Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, speaking at an event in Olympia in June, called out Microsoft last week over a TV ad from a PAC the company has helped fund. (Office of the Governor Photo)
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson called out Microsoft for bankrolling a political action committee responsible for a TV ad describing state government as broken, according to newly leaked audio from a Seattle Chamber leadership conference last week.
Remarks at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s Regional Leadership Conference, held at the Suncadia resort near Cle Elum, Wash., are supposed to be off the record. But The Washington Observer , an independent newsletter on state politics, published the audio Friday , saying it was obtained from an unnamed source.
In the audio, Ferguson zeroed in on a line near the start of the ad — that in Washington, “it used to be all you needed was an idea, a dream and the guts to chase it.”
The governor repeated the words “it used to be” for emphasis, in a tone of disbelief.
“What’s up with that?” Ferguson asked the crowd of business and government leaders. “First, does anyone else in this room believe that? I sure as hell don’t.”
“I talk to people every day who have that idea, that dream. They’re chasing it and they’re getting it,” he said. He cited the record $3.5 billion that Seattle-area startups raised in the third quarter, more than triple the same period a year ago, according to PitchBook data.
The Microsoft relationship: Ferguson, who noted that he had worked as a lawyer for Microsoft, said he loves the company and respects what it does. But he seemed especially peeved that the ad ran during the Seattle Seahawks game, where it reached people across the state and those from elsewhere who might want to come here and start a company.
“If we’re partners, partners should treat partners like partners, right?” he said.
He asked the room to imagine him running a multimillion-dollar ad criticizing Microsoft. “You guys would think I lost my mind if I did that,” he said.
Ferguson called Microsoft a key partner and a member of his economic roundtable, and said he works well with the company. “But it works both ways,” he said.
Ferguson acknowledged that the state has problems. “Are there challenges? Sure,” he said. But he said he didn’t think the ad was “helpful for where we all want to go.”
He told the crowd he welcomes constructive feedback, but asked business leaders to think about how they communicate, and to talk up the state’s workforce, economy and startup funding along with its challenges.
“What we have here is so bloody special,” he said.
Ferguson, who took office in January 2025, also reminded the room that he isn’t going anywhere. “I plan on being governor for a long time,” he said, adding that he works with all of them, “Microsoft included.”
The Observer noted that $10 million, roughly what the group has left to spend, would be a good start on a campaign to run someone else for governor in 2028.
The newsletter said it released just the audio from a video of Ferguson’s remarks, to protect its source. Among those in the audience was Michael Mattmiller, who represents Microsoft in Olympia. He and Ferguson “kinda-sorta hugged it out afterward,” the Observer reported.
Mattmiller declined to comment to the Observer, and Ferguson’s office didn’t respond to the publication. GeekWire has contacted Microsoft and the governor’s office for comment.
Who’s behind the ad: The campaign comes from Washington Needs to Compete, a PAC funded in large part by Microsoft and its current and former executives. The group has raised about $13.8 million, according to state campaign finance records , including more than $5 million directly from Microsoft.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and former CEO Steve Ballmer each gave $250,000, and Vice Chair and President Brad Smith gave more than $500,000. Other backers include T-Mobile, F5, Alaska Airlines and Weyerhaeuser.
Washington Needs to Compete has spent about $3 million so far, according to state records. Most of it has gone to state legislative races, the Observer reported, including more than $700,000 backing Rep. Amy Walen, D-Kirkland, in the 48th District, home to Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters.
The group spent $97,000 to air the ad during the Seahawks’ Oct. 15 Thursday night loss to the Denver Broncos on Prime Video and $130,000 during their Oct. 25 Sunday night win over the Kansas City Chiefs on NBC, according to the Observer.
Washington Needs to Compete’s TV ad, which aired during two Seattle Seahawks games this month and drew Gov. Bob Ferguson’s criticism. (WA Needs 2 Compete via YouTube)
What the ad says: The spot opens with a nod to “inventors in garages,” “mom-and-pop shops down Main Street” and farmers “feeding the world,” before declaring, “In Washington, it used to be all you needed was an idea, a dream and the guts to chase it.”
Then it turns: “But today, Olympia is broken, spending more while you get less.” Jobs are leaving, the ad says, and “it’s harder than ever to afford a home and raise a family.”
It doesn’t name Ferguson or any legislation. It ends by saying Olympia needs to “quit wasting money, fix what’s broken and put Washington families first.”
Taxes and the business climate: Ferguson this year signed a 9.9% tax on household income above $1 million, known as the millionaires tax, which takes effect in 2028 and is projected to raise about $3 billion a year. Initiative 645, which would repeal it, is on the Nov. 3 ballot.
In September, Smith joined former Gov. Chris Gregoire and dozens of regional officials to launch a partnership aimed at reversing the Seattle area’s economic slide. “The warning signs are flashing on our economy,” Smith said at the time.
The region lost nearly 7,000 jobs in 2025, according to the group, and Washington has fallen from 32nd to 47th in CNBC’s ranking of states by cost of doing business since 2017.
Long-term plans: On its website , Washington Needs to Compete describes itself as businesses and residents building “a modern, permanent political organization” to support leaders and ideas that “strengthen our economy, improve affordability and expand opportunity,” through elections and public education.
The site lists its top five contributors as Microsoft, T-Mobile, the Washington Coalition for Responsible Taxes and Spending, F5 and Smith.
The group is saving most of its money for future campaigns, the Observer reported.
