Gregoire sworn in; GOP holds applause

OLYMPIA — Christine Gregoire became the state's 22nd governor yesterday with a call for unity, but Republican legislators were a brooding presence during her 45-minute inaugural address.

They barely acknowledged her entrance and exit, and most greeted her applause lines with silence.

"I figured they'd walk out," said former Democratic Gov. Booth Gardner, who contrasted the cool reception to friendlier ones he received as governor. "I was thinking she was hoping they wouldn't walk out."

Gregoire forged ahead with an upbeat speech about her plans, and asked Republicans to put the hard feelings behind.

"I believe the voters have given all of us a mandate — a mandate to overcome our differences, and to solve problems," she said to a standing ovation — from Democrats.

GOP lawmakers were bitter that Democrats defeated their efforts to delay yesterday's swearing-in by two weeks, to give courts time to consider a challenge by Republican Dino Rossi, who lost to Gregoire by 129 votes in a hand recount in one of the closest statewide races in U.S. history.

"The message is, we should have not rushed," said Sen. Jerome Delvin, R-Richland, one of several lawmakers wearing orange ribbons as a sign of support for Rossi. "Maybe we'll have to do this all over again."

Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, took it a step further, skipping the swearing-in ceremony, which he called "adding insult to injury."

"Rather than participate in these formalities, I'd rather wait and see who the real governor is," said Swecker.

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES While others stand and applaud, some legislators on the Republican side of the aisle remain seated during Gregoire's speech yesterday. Despite this, "We're absolutely ready to work with her," said Senate Minority Leader Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland.

Republican leaders downplayed the bitterness, saying they recognize, for now, that Gregoire is governor, and asserting that their members were respectful, if not enthusiastic. "We're absolutely ready to work with her," said Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland, the Senate minority leader.

For her part, Gregoire reached out to Republicans in the address, talking about how much of an ordeal the election was. "And so my heart goes out to, my sincere thanks and appreciation goes out to Sen. Rossi and his family," she said.

Parts of the speech that got vigorous applause from her supporters included references to the need to give pay raises to state employees and teachers.

Gregoire's invited guests to the inaugural address included people who were key campaign supporters and recount backers, such as State Labor Council President Rick Bender and Charles Hasse, president of the Washington Education Association.

Her speech was short on specifics and gave only a few hints as to how she plans to approach the coming session.

Gregoire, who last month called the state's election system a "model to the rest of the nation and to the world at large," said she plans to create a task force headed by Secretary of State Sam Reed to come up with recommendations on how to improve the system.

Gregoire talked briefly about creating a $1 billion Life Sciences Discovery Fund, paid in part with tobacco-settlement money, to do research on diseases and agricultural crops. She mentioned setting a goal of providing health care to all children by 2010 and creating a new program to "hold state agencies accountable."

She also told lawmakers, after stressing the need for teacher and state-worker pay raises, that "we must not promise more than we can deliver," a nod to the fact the state faces a projected $1.8 billion budget deficit.

Gregoire did not mention taxes, a subject broached by her predecessor, Gary Locke, when he rolled out a budget proposal last month calling for $600 million in new taxes.

ELAINE THOMPSON / AP Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and her husband, Mike, raise a toast at last night's inaugural ball. Earlier in the day, Gregoire was sworn in as Washington's 22nd governor.

Locke, a mentor for the new governor, gave her inaugural speech high marks. "Great speech, great content, great delivery. ... I was proud."

Gregoire afterward headed to a long day of social events including receptions and the inaugural ball. A crush of lobbyists, politicians and other well-wishers swirled around her.

Republicans did not turn out in large numbers for the ball, but several prominent GOP lawmakers attended, including the party's leaders in the House and Senate.

Gardner said he expects the emotions to die quickly. He said it was a good sign that GOP lawmakers didn't walk out and were respectful during the inauguration.

Considering that Democrats control the governorship, state Senate and House, Republicans have to work with the opposing party or risk being pushed to the side, he said.

In fact, it only took a few minutes for the political jockeying to begin.

Hasse noted after Gregoire's speech that she'd told the teachers union she would not allow the Legislature to leave town without raising teacher pay. "We will make sure that promise is kept," said Hasse.

Republicans were positioning themselves for an expected push to raise taxes, saying Gregoire is promising too much given the projected budget shortfall. "We have a hard time seeing how she can pay for all the things she talked about without a tax increase," Finkbeiner said.

Andrew Garber: 360-236-8268 or agarber@seattletimes.com. Seattle Times reporters Christina Siderius and David Postman contributed to this report.