by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer

SGN spoke with Democratic candidate for governor Jay Inslee the day after a very successful fundraiser featuring Minnesota Sen. Al Franken. Inslee was even more upbeat than usual.

'We raised $40,000 in seven days,' he grinned. 'I'm very excited.'

Inslee talked with SGN at the Organizing for America headquarters on Rainier Avenue. The building is festooned with campaign signs for Democratic candidates - from President Obama to Inslee to Bob Ferguson, the party's candidate for attorney general.

Inslee's campaign seems to be on a roll after a primary in which he beat Republican candidate Rob McKenna by four points, despite lagging behind in early polling.

'It was a very good showing,' Inslee said of his primary results. 'I'm very happy about it, to be ahead by four [points] when the other guy is a statewide officeholder.

'And the general election is always more blue than the primary,' he added.

Inslee told SGN that his good primary showing would not change his campaign strategy.

'I don't think it's different [in the general election],' he said. 'On primary night I was talking to a friend and I told him, 'It doesn't matter what happens tonight, I'll get up and do the same thing tomorrow.'

Inslee was an early supporter of equal marriage rights for Gay and Lesbian couples, even before the legislature passed the Marriage Equality Act. He says his experience talking with voters about marriage confirms favorable polling on the issue.

'Marriage is becoming more mainstream by the day,' Inslee says. 'In 10 years people will wonder why we even had this debate.

'I'm the only candidate [for governor] who's for equality and the right of choice. I do talk about it in most of the speeches I give. I talk about my personal experience,' he added.

By 'personal experience' Inslee means his 40-year marriage to his wife, Trudi, and her contributions to both their family and his campaign.

'Trudi is a strong, resilient, down-to-earth person,' he says. 'She's very hands-on. I can't overstate what she means to the campaign, and to our family. If she can be as good for the state for four years as she's been for me for 40, the state will benefit.'

Inslee's political experience has been all legislative: first in the state legislature, then representing two different congressional districts - the Fourth District in eastern Washington and, more recently, the First, north of Seattle.

Asked if he thought voters expect different values or different skills from the state's chief executive than from a legislator, Inslee paused for a moment.

'I don't think the values are different,' he replied. 'The role of a leader - it's having a vision and defining the vision in a way everyone gets it, building a team and getting everyone on the team to understand their role. I've done that in this campaign. I've demonstrated that.'

Interestingly, Inslee knows Congressman Paul Ryan, now Mitt Romney's running mate, personally.

'Ryan's a very open, gregarious person,' Inslee says. 'We were elected [to Congress] at the same time, 1998. His views set up a clear contrast between the two parties. Some of his views are consistent with my opponent's - on health care, and choice.'

Inslee's good showing in the primary can be attributed, in part, to a series of soft-sell TV spots featuring the candidate talking about his life and work experience.

'I'm still introducing myself to people,' Inslee explained. 'I'm the new kid on the block, and I'm still acquainting voters with my vision.

'My story is intertwined with the story of the state,' he added, 'which is a story of technological revolution and progress.'

As if to underscore his point, Inslee points to a photo on the wall as he gets up to leave.

'That's Trudi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing,' he explained. 'It was on that trip that I realized the Chinese were determined to dominate the market in lithium-ion batteries. I came back knowing that we had to be in that industry.

'We can't wait to build the industries of the next century. We've done this before with aerospace and computers, and we can do it with clean energy technology as well.'

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