The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

8 | Weird and Wonderful
Shapes
The wAshington stAte LegisLAtuRe convenes at noon on the second
Monday in January. By tradition, the governor is inaugurated
at noon that Wednesday. The Democrats were out to make the
most of those 48 hours and blitz through a redistricting bill for their lame
duck governor’s signature. The opening prayer beseeched the Lord to protect
the state from “discord and confusion; from pride and arrogancy.”
The Lord let human nature run its course. 1
Drained by the 1963 session, John O’Brien acquiesced to the elevation
of his former No. 2, Bob Schaefer, to speaker. O’Brien became majority
floor leader. Greive, once again by the skin of his teeth, kept his job as
head of the equally dysfunctional family across the hall. Tom Copeland,
harboring ambitions of his own, succeeded Evans as minority floor leader.
Chuck Moriarty, a charter member of the Evans bloc, was now the minority
floor leader in the Senate.
Gorton’s heart sank as he scrutinized Greive’s new redistricting bill.
Even a Republican landslide would generate only a handful of new GOP
lawmakers. Greive and Foster had concocted a Democratic masterpiece.
McCurdy ran the numbers several times, hoping to find flaws. “It’s constitutional,”
he told Gorton glumly. When the bill passed the Senate on
the first day of the session, suspicious Democrats in the House represented
the only obstacle between Greive’s handiwork and Rosellini’s signature.
Led by young Gary Grant of Renton, the opponents were a coalition
of old dissidents and young turks.
Gorton staged a full-court press to hold Greive at bay. Both sides called
in favors, twisted arms and salved old wounds. “If a wavering Democrat
was disgruntled with his district,” said McCurdy, “Gorton or Pritchard
would hint that better things might come from negotiations later.” Moos
worked on rural conservatives and independents. 2
Falling just short of a majority at every turn, Greive, O’Brien and
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