Denny Heck To Run For Lieutenant Governor

With the vacancy created by Cyrus Habib not running for a 2nd term, US Representative Denny Heck, a Democrat, has filed paperwork to run for Lieutenant Governor for the State Of Washington.
Heck, who announced he was leaving the House because of the political climate .
The current Lieutenant Governor is leaving politics to enter the Jesuits.

Habib Will Leave Lieutenant Governor Position At End Of Term

The Cascadian Advocate reports that Cyrus Habib, Washington's Lieutenant Governor, will not run for a second term and will, instead, join the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church.
Habib, who became blind at the age of 8, won a seat in the Washington House Of Representatives in 2012.  At the end of his term, he ran to represent his district in the State Senate.  He was able to win that seat.
In 2016, he ran for State Lieutenant Governor, the office who succeeds the governor should he leave office before the end of his term.  The Lieutenant Governor also holds the top executive office while the governor is out of state.  In addition, he is the president of the state senate and can vote in the case of a tie.
In spite of these various duties, it is considered something of a retirement position.
Habib will have held the position for the shortest time since Emmett Anderson, who held it for from 1953 to 1957, Anderson's successor, John Cherberg, held the position from 1957 to 1989, a total of 32 years.

Inslee Touts Transportation And Job Growth

In a speech at a luncheon before Washington State Democrats, Governor Jay Inslee, who is seeking a second term spoke of improvements in the state's economy,  the governor said that the state added 250,000 new jobs.  He said that unemployment is down to single digits in every county of the state.  In addition, Inslee praised a bi-partisan transportation bill. 
Democrats were gathered for the quarterly meeting of the state central committee.  Also at the meeting were Washington State Chief Justice Barbara Madsen and State Senator Cyrus Habib.  Habib is running for the open seat for Lt. Governor.