Washington State Republican Party | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Jim Walsh |
Vice Chair | Lisa Evans |
Senate Leader | John Braun |
House Leader | Drew Stokesbary |
Founded | 1890 |
Headquarters | Bellevue, Washington |
Political position | Center-right to Right-wing |
National affiliation | Republican Party |
U.S. Senate delegation | 0 / 2 |
U.S. House delegation | 2 / 10 |
Statewide offices | 0 / 9 |
Washington Senate | 20 / 49 |
Washington House | 40 / 98 |
Website | |
www.wsrp.org | |
The Washington State Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national United States Republican Party, headquartered in Bellevue. [1]
Washington voters tend to support Democratic Party candidates, with The New York Times referring to the state as "Democratopolis." [2] The last Republican governor in Washington was John Spellman, who held office from 1981 to 1985. Republicans came closest to recapturing the state's chief executive office in 2004 when Democrat Christine Gregoire secured election by just 133 votes out of 2.8 million cast. The last time Washington gave its electoral votes to a Republican candidate for U.S. president was in 1984, when a majority in the state voted for Ronald Reagan.
The early history of the state saw firm electoral dominance by the Republican Party. In 1889, Republicans prevailed in the first election for governor and scored majorities in both chambers of the inaugural state legislature. William Owen Bush, Washington's first African-American legislator, is credited with introducing the legislation that led to the establishment of Washington State University. Elected as a Republican from Thurston County, Bush was known as a tireless promoter of Washington agriculture. [3]
Republican policies in the early period of statehood were advanced by the party-connected Seattle Post-Intelligencer and, later, by the Seattle Republican. Founded by ex-slave Horace Cayton, the Seattle Republican would grow to become the second-largest newspaper in Seattle before it folded in 1917. "The success of the Republican Party is one of its highest ambitions," Cayton said of his publication. [4]
In 1922 Republican Reba Hurn of Spokane became the first woman elected to the Washington State Senate, serving from 1923 to 1930. Hurn advocated for conservative fiscal policies and was a supporter of prohibition, but otherwise espoused a generally liberal social agenda, helping to pass the state's first child labor laws. [5]
Charles Stokes became the first African-American elected to the state legislature from King County in 1950. He led the Republican Party delegation to the 1952 Republican National Convention where he spoke in support of Dwight Eisenhower's presidential nomination and later introduced the legislation that created Washington's Lottery. [6]
After a period of declining fortunes, in 1964 Republican Dan Evans was elected governor at the age of 39, becoming the youngest person to hold the state's chief executive office. The architect of Evans' victory, C. Montgomery Johnson., became the party's first full-time chairman. Johnson, a former forest ranger, publicist for Weyerhauser, early pro-choice advocate and champion of limited government, led a purge of John Birch Society members from the Washington Republican party, declaring afterward that "we had to make the term 'conservative' respectable again. The only way to do it was to get the far right off the backs of conservatives. The Republican Party is not the far-right." [7]
In 1971 Johnson quit the party chairmanship to form a political consulting firm. With the warning that future tolerance of the John Birch Society would be "the instrument of Republican defeat - statewide, regionally, and locally," party leaders elected Johnson's political ally, Earl Davenport, to replace him as party head. [8] The election, the same year, of Republican Michael Ross from Seattle's 37th legislative district foreshadowed eventual changes in Washington state law. The former treasurer of the Seattle chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, Ross grabbed headlines when he introduced a bill to legalize marijuana. (While the measure failed, Washington would eventually become the first state to legalize the manufacture and sale of marijuana in 2012.) During a period of racial tensions at Rainier Beach High School, Ross commandeered a state vehicle and drove a contingent of armed Black Panthers to the school to protect African-American students. In 1973 Ross attempted an unsuccessful bid for Seattle City Council. One of his campaign volunteers in that contest was the Republican party's 2004 and 2008 gubernatorial nominee Dino Rossi. [9]
The Republican Revolution of 1994 helped party candidates score an unprecedented seven of the state's nine seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In Washington's 5th congressional district Republican George Nethercutt unseated Tom Foley, the incumbent Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Foley's defeat marked the first time a sitting Speaker had been defeated in a reelection in 132 years. Another Republican elevated to national office as a result of the 1994 elections was Jack Metcalf. Described by The Seattle Times as "the vestige of a certain place the Northwest used to be," Metcalf typified the unconventional characteristics for which Washington Republicans had previously been known. One of the few Republicans in the late 1990s endorsed by organized labor, Metcalf blended fiscal conservatism with environmental advocacy, working with the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and sponsoring an abortive effort to require labeling of genetically modified foods. [10]
The Washington state Republican party has, in recent years, struggled with internal divisions between its historic core of social liberals and a strengthening contingent of religious conservatives. The party's 1996 gubernatorial candidate, paleoconservative Ellen Craswell, won the Republican nomination by only a slim margin before being soundly defeated in the general election by Democrat Gary Locke. Craswell would ultimately quit the party to help form the American Heritage Party. Concerns about increasing social conservatism in the party led state legislators Fred Jarrett and Rodney Tom to drop their Republican affiliation in the late 2000s and join the Democratic Party. [11]
Eastern Washington is considered a stronghold of the party. Republican candidates have also performed well in the eastern half of King County and in Seattle's affluent Madison Park neighborhood in the past. [12]
Among the largest recent financial backers of the party's activities are the National Electrical Contractors Association, Kemper Holdings, Microsoft, real estate developer Clyde Holland, and investor Richard Alvord (Alvord's parents, meanwhile, are Democratic Party benefactors). [13] [14]
Since 2016, the state GOP and its voter base have undergone a hard rightward shift in their political views and positions along with the embrace of Trumpism. This includes the party being completely taken over by social conservatives including gun rights and anti-abortion activists. [15] This has led to many people on the Eastside and elsewhere in the state abandoning the party. [16]
After the 2020 Washington gubernatorial election, despite Jay Inslee's large margin of victory, Republican candidate Loren Culp refused to concede his loss and gave no concession speech, while making unsubstantiated claims of voting fraud. [17]
After Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, state Republicans were divided over The party’s claims of election fraud, with some rejecting or embracing the claims. [18] In the aftermath, some Republicans and county chapters have spread misinformation and conspiracy theories over the 2020 election. [19] [20] [21] There has been efforts by a few Republican legislators to abolish the mail by voting system that's been used in the state for years, often claiming there was widespread election fraud. [22] It was also reported that a Republican lawmaker proclaimed on social media to "prepare for war" and advocated for others to join following the 2020 election. [23]
The Washington chapter of the National Federation of Republican Women was established in 1945 and currently consists of more than 30 local Republican women's clubs. [24]
The Washington College Republican Federation has College Republicans chapters at 10 of the state's colleges and universities. Past members of the University of Washington chapter of the group have included former gubernatorial candidate John Carlson, and former state party chairmen Kirby Wilbur and Luke Esser. [25]
An independent pressure group founded in 1990, Mainstream Republicans of Washington, advances efforts to moderate Republican policies and recruit centrist candidates. The group's members include former state legislators Gary Alexander, Steve Litzow, and Hans Zeiger.
In 2005 an organization of Republican attorneys and former elected officials, the Constitutional Law PAC, was formed to advocate in state judicial elections. The current head of that organization is former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton.
A Washington chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus was organized in 2012 to push a libertarian agenda. [26] Former state legislators Matt Shea and Jason Overstreet have been involved with the group.
Though officially non-partisan, the Olympia-based think tank Evergreen Freedom Foundation has been connected with Republican candidates and causes. [27] When former state Auditor Brian Sonntag, a Democrat, joined the foundation as an adviser in 2013, Washington State Democratic Party chair Dwight Pelz declared Sonntag was no longer a Democrat and called on him to "pay your dues to the Republican party." [28]
Washington state has a chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans and the former executive-director of the national group, Patrick Sammon, is a native of Seattle. [29]
Name | Year |
---|---|
Arnold S. Wang | 1958–1960 [30] [31] |
William C. Goodloe | 1960–1962 [32] |
C. Montgomery Johnson | 1964–1971 |
Earl Davenport | 1971–1973 |
Ross Davis | 1973–1977 |
Ken Eikenberry | 1977–1981 |
Jennifer Dunn | 1981–1992 |
Ben Bettridge | 1992–1993 |
Ken Eikenberry | 1993–1996 |
Dale Foreman | 1996–2000 |
Don Benton | 2000–2001 |
Chris Vance | 2001–2006 |
Diane Tebelius | 2006–2007 |
Luke Esser | 2007–2011 |
Kirby Wilbur | 2011–2013 |
Luanne Van Werven | 2013 |
Susan Hutchison | 2013–2018 |
Caleb Heimlich | 2018–2023 |
Jim Walsh | 2023–present |
The Washington State Republican Party controls none of the nine constitutional offices and holds a minority two of the state's 10 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans are the minority in the Washington Senate and Washington House of Representatives.
District | Member | Photo |
---|---|---|
4th | Dan Newhouse | |
5th | Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Election | Senatorial candidate | Votes | Vote % | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1914 | Wesley Livsey Jones | 130,479 | 37.79% | Won |
1916 | Miles Poindexter | 202,287 | 55.39% | Won |
1920 | Wesley Livsey Jones | 217,069 | 56.40% | Won |
1922 | Miles Poindexter | 126,410 | 42.93% | Lost |
1926 | Wesley Livsey Jones | 164,130 | 51.31% | Won |
1928 | Kenneth Macintosh | 227,415 | 46.45% | Lost |
1932 | Wesley Livsey Jones | 197,450 | 32.70% | Lost |
1934 | Reno Odlin | 168,994 | 34.02% | Lost |
1938 | Ewing D. Colvin | 220,204 | 37.12% | Lost |
1940 | Stephen F. Chadwick | 342,589 | 45.84% | Lost |
1944 | Harry P. Cain | 364,356 | 44.44% | Lost |
1946 | Harry P. Cain | 358,847 | 54.34% | Won |
1950 | Walter Williams | 342,464 | 45.98% | Lost |
1952 | Harry P. Cain | 460,884 | 43.53% | Lost |
1956 | Arthur B. Langlie | 436,652 | 38.91% | Lost |
1958 | William B. Bantz | 278,271 | 31.38% | Lost |
1962 | Richard G. Christensen | 446,204 | 47.31% | Lost |
1964 | Lloyd J. Andrews | 337,138 | 27.79% | Lost |
1968 | Jack Metcalf | 435,894 | 35.26% | Lost |
1970 | Charles W. Elicker | 170,790 | 16.01% | Lost |
1974 | Jack Metcalf | 363,626 | 36.08% | Lost |
1976 | George M. Brown | 361,546 | 24.25% | Lost |
1980 | Slade Gorton | 936,317 | 54.17% | Won |
1982 | Douglas Jewett | 332,273 | 24.28% | Lost |
1983 (special) | Daniel J. Evans | 672,326 | 55.41% | Won |
1986 | Slade Gorton | 650,931 | 48.67% | Lost |
1988 | Slade Gorton | 944,359 | 51.09% | Won |
1992 | Rod Chandler | 1,020,829 | 46.01% | Lost |
1994 | Slade Gorton | 947,821 | 55.75% | Won |
1998 | Linda Smith | 785,377 | 41.59% | Lost |
2000 | Slade Gorton | 1,197,208 | 48.64% | Lost |
2004 | George Nethercutt | 1,204,584 | 43.74% | Lost |
2006 | Mike McGavick | 832,106 | 39.91% | Lost |
2010 | Dino Rossi | 1,196,164 | 47.37% | Lost |
2012 | Michael Baumgartner | 1,213,924 | 39.49% | Lost |
2016 | Chris Vance | 1,329,338 | 40.86% | Lost |
2018 | Susan Hutchison | 1,282,804 | 41.48% | Lost |
2022 | Tiffany Smiley | 1,299,322 | 42.63% | Lost |
Election | Gubernatorial candidate | Votes | Vote % | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1889 | Elisha P. Ferry | 33,711 | 57.68% | Won |
1892 | John McGraw | 33,281 | 37.01% | Won |
1896 | Potter C. "Charley" Sullivan | 38,154 | 41.68% | Lost |
1900 | John M. Frink | 49,860 | 46.81% | Lost |
1904 | Albert E. Mead | 74,278 | 51.34% | Won |
1908 | Samuel G. Cosgrove | 110,190 | 62.56% | Won |
1912 | Marion E. Hay | 96,629 | 30.35% | Lost |
1916 | Henry McBride | 167,809 | 44.44% | Lost |
1920 | Louis F. Hart | 210,662 | 52.25% | Won |
1924 | Roland H. Hartley | 220,162 | 56.41% | Won |
1928 | Roland H. Hartley | 281,991 | 56.22% | Won |
1932 | John Arthur Gellatly | 207,497 | 33.75% | Lost |
1936 | Roland H. Hartley | 189,141 | 28.12% | Lost |
1940 | Arthur B. Langlie | 392,522 | 50.24% | Won |
1944 | Arthur B. Langlie | 400,604 | 48.12% | Lost |
1948 | Arthur B. Langlie | 445,958 | 50.50% | Won |
1952 | Arthur B. Langlie | 567,822 | 52.65% | Won |
1956 | Emmett T. Anderson | 508,041 | 45.00% | Lost |
1960 | Lloyd J. Andrews | 594,122 | 48.87% | Lost |
1964 | Daniel J. Evans | 697,256 | 55.77% | Won |
1968 | Daniel J. Evans | 692,378 | 54.72% | Won |
1972 | Daniel J. Evans | 747,825 | 50.78% | Won |
1976 | John Spellman | 687,039 | 44.43% | Lost |
1980 | John Spellman | 981,083 | 56.68% | Won |
1984 | John Spellman | 881,994 | 46.69% | Lost |
1988 | Bob Williams | 708,481 | 37.79% | Lost |
1992 | Ken Eikenberry | 1,086,216 | 47.84% | Lost |
1996 | Ellen Craswell | 940,538 | 42.04% | Lost |
2000 | John Carlson | 980,060 | 39.68% | Lost |
2004 | Dino Rossi | 1,373,228 | 48.87% | Lost |
2008 | Dino Rossi | 1,404,124 | 46.55% | Lost |
2012 | Rob McKenna | 1,488,245 | 48.33% | Lost |
2016 | Bill Bryant | 1,476,346 | 45.49% | Lost |
2020 | Loren Culp | 1,749,066 | 43.12% | Lost |
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U.S. Senate in 1970 and served for one term. Since 2010, the party has held "Row C" on New York ballots—the third-place ballot position, directly below the Democratic and Republican parties—because it received the third-highest number of votes of any political party in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 New York gubernatorial elections. The party is known for its strategy of attempting to influence the Republican Party in a more conservative direction.
The 2008 gubernatorial election in Washington was held on November 4, 2008. Republican Dino Rossi and incumbent Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire emerged from the August 19 primary. This made the 2008 election a rematch between the candidates from the 2004 election, the closest gubernatorial election in the state's history. In contrast to the recounts and months of legal challenges in their previous contest, Gregoire was the clear winner on November 5, earning 53 percent of the vote. With a margin of 6.45%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2008 gubernatorial election cycle, behind only the election in North Carolina.
John Herman Cox is an American businessman, housing developer, and political activist, who has run for public office several times, mostly recently for Governor of California as a Republican Party candidate.
The politics of Virginia have followed major historical events and demographic changes in the commonwealth. In the 21st century, the northern region has become more liberal in attitudes and voting, constituting a reliable voting bloc for Democrats and joining with population centers in the Richmond Metropolitan and Hampton Roads areas to dominate the state. Political orientation varies by region, with the larger cities and suburban areas generally voting Democratic and the rural areas voting Republican. The southern, rural regions have remained rural and conservative. Until 2021 when the GOP swept all statewide offices, Virginia was shifting more Democratic and now is considered a swing state again by most pundits.
United States gubernatorial elections were held in 12 states and two territories. Of the eight Democratic and four Republican seats contested, only that of North Carolina changed party hands, giving the Republicans a net gain of one governorship. These elections coincided with the presidential election on November 6, 2012. As of 2024, this marked the last time in which a Democrat won the governorship in Missouri and the last time in which a Republican won the governorship in North Carolina.
The 2014 Maryland gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Maryland. Incumbent Democratic governor Martin O'Malley was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third consecutive term.
The 2012 New York state elections took place on November 6, 2012. These elections included the 2012 presidential election, an election to one U.S. Senate seat, and elections to all 27 New York congressional seats, all 63 seats in the New York State Senate, and all 150 seats in the New York State Assembly.
Mainstream Republicans of Washington is a political action organization dedicated to promoting moderation in the Republican Party in Washington state by providing financial and other support to centrist Republican candidates standing for election in swing districts and statewide office.
Amanda Chase is an American Republican politician. From 2016 to 2024 she was a member of the Virginia Senate for the 11th District, and represented Amelia County, the city of Colonial Heights, and part of Chesterfield County. Chase, self-described as "Trump in heels" was narrowly defeated in the primary of her reelection campaign for a redrawn 12th District in June 2023 and left office in January 2024.
The 2018 New York gubernatorial election occurred on November 6, 2018. Incumbent Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo won re-election to a third term, defeating Republican Marc Molinaro and several minor party candidates. Cuomo received 59.6% of the vote to Molinaro's 36.2%.
The 2020 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020. It followed a top-two primary held on August 4. Incumbent governor Jay Inslee, the Democratic candidate, defeated Loren Culp, the Republican candidate by a wide margin. Inslee, who was eligible to run for a third term due to the lack of gubernatorial term limits, initially launched a campaign for president of the United States in the 2020 election. When he dropped out of that race in August 2019 due to extremely low polling numbers, he announced he would seek a third term as governor. Several other Democratic political figures considered entering the race if Inslee did not run, including Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson; no other major Democratic candidates entered the race. Republican Loren Culp, the police chief of Republic, Washington, placed second in the top-two primary and advanced to the general election alongside Inslee.
The 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2021, to elect the governor of New Jersey.
The 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Oregon. Incumbent Kate Brown took office when fellow Democrat John Kitzhaber resigned on February 18, 2015. She won the subsequent 2016 special election a full term in 2018. Due to term limits, she was unable to run again in 2022.
Robert J. Sutherland is a former American politician previously serving as a member of the Washington House of Representatives for the 39th district.
The 2022 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Alabama. Incumbent Governor Kay Ivey took office on April 10, 2017, upon the resignation of Robert J. Bentley (R) and won a full term in 2018. In 2022, she won her bid for a second full term in a landslide.
The 2022 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Illinois, concurrently with the 2022 Illinois general election. Gubernatorial candidates ran on tickets with candidates for lieutenant governor. The incumbent governor and lieutenant governor, first-term Democrats J. B. Pritzker and Juliana Stratton, sought re-election together against Republican nominees Illinois State Senator Darren Bailey and his running mate Stephanie Trussell.
The 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer ran for re-election to a second term and faced former political commentator Tudor Dixon in the general election. Whitmer defeated Dixon by a margin of 10.6 percentage points, a wider margin than polls indicated as well as a wider margin than Whitmer's first victory four years prior. According to Ron Brownstein of CNN in 2023, Whitmer won independent voters by double-digit margins, which contributed to Dixon's defeat.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the 10 U.S. representatives from the state of Washington, one from each of the state's 10 congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. Going into this election, the Democratic Party represented seven seats, while the Republican Party represented three seats.
The 2024 Washington gubernatorial election will be held on November 5, 2024. The top-two primary will be held on August 6.
The 2022 Washington Secretary of State special election was held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Kim Wyman, a Republican, resigned from the office on November 19, 2021, to become the senior election security lead for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in the Biden administration's Department of Homeland Security. Washington governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, announced he would appoint state senator Steve Hobbs as her replacement, the first Democrat to hold the office in more than fifty years.