Helen Sommers: An Oral History

Chapter 17
Déjà Vu! – House 49-49 tie again
Monahan: There were some significant changes in
the 1999 session. Democrats in the Senate regained
a good 27-22 majority. In the House, Democrats
did pick up seven seats, but that only created the
second-ever 49-49 tie (1999-2001).
With the second tie, Rep . Clyde Ballard was
reelected by his Caucus to be the Republican Co-
Speaker and the Democrats elected Rep . Frank
Chopp of Seattle as their Co-Speaker. Chopp had
been elected to the House in 1995, and quickly rose
to a leadership role.
You are the only House member to have served
during both ties (19-years apart)! How would you
say this tie in the House compares/contrasts to the
first tie?
Appropriations Co-Chairs Tom Huff & Helen Sommers with
Co-Speakers Clyde Ballard & Frank Chopp (1999)
Representative Sommers: Well, on both occasions of
the ties, it was a shock to the party in power! First
the Democrats had a strong majority in the 1978
session (62-36) but the 1979 election brought a 49-
49 tie. It was paralyzing at first, but the leadership
had to work together to make the session a success,
and I mentioned before, Co-Speakers Bagnariol
and Berentson were friends, so they made it work.
Neither was too happy, but they did work together.
Then, in the second tie, the Republicans had held
a majority for four years, including a 57-41 majority
when the 1998 election came. The voters again
created the 49-49 tie when the Democrats gained
eight seats in the November election. That had to
be a shock to Speaker Clyde Ballard and the Republican
Caucus; and I’m sure Rep. Frank Chopp,
who would be elected Co-Speaker with Ballard,
had hoped he could have won just one more seat!
So, each party had a time of power before the
tie. I expect there will be future occasions in the
House when the two parties will deal with a 49-49
tie yet again.
In the first tie, the Co-Speakers and leadership
in both the Democrat and the Republican caucuses
had no previous experience to look back on, since
it was the first-ever tie. So we all worked to set the
parameters for a successful session as it went along,
and it worked!
I believe one option the Democrats and Republicans
considered in the 1979-80 tie, was to hire an outsider
to serve as Speaker who would be non-partisan and
would not have a vote. But Bagnariol and Berentson
figured they could serve as Co-Speakers, so they
didn’t go with that option.
When the second 49-49 tie occurred, Co-Speakers
Ballard and Chopp had a precedent to follow, and
that’s what they chose to do. They could have established
a different way to approach the operation
of the session, but I suspect they saw that the first
tie worked pretty well, and decided to go with that
process in the second tie.
Monahan: So, what are your thoughts about the
second tie in history, since, as we said, you are the
only member to go through both ties?
Representative Sommers: Well, I don’t think it was as
easy for Co-Speakers Ballard and Chopp because,
where Bagnariol and Berentson were friends before
the tie, Ballard and Chopp were not close at all.
They had different personalities and they also had
very different philosophies. Whereas Bagnariol and
Berentson met daily, Chopp and Ballard rarely met
together, I recall.
Also, I’d pointed out that times were very different
back in the late 1970s than they are now. I
think the atmosphere among legislators of both
parties was more cordial and friendly then. But,