Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Friday formally announced that he is running for president, joining a crowded Democratic primary field as a long-shot candidate with a climate-focused campaign message. “I’m the only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nation’s No. 1 priority,” Inslee said in a campaign video Friday morning. “We can do this.”

Inslee, 68, had widely been expected to launch a run. Late last month, he brought several experienced operatives on board, some of whom worked for Democratic mega-donor Tom Steyer as part of his climate-focused NextGen America group. Though virtually unknown outside his native Washington State, the Democrat captured some national attention in early 2017 when the state filed a lawsuit to block Donald Trump’s first Muslim travel ban. As chair of the Democratic Governors Association, he also oversaw a 2018 cycle in which the party picked up seven governorships. And, of course, he’s been an outspoken critic of the president, telling The Atlantic in January that a strong challenger needs to show voters that “you can help America rise to the better angels rather than our lower behavior.”

His primary focus, however, is climate change. In an interview with Rolling Stone last year, he said it is “imperative” that Democrats run a candidate who makes global warming a top priority. To Inslee, it’s a potentially winning issue. “You can’t shilly-shally your way into defeating climate change,” the two-term governor told the magazine. “You’ve got to take it head-on, and you’ve got to campaign on it. You’ve got to propose a vision statement on how to do it, and you’ve got to make your candidacy a test case of that.”

“The party needs that,” he added. “The nation needs that.”

Realistically, Inslee’s chances of getting the Democratic nod are exceedingly thin. Despite his forays into national politics during the Trump administration, he still suffers from a severe lack of name recognition—and it’s not clear whether he can build a coalition to rival those of Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, or Bernie Sanders. Moreover, his stance on climate change won’t necessarily be unique. “That’s not necessarily a reliable enough path because every Democratic candidate who is seriously running and is a top-tier contender is going to address climate change,” Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod told Axios.

Still, even if he fails to win the nomination, Inslee’s candidacy could reinforce the issue’s importance in the 2020 Democratic platform. “He is going to put climate as the clear No. 1 issue. No major-party candidate in American history has done that,” Inslee adviser Jared Leopold told Axios. “The times demand that climate is the top priority because if it’s not, it’s not going to get done.”

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