The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

38 | A Dubious Honor
AfteR iMpeAchMent wAs put to Bed, the 2000 elections were
only 18 months away. Who would challenge Gorton in his eighth
and likely last statewide race? Gary Locke was strongly inclined
to seek a second term as governor. The Democrats’ consensus next best
bet was Chris Gregoire, fresh from her star turn leading the team that
extracted a $206 billion public-health settlement from the tobacco companies.
Many speculated, however, that the attorney general might be
reluctant to challenge Gorton, who was something of a mentor. He had
taken note of her fastidious gumption when she clerked at the AG’s Office
while attending law school at Gonzaga University. 1
“Periodically, he would arrive at the airport in Spokane. A law clerk
was assigned to drive him to wherever he was going,” Gregoire recalls.
“The talk around the office was that when you picked him up you got a
crisp ‘Good morning’ and then up goes the newspaper. There’s no conversation.
On the way back he’s reading something else. Then he bids you
adieu. And that was that.”
Gregoire was determined to engage the boss in a meaningful conversation.
The worst that could happen, she figured, was an icy, “I’m not
going to talk to you.” So when Gorton buckled his seat belt and reached
for the Spokesman-Review she immediately brought up a recent Supreme
Court case. “Down comes the paper and off we go! He loved a debate. He’s
a lawyer’s lawyer. If you have something to say, it’s easy to engage him.”
Having worked for the Department of Social & Health Services, where
controversy was a constant, Gregoire had resolved she was “never going
back” to a state job. As graduation approached in 1977, she was polishing
her resume. Gorton called. “You’ve got a great future,” he said. “How
about coming to work in the AG’s office?” Gregoire was flattered and impressed.
“When you’re a law clerk, graduating from law school and the
attorney general himself calls, you do not say no.”
Twenty-three years later, family considerations—a husband, two teenage
daughters and an elderly mother—more than mixed emotions con-
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