Nick Brown Shares Why He Is Running For Attorney General And Why He Thinks He Can Win
Photos by Susan Fried
Nick Brown recently took center stage on The Day With Trae, chronicling the beginning of his career journey to his roles as legal aid for Governor Jay Inslee and the U.S. Attorney for Washington's Western District to his current bid for the position of Attorney General of Washington. Starting his conversation with host Trae Holiday, Brown reflected on his introduction to law and politics, highlighting the influence of his parents, both former public servants who promoted values of engagement and service throughout his childhood.
"All throughout my life, they were talking about service and being engaged and giving a damn about what was happening around us," Brown said. "So, in many ways, it was creeping into me consciously and subconsciously."
Brown attended Morehouse College, pursuing a political science degree on an Army ROTC scholarship. During this transformative period, his interest in law grew as he considered how best to fulfill his post-graduation military obligation. With aspirations for a career in service and an interest in pursuing legal studies, Brown merged his dual passions as he embarked on his military and legal journey as a Judge Advocate General.
"In the beginning, it was relatively small things like, "how do I get out of this car loan that has a super high-interest rate, or more complicated things around family law," Brown said.
His progression into more intricate cases, representing soldiers in criminal law, marked a significant turning point.
"These young men and women will come in the office accused of some crime by the government, and they're looking at me to protect them and their rights and their liberty," Brown said. "That's a scary feeling for a new lawyer, but it's also super empowering to know that someone's Liberty depends on how well you can do your job."
Using his time as a defense attorney in the army to deepen his legal understanding, Brown assumed the position of prosecutor within the Western District of Washington's Department of Justice once he left the service. Brown later began working for Governor Inslee as a legal aide in Olympia. This experience afforded Brown a unique perspective on the inner workings of state government and broadened his professional horizons.
"As soon as I got down to Olympia, I just realized that all the things that I cared about, just in my own life, you know, my neighborhoods, my schools, my taxes, transportation, most of those decisions were being made at a state and local level," Brown said.
He continued, "I think 90% of the things that you and I think about are mostly here, and they're local, they're not in D.C., and D.C. sucks up all of our energy sometimes for obvious and sometimes good reasons, but as soon as I got down to Olympia, we started working on things were we were having an immediate impact."
Justice reform and the exercise of executive clemency were at the heart of Brown's tenure working for Governor Inslee. As one of Inslee's legal advisors, Brown played a central role in managing the process of reviewing clemency petitions. Brown's collaboration with Inslee included monthly meetings to assess each case, weighing the merits and implications of granting amnesty. Other work Brown was involved in included efforts to implement a moratorium on the death penalty.
"For me, it was a belief that everybody is redeemable or deserves a shot at redemption. I believe that we need to arrest and put people in prison sometimes to reduce harm, to take bad actors out of the community," Brown said. "But I also believe that we shouldn't just forget about them and that people can get out and be good and change their lives when we support them if we make our prison conditions better, and give them at least an opportunity at that."
Following his four-year tenure with Governor Inslee, Brown moved back to Seattle to practice law in the private sector, focusing predominantly on government and public interest matters. In 2021, President Biden nominated Brown for the role of U.S. Attorney, bringing him back to a legal career at the federal level.
"It was a dream job for me in many ways because I had been a line prosecutor there and then was the boss all of a sudden and I had staff and employees that work for me and two offices and with jurisdiction from Bellingham to Longview to the Cascades," Brown said. "Trying to figure out how we keep people safe, how we do justice, how we protect civil rights, how we do all these things was hard and complicated, but it was a dream job to get there, and I really loved being U.S. Attorney."
Less than two years into his appointment, Brown's decision to resign as U.S. Attorney to begin his Attorney General campaign marked a pivotal moment in his career—one he described to Holiday as "undoubtedly the hardest professional decision I had to make."
"Whether we realize it or not, in my view, what's happening in Olympia really has an impact on our lives. I also just felt like I didn't want to be watching the election. I didn't want to be sitting at home, crossing my fingers that things went well," Brown said. "For me, it felt like the right time to run and to let my own career ride or die with my own advocacy on my behalf, rather than sitting around hoping I had a job still if the President got reelected."
In his campaign, Brown is currently set to compete against Manka Dhingra and Pete Serrano. He has highlighted a list of priorities he would focus on if elected, including housing, environmental issues, public safety, and spearheading the Labor and Worker Protection Division.
"Housing is probably the biggest substantive issue I'm concerned about," Brown said post-interview. "It's been interesting to me how consistently I hear that concern in small towns in Washington and big cities."
He continued, "Public safety is a real, legitimate one. How do we keep people safe and not just safe from crime but safe from gun violence, discrimination, and harassment? We have some of the highest hate crimes in the country, and there are really big challenges that I think the AG can do more work on in increasing public safety."
When addressing the challenges faced by Washington's communities of color during the episode, Brown emphasized those same priorities, particularly noting the disproportionate impact of pollution on Black and brown neighborhoods.
"I won't pretend to have all the answers for people. No elected person should come into office promising to do all these things or pretending like they understand because everybody's got different experiences, and Black folks are not a monolith," Brown said. "There's all different types, different perspectives, and backgrounds."
By potentially assuming the role of Attorney General, Brown conveyed his hope to empower individuals and foster greater inclusivity within the legal system, enabling residents to connect with a representative who understands their perspectives.
"I don't want to be the first Black person in statewide office just to be the first Black person unless we're doing something a little bit different. Hopefully, I'll bring more focus and attention to some of these neglected areas that we're talking about," Brown said.
Brown also emphasized transparency in both the government and his office.
"There's not a magic button that you push, and everybody starts having faith in government again. I start with, you tell the truth. Be honest. So many leaders try to say the right thing. They're scared of offending people. They want to try to make everybody happy, and that leads to dishonesty or, at least, not full transparency," Brown said. "So, as a leader, it's important to tell the truth about what you know, what you don't know, and when you've made a mistake."
He continued his thoughts on transparency post-interview, "Washington has a pretty robust public records act where people have more access to their documents, but the government still is hard to interface with. When you go onto various systems, it's confusing about what we're doing and why we're doing it. So helping all the state agencies that we support on the legal level increase their transparency practices is going to be important as well."
Part of promoting transparency, according to Brown, is through direct engagement with communities across the entirety of the state.
"When you're running a statewide office, that means getting out of Seattle too. That means showing up in Eastern Washington, and there are not a lot of Democrats in Eastern Washington, and probably not a whole lot of people out there who might want to vote for me," Brown said. "But if I get the job, I'm still going to be in those communities because we have to represent everybody as well. Being present is important, but breaking down those barriers to accessibility, I think, is the real work."
To stay updated on Brown's political journey, click here for his official campaign site.
"People may not realize, but who the AG is impacts your lives on a myriad of different issues. I think I'm the best-prepared person for the job based on my legal experience, leadership experience, and values," Brown said. " I think I'll be the strongest person to help represent the state and improve people's lives."
For more news happening throughout Washington, tune into Trae every weekday at 11 a.m. on all Converge Media platforms and The Day With Trae YouTube Channel.
