John Spellman vacated the Washington governor’s mansion, a Georgian-style structure on state Capitol grounds in Olympia, in early 1985. Since then, no Republican has gone to the residence of the Evergreen State’s chief executive except to visit. GOP legislators occasionally grouse about the stinginess of invitations.
Democrats have owned the chief executive office for going on 40 years, the longest GOP shutout of any state. Even Massachusetts , Illinois , Rhode Island , and Hawaii have had Republican governors in that time. Former elected King County Sheriff Dave Reichert, also a former congressman, has only an outside chance of upsetting state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s bid to move up.
And yet, if voters pass a quartet of referendums, it almost won’t matter who controls the governor’s mansion. Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) has ruled the state for three terms. These initiatives threaten to undercut his legacy and pull the rug out from under Democratic state House Speaker Laurie Jinkins while they’re at it.