Last week, former U.S. congressional representative Jamie Herrera-Beutler announced she was running for state commissioner of public lands. Herrera Beutler is the second Republican and seventh candidate to officially enter the race to replace current commissioner, Hilary Franz, who’s running for governor. 

The election is still more than a year out – but the attention and money flowing into this race is high. So how did the job of leading the state’s department of natural resources become such a hot ticket?

We can only make Soundside because listeners support us. Make the show happen by making a gift to KUOW: https://www.kuow.org/donate/soundside