How Washington went Deep Blue
By Joel Connelly
Forty-seven years ago, this returning trekker sat reading of happenings back home. The major news: Seattle voters had resoundingly rejected a bid to roll back the city’s recently enacted anti-discrimination ordinance.
And yet, almost a half-century later, city and state Republicans continue to believe the path to power is to demonize minorities. Dan Evans ran for governor and was elected in a Democratic year on the slogan “A Blueprint for Progress” and would deliver on same. Pollster Stewart Elway, in a lecture last week, projected a chart showing that merely 21 percent of Washington voters consider themselves Republicans.
The state’s political colors have morphed from purple to deep blue. This revelation has come as conservative Brian Heywood and supporting cast celebrate collecting enough signatures to place on the ballot a centerpiece of today’s party agenda — the state would bar young people undergoing gender-affirming treatment from participating on its playing fields.
These Republicans seem to believe the state’s place is is in the bedrooms and on the playing fields of our Evergreen State, even though voters disagree. We’ve witnessed a march of folly by the GOP on multiple fronts, including:
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