State GOP confident despite loss

The Democratic sweep in this year's election has Republicans nationally musing about what went wrong.

Not so much in Washington state.

Republicans here blame Dino Rossi's loss to Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire on the economic downturn and the unpopularity of President Bush.

They say their party is well-funded and better organized than it's been in a long time and that they're stoked about the future with rising stars like state Attorney General Rob McKenna and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane.

"I don't think there was anything Dino could have done differently or better," said McKenna, who was re-elected by a large margin. "He ran a very good campaign. So I think that we have to chalk this one up to a tough external environment."

That attitude, Democrats say, pretty much guarantees Republicans will remain a minority party.

"The Republican Party does not understand what it needs to do," said state Sen. Rodney Tom, a Democrat from Bellevue who used to be a Republican. "You talk to some of them and they think they need to be more conservative. I'm like, 'How far is your head buried in the sand?' "

The Republican Party is at a low ebb in Washington. The party has not elected a governor since 1980. In addition to controlling the governor's office, Democrats hold large majorities in both the House and Senate.

The GOP has been largely kicked out of the suburbs in King County. The party gets much of its strength from more rural parts of the state.

"They don't have a farm team," state Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz said about the GOP. "They have a farm person — Rob McKenna."

This week, the party apparently lost the public-lands commissioner office, with Democrat Peter Goldmark, of Okanogan, claiming victory over Republican incumbent Doug Sutherland. Sutherland hasn't conceded.

But U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, narrowly held on to his seat in the 8th Congressional District. And the GOP likely will end up holding its own in the state Legislature, with a possible gain of one or two seats.

"They've become a rural southern party, and this is an urban northern state," said state Sen.-elect Fred Jarrett, D-Mercer Island.

Jarrett was a Republican state House representative for years before switching parties in 2007, citing growing differences with the GOP.

Conservative credentials

During the governor's race, Rossi demonstrated his conservative credentials by noting his opposition to abortion, his interest in rolling back a provision in the state's gay-rights law and saying he wasn't certain how much humans are to blame for global warming.

"Those things play well in rural Washington," Jarrett said. "He did really well in rural Washington. But if you take King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, you've got (most) of the voters in the state. That didn't play well there."

Gregoire is currently leading Rossi by more than 200,000 votes in those three counties, and she is winning statewide by about 53 to 47 percent. Rossi conceded the governor's race on Wednesday.

Jarrett contends Republicans have to change their message on social and transportation issues if they're going to appeal to more suburban voters.

State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser rejects the idea.

"I think the message is great," Esser said, referring to the core values that Republican candidates campaign on.

"To me, the philosophical backbone of the Republican Party is fiscal issues, and we are still wounded from the experience of the overspending when Republicans controlled Congress much of this decade during the Bush administration," he said.

Former state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance agreed, saying the party's message of "less spending, less taxes, smaller government" has been overshadowed by problems during the Bush administration.

"The Republican brand had just been pummeled," Vance said. "For the public, the Republican message has come from George W. Bush, not from any Republican in Washington state."

With Bush on his way out of office, it gives the party a chance to wipe the slate clean and start talking about its core values again without distractions such as the war in Iraq or how the Bush administration handled the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, "or Dick Cheney shooting somebody on a hunting trip," Vance said.

No legislative losses

The fact that Republicans apparently did not lose any seats in the state Legislature this year, and that Reichert will keep his seat in Congress, shows the party didn't do too bad overall, McKenna said.

"We probably are at the bottom of the cycle, and we can begin climbing out again," he said. "The party is actually as well-organized and energized as I've seen it in many years."

Republicans said there are a number of up-and-coming politicians who could pursue statewide office in the future.

In addition to McKenna and Rodgers, party leaders mentioned state Rep. Jaime Herrera, a relatively new Republican lawmaker from Ridgefield, Clark County, and Metropolitan King County Council member Reagan Dunn, R-Maple Valley, the son of the late Jennifer Dunn, the 8th District congresswoman and former state GOP chairwoman.

"Introspection is a good thing," said McKenna, who wouldn't comment on whether he plans to run for governor in four years. "The national party ought to be doing that. They've lost tremendous ground. In our state, the issue is not the national message.

"Our candidates are focused on the right issues, the state budget and education and transportation."

Andrew Garber: 360-236-8266 or agarber@seattletimes.com