Jay Inslee 2020? CNN thinks Washington governor has shot at Democratic nod for president

Northwest leaders don’t have a history of making waves in national politics, but that hasn’t stopped speculation about Washington Gov. Jay Inslee running for president.

The latest conjecture comes from CNN’s Chris Cillizza, who lists Inslee among “at least 22 Democrats thinking about running for president in 2020.”

Lest that sounds like our guv is just another face in the crowd, consider this: Cillizza put Inslee in the second of four “tiers” — the first tier being most likely to clinch the nomination.

The only people in that top tier are former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Inslee shares the second tier with the likes of Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris and 2016 vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine.

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Inslee’s profile is high right now. He and attorney general Bob Ferguson brought attention to our state after legal wins blocking President Donald Trump’s travel ban. “He got thumped,” Inslee told CNN’s Erin Burnett in one of many national media interviews in February.

Then again, it’s early (or, as Seattle Times political reporter Jim Brunner put it, exhaustingly early).

As much as one-fourth of Democrats in the U.S. Senate are considering a run, The New York Times reported Sunday. And Inslee himself has been coy, saying he’s focused on governing the state and a presidential run is “really not in the stars.”

We’ll see what shakes out. Meanwhile, check out Brunner’s ace analysis of the possibility here.