booth gardner - Washington Secretary of State

“So what did you think?”
“You’re losing the election.”
“What?”
“Your manual says that if by September 30 th
you haven’t done the following you can’t make it up,
and you haven’t done the following.”
Faulk smiled thinly and went back to his side
of the street, shaking his head. “It’s a true story,”
Faulk says, nodding and chuckling 40 years later.
Before filing week, “Someone called and told me,
‘Booth Gardner’s running against you.’ And I said,
‘Who the hell is he?’ It turns out he had unlimited
resources and he’s a bright guy. Essentially what
he did was study my plan and unload on me. Dan
(Evans) had convinced us to put an income tax on the
ballot and Booth is saying, ‘Well folks, Senator Faulk’s
been down there four years and the budget’s gone
up 10 percent and he was on Ways & Means and he
caused that, and not only that he wants to give you
an income tax!’ I said, ‘Oh my God, I can see it coming
26th District Senator Larry Faulk in 1970.
Faulk family album.
now!’ He had automatic typewriters going 24 hours
a day; a full-time headquarters; staff people coming out his ears! And here we are. I’m
working at Boeing, being a loaned exec to United Way, as well as trying to win this election.
I’m being bombarded by everything Booth is sending out in the mail and we can’t match it.
Oh my God, it was unbelievable!”
Booth was elected to the Washington State Senate with 56 percent of the vote. He
and Faulk would meet again on the campaign trail 11 years later. In the meantime, Booth
shrewdly also made friends with one of Faulk’s campaign workers, Greg Barlow. Faulk and
Barlow had been classmates at Seattle University and were great pals. Both were boxers
who’d “just beat the hell” out of their opponents. “Greg was bright and charismatic – a
handsome devil,” Faulk says. “He was also a Vietnam vet. Booth ran into him during the
campaign and was fascinated with him.” When he became governor, Booth also hired
Faulk’s quick-witted wife, Mary, to be an agency head. “Another smart move,” Faulk says.
* * *
Senator Gardner’s arrival in Olympia in January of 1971 generated a stir in
progressive circles. “Booth Gardner, New Bright Light in State Senate; Democratic Stepson
of Norton Clapp Sets Tough Goals for Himself,” the Seattle Argus fawned. “Spending an hour
or so with W. Booth Gardner is excellent therapy to help relieve the chronic disillusionment,
cynicism and irritating frustration that grip many political observers in Olympia at about this
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