Helen Sommers: An Oral History

pg. 274 The Press
Questions Linger as Governor
Takes Over in Washington
By Timothy Egan; Eli Sanders Contributed Reporting
For This Article.
Published: January 13, 2005
The swearing-in ceremony here that made the
Democrat Christine A. Gregoire the new governor
of Washington on Wednesday after one of the closest
statehouse races in history had all the somber
ritualistic touches, complete with prayers and
bagpipes wailing ‘’God Bless America.’’
But outside, on the airwaves, on billboards and
in statements made by Republicans, Ms. Gregoire’s
hold on the office was questioned even as she gave
her inauguration speech. Republicans and their
candidate, Dino Rossi, have sued to overturn the
election, which Ms. Gregoire won by 129 votes
after two recounts.
The court case, filed in a Republican-leaning
county, will most likely be settled only when this
state’s Supreme Court weighs in. Republicans say
the election was flawed because of irregularities
in the biggest and most Democratic county, while
Gregoire supporters say the problems were not
unusual for a large turnout, and did not change
the outcome.
But the Washington Constitution has no
specific provision on a revote, leaving leaders of
both parties struggling over the high ground of
public esteem as the politics of the state enters
the frontier.
For Republicans, that means building a base
of discontented voters using their allies in conservative
talk radio and the building industry. As
Ms. Gregoire was giving her speech, the Building
Industry Association of Washington ran radio
advertisements saying, ‘’We don’t even know who
our legitimate governor is.’’
They were backed by conservative radio hosts,
who helped to organize a rally of about 2,500 anti-
Gregoire forces here on Tuesday. They called on
legislators to delay the swearing-in while the court
heard the legal challenge. The motion was defeated
along party lines.
For Democrats, the new campaign means trying
to build a base of majority popular support for Ms.
Gregoire, should a new vote take place.
In her inaugural speech, Ms. Gregoire, the
former state attorney general, struck a conciliatory
tone, reaching out to Mr. Rossi and calling for election
reform. She announced a task force, chaired
by Secretary of State Sam Reed, a Republican, to
review the state’s election process. In her speech,
before a packed house in the capitol rotunda, Ms.
Gregoire recalled her blue-collar background,
thanked her mother – a ‘’short order cook’’ – and
her parish priest, who gave a prayer. She talked
about her survival from breast cancer, and praised
her husband, a Vietnam veteran.
‘’Many have asked how I can govern without
a clear mandate from voters,’’ she said. ‘’I believe
the voters have given us a mandate – a mandate to
overcome our differences and to solve problems.’’
After the speech, Republican leaders tried to
walk a line between acknowledging Ms. Gregoire
as governor and saying it was not quite over.
‘’The fact is we will never know who really won
this election,’’ said Representative Bruce Chandler,
in giving the Republican response. ‘’That’s very
disconcerting.’’ Republicans said their party base
is angry, and not willing to give up.
At the Tuesday rally, Republicans chanted
‘’Re-vote! Re-vote!,’’ while Democrats, in a much
smaller rally, held signs that read, ‘’Don’t waste
our tax $ on your hurt feelings.’’
The leader of the Republican minority in the
Senate, Bill Finkbeiner, seemed to take a small step
toward reconciliation. ‘’She’s now the governor of
Washington State and we’re ready to work with
her,’’ he said. ‘’In the meantime, this is going to be
sorted out.’’
What happens next is uncertain. Democrats
said the court could throw out the results, but any
remedy would be in the Legislature.
A Democratic leader in the House, Representa-