The Mainstream Republicans of Washington are seeking to restore streamflow after many years parched of influence, watching Democrats hold onto power while the far right has taken what used to be the party of Lincoln on a losing streak.
To that end, the Mainstreamers have endorsed a statewide ticket months ahead of the August Top Two election. Its candidates will, however, need to swim upstream, for Donald Trump is likely to lose Washington – bigtime.
Atop the ticket is former seven-term Congressman Dave Reichert, who is running for Governor after toying with a candidacy for multiple cycles.
Dr. Raul Garcia, an emergency room physician from Yakima, is taking on Democratic United States Senator Maria Cantwell, in office for 24 years and heavily favored for reelection.
Ousted by ultra MAGA extremist Joe Kent in the 2022 Top Two election, former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler is seeking a comeback running for Commissioner of Public Lands. She was one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump after the January 6th, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol. Rounding out the ticket is former State Representative Chad Magendanz for Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Magendanz is an outspoken advocate of charter schools.
“This is probably the strongest lineup of executive Republican candidates in Washington state in at least a decade: Each of these candidates can build a coalition of Republicans, independents, and Democrats who want to see positive change in the state”, said Deanna Martinez, who heads Mainstream Republicans.
Martinez cast the four candidates as “pragmatic problem solvers” as opposed to Democratic “ideologues”. She described state Republicans as a “big tent coalition,” a wishful and outdated definition.
The “Mainstreamers” will be sharing the ticket with Trump, who lost King County by a half-million votes in 2020, and 3rd District congressional candidate Joe Kent, who wants to put Dr. Anthony Fauci on trial for murder. And the Mainstream Republicans have themselves embraced far-right Republican State Chairman State Representative Jim Walsh, a blustering presence in the Washington Legislature.
The Republicans last held the governor’s office in 1984, when John Spellman was voted out of office by voters who wanted Democratic challenger Booth Gardner. Gardner has been followed by four more Democratic governors.
The state has been represented in Congress by two Democrats, Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, since 2000. Murray won her sixth term in a landslide two years ago, once more underestimated by the Republicans.
Still, Republicans have come close to winning the governorship in 2004 and 2012. But Reichert will likely face off against Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a chess champion who has a record of outworking and outthinking his competition.
The Republicans fielded what they thought was a strong legislative ticket two years ago. Eight highly recruited, well financed candidates sought to flip Democrat-held seats in the Legislature. All of them lost.
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