Commentary by: Eileen Griffin-Ray
Final vote tallies indicate slight movement towards Republicans in Washington state.
Despite earlier reports, Washington did not completely contradict the national rightward trend in the recent election, The Chronicle reports. As the votes continued to be counted in the state, President-elect Donald Trump (R) increased his percentage over Kamala Harris (D) in the Presidential election.
Trump received 38.8 percent of the state-wide vote in 2020 and appears to be at 39 percent for 2024. Although it’s a very slight change, it should be somewhat consoling to the Republicans who ran state-wide races.
Much of the eastern part of the state shifted further to the right. The largest increase in votes for Trump came from Franklin County. He won over 60 percent of the vote this year, a four-percentage point gain from 2020.
Adams County also moved to the right four percentage points, giving Trump a total of 70.7 percent of the vote in 2024. Yakima increased its support for the Republican party voting 55.6 percent for Trump.
Washington clearly has two distinctly different perspectives on policies and governance. The central and eastern parts of the state prefer the conservative, America-first, policies of Donald Trump while the coastal part of the state embraces the agenda of the left.
In King County, home to Seattle and a hotbed of leftist policies, Trump received a miniscule 22.2 percent of the vote. Several other counties on the west side moved further left in the already deep blue state.
Republicans running in state-wide races found themselves on the losing side in every single contest from Governor to Attorney General and from Superintendent of Public Instruction to Insurance Commissioner. Republicans lost state-wide and made no progress in control of the legislative branch, which has been completely controlled by Democrats for many years.
“Washington has a Democratic trifecta and a Democratic triplex.” Ballotpedia reports. “The Democratic Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the state legislature.”
Residents on the east side of the state frequently express concern for the direction of the state and the fact that their voices do not seem to be heard. The west side dominates and seems determined to continue the leftward march.
While the situation looks dire, there have been times of Republican resurgence in the past, US News and World Report reported. Republicans had close contests for Governor in 2004, 2008, and 2012. The critical role of Attorney General was filled by a Republican for 36 of the 44 years between 1969 and 2013.
Residents on the west side of the state have supported policies that have caused people and businesses to flee. Defunding the police, supporting squatters rights, and allowing anarchy in the streets have all been embraced by the city of Seattle, but that is beginning to change as more moderate people are elected to city council.
As residents become more fed up, the city council may take a more common sense approach. If support for leftist policies begins to erode, there is an opportunity for Republicans to introduce conservative theory and pro-business ideas for prosperity.
Republicans are standing with parents fighting for better education, a safer school environment, and the rights of parents over the government when it comes to decisions about their children. Those ideas are popular with a majority of parents.
While policies can be viewed be attractive with accurate messaging, Republicans will still have to overcome their own infighting and lack of unity.
“The GOP’s focus on partisan purity has enabled Democrats to hang the ‘Trump’ label on just about every Republican they face, with continuing success,” Louis Jacobson writes for US News and World Report.
“For Democrats, demonizing Republicans works,” Randy Pepple, a longtime Republican consultant in the state told the outlet.
Republicans are painted as extremists and Democrats look to be moderate while they are campaigning. People’s memories are short, so campaign speeches are quickly forgotten as the winners take power and impose their radical agenda.
Republicans need to expose the real radicals. There is one party that consistently supports allowing biological males to play on girls’ sports teams. They believe that biological males should be able to use the same bathrooms and locker rooms as girls. They defund and demean law enforcement while coddling criminals. These are the policies of Democrats.
Republicans may have hope in the state of Washington if they can effectively counter the messaging coming from Democrats. Republicans need to unify and prioritize the rejection of the far-left ideology that is rotting the state. With one voice and a positive message of safety, security, prosperity, and honesty Republicans can take back the state.
