Gregoire has traveled to D.C. seven times since inauguration

OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire isn't shy about dropping names.

Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sebelius, Tom Vilsack, Gary Locke, Carol Browner, to name several. They're all members of President Obama's Cabinet or inner circle. Not to mention Obama himself.

Gregoire knows them all. And this year, she's flown to Washington, D.C., seven times for meetings or events involving these high-ranking officials and other key political players.

In fact, the Democratic governor has traveled to the capital more times in the past seven months than during the entire four years of her first term, when Republican George W. Bush held the presidency. She's also been tapped by the Obama administration to help on health-care and homeland-security issues.

Most of the trips occurred during a ban on noncritical state travel, imposed because of a budget shortfall. The ban expired June 30. But Gregoire argues the trips, which have cost taxpayers about $7,400 combined, and her connections to the new Democratic administration are paying off at home.

For example, Gregoire said, Washington state agricultural leaders met with seven Cabinet members during a June trip. "That, to me, is pretty amazing," she said. "They got ... access they've never had in their lifetime."

State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser said he's not impressed with Gregoire's claims of friends in high places. "I think sometimes a governor can get an overinflated opinion of themselves if they're not careful," he said.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, also questioned how much influence one governor can have in Washington, D.C. The major issues of the day, such as health care and energy, "are so big that everybody is involved," he said. "Everybody has a little piece of the pie, and it's a sliver."

Yet, Gregoire appears to have above-average access to people in power. "She's several degrees more influential than most Democratic governors," said Paul Berendt, former chairman of the state Democratic Party.

Early support pays off

Berendt attributes that partly to the fact that Gregoire endorsed Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 when most of the state's top Democrats were backing then-rival Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"She took a lot of heat from many of the supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton over that," said Berendt, who backed Clinton. "I believe that the Obamas have honored that support and loyalty."

Gregoire has met with the president five times, as part of small groups on various issues, since his inauguration.

Gregoire also benefits from the fact that many people she's worked with both as state attorney general and as governor now work in the Obama administration.

She is considered to be particularly close to Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security, and Sebelius, the secretary of Health and Human Services. All three were governors at the same time, Napolitano in Arizona and Sebelius in Kansas.

"She goes back years and years with these people," said Rick Desimone, president of the Northwest operations for McBee Strategic, a public-affairs and lobbying firm with offices in D.C., Seattle and Palo Alto, Calif.

Gregoire distributed glowing news releases when her two friends were appointed to Obama's Cabinet, and she persuaded Napolitano to tour a new security center in Bellingham last month. The center will handle traveler safety during the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Napolitano also asked Gregoire to be part of a national task force that will review the effectiveness of the Homeland Security Advisory System, which warns the public of terrorism threats.

In a telephone interview last week, Sebelius said she often talks to Gregoire about health-care issues. "I've known Chris for a long time and have worked closely with her as a governor," Sebelius said. "So it's a really easy thing for me to tap into her expertise and leadership because I kind of know what she's done."

Browner, who was head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Clinton, said Gregoire's expertise is needed in D.C., as well, on energy and climate-change issues.

"She's really great. She's a problem-solver. She's real can-do," said Browner, who knows Gregoire from her days as the state attorney general. "For someone in my position, it's really helpful to have someone like her to offer advice."

Calling on friends

Gregoire contends there are both immediate and long-term benefits to having friends in power.

She said, for example, that her connections helped pave the way for certain cherry exports to Japan this year that appeared in jeopardy because of concerns about codling moths.

Cherry growers have a pilot program that monitors crops for codling moths instead of fumigating them to kill the pests. The cherries last longer if they're not treated. However, Japan had some last-minute concerns that threatened the export of about $1.2 million in cherries, said B.J. Thurlby, president of the Washington State Fruit Commission.

As soon as she learned of the problem, Gregoire said, she contacted Vilsack, a former Iowa governor who is now Obama's secretary of Agriculture.

Vilsack's office contacted Japan's ambassador to the United States a couple of times to straighten things out, Gregoire said. "That's a multimillion-dollar export for us," she said. "So, to me that's another example of I've got a great relationship with Vilsack."

On a broader scale, Gregoire said she's pressing the Obama administration and Congress on several fronts, including health care and energy policy.

Much of her effort is aimed at trying to make sure that whatever laws Congress ends up passing don't conflict with what Washington state is doing, and don't force states to take on programs that aren't funded.

Sebelius said Gregoire has been talking in D.C. about the state's efforts to control health-care costs. Obama also called on Gregoire to co-host a health-care forum this year with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

She's written to Sebelius, Vice President Joseph Biden and key members of Congress urging them to look at Washington state's health programs, such as one that evaluates treatments to make sure only the most effective are used.

Sebelius said Gregoire's efforts in D.C. will benefit the state.

"All the issues being discussed here, about everything from insurance reform to how Medicaid and Medicare will work in the future, will affect, my guess is, 75 to 80 percent of your population.

"To have her voice in that discussion, protecting and looking out for the citizens of Washington, just makes sense."

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