Gov. Jay Inslee (D)
Washington's Democratic Governor Jay Inslee won only a narrow victory when first elected in 2012, but Public Policy Polling suggests he'll have an
easier time of it when he runs for re-election, even if it's a rematch against ex-Attorney General Rob McKenna. Inslee sports a 41-42 job approval, consistent with an uneventful first few years and an improving economy; his strength in head-to-head matchups seems more about the fact that the Republicans don't have any top-tier options who seem interested in challenging him.
• 46-34 vs. Port of Seattle Commissioner Bill Bryant
• 45-31 vs. state Sen. Andy Hill
• 43-38 vs. ex-Attorney General/2012 opponent Rob McKenna
• 45-34 vs. Rep. Dave Reichert
The only potential opponent who comes within single digits is McKenna, who seemed like he was interested in a rematch right after the 2012 election but lately has seemed uninterested in re-emerging from the private sector. The only candidate who has actually declared, Bryant, trails by 11, and that's not purely an artifact of Bryant being largely unknown, despite his recent notoriety over his support for allowing Shell drilling equipment to be based in Seattle's port (with only 5-12 favorables): you can see that Inslee polls at 43 vs. McKenna, while at 46 vs. Bryant, so McKenna's presence seems to change a few minds.
What's perhaps most surprising is that Dave Reichert, long considered the best option on the GOP's bench for a statewide run (an option he never exercises, preferring to keep his House seat, which got much safer after redistricting), performs closer in line with the nobodies than with McKenna. You can also see that in PPP's poll of Washington's 2016 Senate race, where he's also down by double digits against Patty Murray, who'll be seeking her fifth term. Perhaps some of the novelty of his "tough-guy-who's-also-moderate" shtick has worn off, as he's gotten more entrenched as a part of the national GOP's House.
• 47-37 vs. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler
• 46-41 vs. McKenna
• 48-37 vs. Reichert
• 48-35 vs. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers
While McKenna also comes within single-digits of Murray, Reichert performs about as well as Herrera Beutler. Bear in mind, though, that none of these named opponents has expressed any interest in running; McMorris Rodgers isn't going to give up her House GOP leadership slot for a suicide mission, and party elders would probably discourage Herrera Beutler from running anyway, since an open WA-03 would be at serious risk of flipping in a presidential year. Basically, any Republican with any juice would focus on the potentially-winnable gubernatorial race instead, meaning the person with the thankless task of opposing Murray will probably be either a random rich guy or a state legislator looking to build up some name rec.
Part of the unremarkable-ness of Inslee's tenure is that he and the legislature haven't really done much other than just keep the lights on (nothing big is going to happen as long as Republicans control the state Senate). Instead, the momentous changes have happened through the initiative process -- which is usually the case in the west coast states anyway, even when one party holds the trifecta. PPP also polled the recently passed initiatives legalizing recreational marijuana and expanding background checks on gun purchases, and same-sex marriage, which was passed by the legislature and survived a 'people's veto' referendum.
They found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that voters now approve of those choices by wider margins now than the original vote. For instance, while same-sex marriage was approved by an 8-point margin, respondents now approve of it by a 56-36 margin, and 53 percent say it's had no impact on them at all. Interestingly, gun purchase background checks are even more popular than either same-sex marriage or marijuana: respondents now approve of background checks by a 68-24 margin, and in a sample where 41 percent of respondents own guns, only 18 percent say the measure has had a negative impact on them.