Gov. Ferguson criticizes Microsoft over a PAC ad that says Olympia is broken

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson criticized Microsoft for funding a political action committee whose television ad says Olympia is broken, according to audio published Friday by The Washington Observer, GeekWire reported. The remarks were made at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce's Regional Leadership Conference at the Suncadia resort near Cle Elum. Those sessions are supposed to be off the record. The Observer said it obtained the audio from an unnamed source.

Ferguson repeated the ad's line that it used to be that all you needed in Washington was an idea, a dream and the guts to chase it, and said he does not believe that. He cited PitchBook data that Seattle-area startups raised a record $3.5 billion in the third quarter, more than triple a year earlier. He said he loves the company, where he once worked as a lawyer, and was especially annoyed that the ad ran during a Seattle Seahawks game.