One of the first in the hot seat was Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who was all over social media for his rebukes of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus-related comments.
Next week, Crosscut news and politics editor Donna Blankinship will be hosting a Crosscut Virtual Session with the governor — and we want your help shaping that conversation. Submit a question to the form below about the state’s response to the pandemic and what comes next. Then, RSVP and join us at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 2. It’s free to attend the event, which will be held on Zoom.
Inslee, who is running for his third term as governor, has had quite a year. In March 2019, he launched a presidential bid. In August, he suspended that effort and, less than six months later, Washington was identified as the first epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. A recent Crosscut/Elway Poll shows that most Washingtonians give priority to public health over reopening the economy too soon, but Inslee is still seeing plenty of political unrest as hundreds of residents in Yakima, Spokane, and other cities demand faster action. Before the pandemic, Inslee focused on climate change, education and drug policy reform in Washington state.
Ahead of the event, check out some of our recent statewide reporting on coronavirus:
- Why COVID-19 is hitting Washington Latinos especially hard
- 1 in 4 Washingtonians could need food assistance soon
- Without tourism, can Washington’s small towns survive?
- Opinion: Coronavirus shows us why WA has always needed an income tax
Back when the pandemic first hit the United States, Crosscut was in the final stages of planning our annual Crosscut Festival — a two-day event dedicated to smart conversations with fascinating, creative and influential people. Like so many organizations, we canceled our event to support community safety and to do our part to flatten the infection curve.
Our series of Virtual Sessions aren’t exactly a replacement for the Crosscut Festival, but they represent the same spirit of learning, conversation and exploration of complex topics we’re grappling with in the Northwest. Our reader-driven questions, supported by Northwest Wonders, help ensure we’re asking the questions you’re most interested in.
This event has passed and we are no longer taking questions.
For questions about the event, email community engagement manager Andrea O’Meara. If you can’t attend the live event, you can still RSVP and we’ll send a link to the recorded conversation. We will be announcing our next guests in the coming weeks — if you want to be the first to know, sign up for our events newsletter.
