are taken advantage of by people in power, by big corporations that think when they violate someone's rights that doesn't have money or power, that they're not gonna be held accountable.

And that is the job of the attorney general to be looking into those cases, to be litigating on their behalf and to hold people accountable who are violating those rights.

And I'm so excited about using those tools moving forward.

- Thank you very much, Mr. Brown.

Ms. Dhingra, your answer.

- Yes, you know, consumer protection is a huge priority for me.

We have to make sure that our laws are keeping up with technology and really in all kinds of sophisticated manners in which people are targeted.

I'm very proud to be the only legislator that has gotten a data privacy bill passed in the state of Washington, My Health, My Data.

And I was proud last summer to actually be invited to the White House to present on this bill to national leaders.

You know, my grandparents, when they lived in California, my grandfather passed away when he was 92, and my grandmother wanted to live alone in her house.

And one day my aunt came home to her house, and found these reverse mortgage papers on the table.

Turns out that there are people who take a look at obituaries, and when they see that an elderly person has passed away, they pray upon the spouse.

People don't know what the role of the attorney general's office is and how they can utilize the attorney general's office.

We need government to work for the people, and it means you have to go out into the communities and let them know what their rights are, and the role the attorney general has in protecting them.

And that is what I'm committed on doing.

- Thank you very much, Ms. Dhingra.

Alright, let's move on to another one.

And this is a question that we had a lot of response to in terms of Washington's dams.

And I know the state legislature discusses them quite a bit.

As the state, the removal of these dams, obviously will have a big impact.

What would the attorney general's role be in removing these dams, do you think?

Mr. Brown, we'll start with you.

- Well, protecting our environment and finding ways to power Washington State is a big challenge for this state moving forward.

And it's a challenge that obviously intersects with not only state actors and local actors here in Washington, but principally with the federal government.

And so it's the job of the attorney general and representative for all the government entities and agencies that are interacting with the federal government as they make these big decisions about our power.

But the fact is we have to move forward and develop as much clean energy sources and options as we need to.

Right now, Washington State is struggling to get by and have power sources that power the people that we have here.

But this is a state that is growing.

This is a state that's going to add millions of people in the next 10 and 20 years.

And we need to make sure that we're continuing to advocate for clean alternative sources of energy.

And so the dam decision, the dam conversations are gonna be very difficult and hard.

And it's going to be the job of the attorney general to advocate for the state agencies to make sure they're holding the federal government to their word and to their laws that we have here in Washington.

- [Matt] Thank you, Mr. Brown.

Ms. Dhingra, same question.

- You know, we have a lot of competing interests, and there are a lot of valid competing interests.

We need clean energy.

We also need salmon.

We need to protect the wildlife, and we need clean energy.

And this is what it means to be an independently elected individual.

Yes, you can be an advocate for the agency, but as an independent leader, you can also show up in spaces and try to make sure you're bringing people together towards a compromise, towards a solution.

That is what I have been doing most of my life when I started talking about domestic violence in the South Asian community when no one wanted to talk about it, when I started talking about crisis intervention with law enforcement, when that was such a new concept when I was talking about therapeutic courts, when I started an HR office at the Senate.

You gotta make sure you show up, work with people to try to find solutions, and you do it in a way that is meaningful.

And as an independently elected individual, that is what I see as my role, to be a leader that helps bring people together to find sustainable solutions.

- Thanks, Ms. Dhingra.

Mr. Serrano, same question.

- As a resident of the Tri-Cities, I know how vital those dams are to our lifeline.

That constitutes clean energy, a waterway to make sure that we don't have trucks up and down these highways, congesting and polluting, and the third leg of the stool is making sure our ag growers, of which we're extremely proud in Washington, have the resources in the water they do to grow the food that you and I desperately need.

Those dams mean much more than clean power.

So we'll start there.

I've effectively worked with our federal legislation caucus, as well as our local mayors, to make sure that we preserve those dams.

That said, if legislation's passed and it somehow violates our rights, I will stand for you continually in court to make sure that that lifeline is not destroyed.

One last point.

I was the guy working on small modular technology on the Hanford site, first of the kind in the nation, hand selected to make sure that I got those environmental permits written.

I left that job to stand for your rights, and I'm proud to know that I can be a solution to energy for the future.

- Thank you very much, Mr. Serrano.

Alright, let's move on to another question.

This is question 21 of this forum.

And this question comes in, "Are there any criminal justice measures that you would advocate for as attorney general?"

Ms. Dhingra, you're first.

- Oh yes, I will.

Again, as a prosecutor for 20 years who has worked on gun crimes, domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking crimes, I think there is a big role for the attorney general's office to play.

I am really excited that every time I've called Bob Ferguson to be a partner on some of these issues, he's always said yes, but we need a statewide voice and a statewide leader when it comes to addressing gender-based violence.

We continue to see domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking cases go really forgotten.

We are one of the worst states for trafficking in the country, yet we don't talk about it enough.

I was proud to sponsor bill that updated all our trafficking laws.

We need to make sure that the next attorney general is working on human trafficking, is working on sexual assault.

And I'm proud to be someone who absolutely believes survivors.

And you know, last year when we did a press conference, when we eliminated the backlog on rape kits, the journalist looked at me and said, "We've known about this problem for such a long time.

How come it took until now for us to solve it?"

And I said, "Because leadership matters.

Who is in charge matters."

- Alright, thank you very much.

Mr. Serrano, any criminal justice reforms you would focus on as attorney general?

- Yeah, we've seen our legislature and consumption of illicit drugs.

We need an attorney general who's gonna work with them to criminalize those and to hold individuals, especially in the distribution context, accountable, whether that's making distribution some sort of felony or higher punished crime to make sure that 2,300 people in King County don't die from overdose.

We need to be prepared to protect Washingtonians.

We also need to look at some of the issues also within our healthcare system.

While these aren't naturally contemplated as criminal justice issues where individuals are prescribing the where they're getting people hooked on these drugs, and then they're looking to the streets for a solution, we need to make sure that the healthcare, whether it's insurance or facilities are held accountable too.

So these drug issues don't pervade just from your street dealers.

They come from all around, and we need to make sure we have an attorney general to protect you from that.

- [Matt] Mr. Serrano, thank you very much.

Mr. Brown, same question on reforms.

- Sure.

These public safety issues are top of mind for everyone that I meet in Washington State, whether it's in big cities or small.

And we need to continue to try to innovate to do everything that we can to keep people safe.

Yes, that means holding people accountable who have committed crimes.

And certainly as a federal prosecutor and as the US attorney, I've done just that work.

But we also need to work on the things that make safety sustainable.

And too often I think that when we talk about public safety, we only talk about police and law enforcement.

And I've worked in that space for a very long time.

I've held people accountable in court, but I know the things that make the safety sustainable are all the underlying things that truly build a safe community.

That's housing.

You can't expect people to stay safe if they don't have a safe place to live.

That's education system.

You wanna reduce crime, invest in early childhood education.

That's a public health, and a mental health, and a drug counseling systems at a state and local level that deal with some of the root causes.

So we need to do both.

We need to hold people accountable, but we also need to address those core root causes that will make the safety sustainable for generations to come.

- Thank you very much, Mr. Brown.

And once again, I want to offer another moment to take a quick breath.

In fact, I'll give a heads up to Mary Coltrane, president of the League of the State of Washington.

Thank you so much for helping put on this forum here tonight.

We're gonna get some closing statements in a moment.

I know you wanna make some closing remarks as well and let everybody know we're just about done here.

This is the end of our series of questions here.

For as much time as we've taken, we could probably ask you several more questions.

I have a list.

I have a computer.

I have a paper.

I have some index cards.

We could go on and on, but we did promise time for some closing statements, once again set at one minute.

We'll start first with Mr. Serrano who started our program.

- Thank you Matt.

Thank you League of Women Voters.

Thank you to the viewers in the audience.

I'm Pete Serrano and I will be your next attorney general.

Why?

Crime is on the rise.

Policing is down.

We are the 51st of 50 states and DC on police per capita.

They can't do their job without the backbone of the attorney general's office.

We need someone who's out there looking for the people of Washington and looking out for your interests.

Again, whether you're the soccer mom in Pasco, or in Renton, or somewhere else, or whether you're the child with disabilities, I'm here to protect you, whether that's protection from the bad guys out there or whether that's protection from the government in advising them you may not, you cannot, and you shall not violate these individuals' rights.

The bottom line is I see you, I'm here for you, I'll listen to you, and I will be your advocate because that's what I am right now.

I'm Pete Serrano.

You can find me at serranoforag.com.

- Thank you very much.

Thanks for including that as well, how to contact you.

Mr. Brown, your closing statement, sir.

- Well, thank you Matt.

And thank you again to the League of Women Voters and to all of our hosts for hosting this forum and to everyone who's watching at home.

The attorney general's race is one of the most important races that this state is facing because the work of the AG's office matters for your lives and fair of your family's lives.

And who the attorney general is also matters.

I have had decades of experience being an advocate for people, whether that's as a JAG officer, as a federal prosecutor, or as the United States attorney.

I've always tried to use the law for justice, as a tool for justice.

And I will continue that work moving forward on behalf of the people of Washington.

When we're electing an attorney general, we're electing both a lawyer and a leader.

And I know what it's like to lead a large public law firm because I've done exactly that.

I've led a team trying to keep people safe to deal with the crime issues that we have here, the civil rights issues that we have here, and defend your liberties and your freedoms.

And I will bring that experience to bear on behalf of the people of the state of Washington.

And I'd be honored to have everyone support.

And you can reach me at nickbrownforag.com.

Thank you again.

- Mr. Brown, thank you very much.

Ms. Dhingra, your closing statement.

- Thank you so much.

I just wanna take another second and thank everyone for paying attention to this race.

Thank you for moderating.

You know, we need bold leaders.

We need bold leaders who have a history of bipartisanship, who have a history of working on tough issues and delivering results.

And that is what I have been doing my entire life.

We need to make sure that we have people who will listen and who will work hard to make sure that we are resolving issues based on our values and not doing what is politically convenient.

I'm really honored to actually have the endorsement of over 200 individuals and organizations from all across the state because this is a statewide race.

That means you have to make sure that everyone from all parts of the state are a part of this journey.

I'm honored to have the sole endorsement of Planned Parenthood because we know what's on the ballot this year.

I'm honored to be endorsed by judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, victim advocates, and criminal justice reform advocates.

And the reason why you have all of these groups endorsing me is because that's how I show up to do the work, bringing people together to deliver results.

And I'd be honored to have your support - Ms. Dhingra, thank you very much.

And with that, we conclude this forum in this primary race for attorney general in the State of Washington.

Let's give a round of applause.

Pete Serrano, Nick Brown and Manka Dhingra, thank you so much.

(audience applauding) Thank you, audience here for being respectful today.

As we promised, a fair opportunity for you to state your stances on a number of issues.

Just a reminder for voters out there, that primary election will be on August 6th and ballots will be mailed out by July 19th.

The top two candidates in this race will go on to the November 5th general election.

We may get the chance to speak again.

You can register in person all the way up to election day.

The mail-in registration deadline is July 29th, and at this time, I'd like to turn it back over to Mary Coltrane, president of the League of Women Voters of the State of Washington, for some closing remarks.

- Thank you, Matt.

Elected office is a high calling.

Thank you, candidates for answering that call.

Thank you, voters for taking time to learn about the candidates.

You can turn to vote411.org to learn a little bit more about all of the issues are on your ballot.

That will be available July 12th.

So as you prepare for that voting date in August, you'll be able to find out what's on your ballot, learn more about the attorney general candidates and all of the candidates and the issues that will be on your ballot in August.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Northwest Public Broadcasting System, and thank you especially to the League of Women Voters of Benton and Franklin County, who have done so much to make this possible.

(audience applauding)