The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

A poweR stRuggLe 47
pieced together a tenuous 51–47 majority by turning up the heat on Democrats
from public utility district counties. They moved to send the bill
back to the Rules Committee. Poised to move immediately for reconsideration,
Evans voted in favor, but O’Brien’s gavel once again was too fast
for him. 5
The regular session was followed by an equally volatile special session
in both chambers. Republicans and fiscally conservative Democrats in
the Senate passed a floor resolution censuring Governor Rosellini when
he threatened to veto their conservative budget. It was one of the least
productive sessions in state history, with Gorton’s billboard control law as
its most notable enactment. The session’s real legacy was the festering
resentment that led to a game-changing insurrection in 1963. Evans believes
the seeds of his victory in the 1964 governor’s race were sown during
the debate over HB 197. So, too, Gorton’s rise to majority leader and
beyond. 6 O’Brien’s days as speaker were numbered. His biographer
would describe him as “a martyr” to the cause of public power. 7
After years of research, legislative historian Don Brazier concludes
that the 1961 power struggle is “the single most significant event” in the
history of the Washington Legislature. “Dan’s right. If it hadn’t been for
that hassle he might never have had a chance to become governor.”
the poLiticAL fALLout was still radioactive when the Democrats held
their state convention in Bellingham in June of 1962. The private power
delegates from Spokane backed State Senator Al Henry of White Salmon
over O’Brien for permanent convention chairman. O’Brien prevailed but
paid a price. The platform that emerged featured a strong public power
plank as well as another slap in the face to conservatives—an amendment
calling for weakening the anti-communist McCarran Act. The federal law
enacted in 1950 at the height of the Red scare required communists to
register with the U.S. Attorney General and reveal their sources of income
and expenditures. Congress overwhelmingly overrode President
Truman’s veto to pass it. (Truman called the bill “the greatest danger to
freedom of speech, press and assembly since the Alien and Sedition Laws
of 1798.”) The platform also called for the elimination of state loyalty
oaths, another remnant of the Canwell-McCarthy era.
Spokane delegates, including State Representatives Bill McCormick,
“Big Daddy” Day, Margaret Hurley and her husband, Joe, a former legislator,
bolted the convention, together with Bob Perry. “This platform is the
Communist Manifesto,” Joe Hurley snorted. 8 O’Brien buttonholed Maggie
Hurley and accused her of disloyalty. She suggested that his memory