Habib became the highest-ranking Iranian-American elected official anywhere in the United States when he was elected Lieutenant Governor, in 2016. Now hes headed for the priesthood.
Habib became "the highest-ranking Iranian-American elected official anywhere in the United States" when he was elected Lieutenant Governor in 2016, according to the Seattle Times. Now he's headed for the priesthood. Lieutenant Governor's Office

Look, I know you all woke up this morning and thought, "With Cyrus Habib bowing out to join the cloth, who is thinking about running for Lieutenant Governor? And who among them might have the Habibian command of parliamentary procedure necessary to run the State Senate? And who would be best-suited to assume the role of Governor when Inslee takes trips? And who would have the broadest statewide appeal? And, finally, who would be running only as a nakedly ambitious play to be seen as the incumbent in a 2022 special election for governor should President Joe Biden tap Inslee for his cabinet, and who would be doing this because of their love for the office?"

That's what you were thinking, and that's what I was thinking, too, and that's why Slog is bond.

In any event, we don't have to think about all of this for long. Here's the list of people who say they're running, and the people who tell me they're thinking about it, and the people who are rumored to run but who aren't running.

• A spokesperson for King County Executive Dow Constantine's "campaign" said Constantine is "certainly looking at this statewide opportunity and will make his decision known soon." At the moment, he's focused on the county's COVID-19 response.

Constantine, who represented West Seattle in one way or another for a decade and who has served as the county Exec for over a decade, considered running for Inslee's job last year, but then he backed off when Inslee announced his intentions to run for a third term.

• Sen. Marko Liias, who has been representing Edmonds/Lynwood/Mukilteo in the legislature since 2008, said he was "seriously considering it." In the 2016 primary for State Treasurer, Liias placed third with 20% of the vote. Two Republicans faced off in the general for the statewide seat that year.

• On Thursday, Sen. Steve Hobbs confirmed he was running for Lt. Gov. and then posted his announcement to his Facebook page. Hobbs has repped the Snohomish/Mill Creek/Marysville area since 2007. He ran for Lt. Gov. in 2016 and placed 4th in the primary. He also looked to bring a "moderate voice" to Congress when he ran for the District 1 seat in 2012, but he didn't make it through the primary.

As chair of the Senate transportation committee, Hobbs has basically single-handedly blocked Inslee's signature climate change legislation two sessions in a row now, and so he would be a strange pick, but, I'm telling you, do not sleep on Hobbs. This chaotic neutral quasi-Democrat is a fucking gaming master, who serves on the board of a table top game conference called OrcaCon. You know he's got a couple Lvl. 65 skeletal mage necromancers ready to keep his campaign going strong even past the grave, and he's got the "Hunger Games" mentality required to make absolutely nobody happy, which appears to be the preferred position of most Washington Democrats.

• When I asked Department of Commerce Director Lisa Brown yesterday, she said she was "fully engaged with the emerging economic crisis growing out of the COVID-19 pandemic" and had only just heard of Habib's decision to join the Jesuits in their life of scholarship (and excessive beer drinking), so she hadn't gotten the chance to "fully consider this yet." She added, "I’ll let you know if I decide to run."

• Sen. Rebecca Saldaña: "Hello Rich: I am not considering a run for Lt. Gov. Thanks."