(1) Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of or to inflict bodily harm upon the governor of the state or his or her immediate family, the governor-elect, the lieutenant governor, other officer next in the order of succession to the office of governor of the state, or the lieutenant governor-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the governor, governor-elect, lieutenant governor, other officer next in the order of succession to the office of governor, or lieutenant governor-elect, shall be guilty of a class C felony.

(2) As used in this section, the term "governor-elect" and "lieutenant governor-elect" means such persons as are the successful candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, as ascertained from the results of the general election. As used in this section, the phrase "other officer next in the order of succession to the office of governor" means the person other than the lieutenant governor next in order of succession to the office of governor under Article 3, section 10 of the state Constitution.

(3) The Washington state patrol may investigate for violations of this section.