The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

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Evans made it clear that the torch had been passed to a new generation
of Republicans. “This administration is not frightened by the word ‘liberal,’
nor is it ashamed of the word ‘conservative.’ It does not believe that
the words ‘fiscal conservative’ are old-fashioned, nor will it ever fear to
spend money if money needs to be spent.” 4
With the regular Democrats back in control of the House, Lud Kramer
invited Gorton to install McCurdy at a large conference table in his spacious
new office. There, for several hours a day, Gorton and McCaffree
could be found, hunched over maps as the grad student ran an adding
machine that spewed paper by the yard. The governor met with his legislative
leaders most mornings, invited fence-sitters to his office for a cup
of coffee and used his bully new pulpit to generate front-page stories
punctuated with indignation at the Democrats. In the basement, Greive
and Foster had their own impressive operation.
“The war rooms were at full output, with maps by the billions it
seemed . . . all in conflict,” said Senator Web Hallauer, a liberal Democrat
from the Okanogan. “Everybody was taken in for personal interviews to
try and line them up . . . A legislator would go through the Gorton shop
and be informed about what was intended for him there and what could
be done to him. He would then receive like treatment from Senator
Greive.” Hallauer’s district was a major bargaining chip. “It was like playing
Russian Roulette with your friends.” 5
As January wound down, the Democrats pushed through a redistricting
bill. Evans immediately announced he would veto it. Compromise
talks collapsed when Greive and Gorton got into a shouting match over
who got what in Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane. Even amiable Don Moos
blew a fuse, telling a cabal of young House Democrats that they were nothing
but “a bunch of freshmen and third-stringers.” Greive, who attended
Mass every morning, was in such febrile condition after one bout with
Gorton that friends summoned his parish priest from West Seattle. 6
Gorton, McCaffree and McCurdy had been secretly preparing an executive
request redistricting bill for Evans to submit to the House with
bipartisan sponsorship. When it was unveiled on February 8, it produced
headlines but only a few Democratic sponsors. Gorton warned that there
would be no further compromises. He and Moos were outraged when
they discovered that Copeland was working behind their backs, meeting
with Greive and Big Daddy Day, their erstwhile ally, in a downtown Olympia
hotel room. Copeland had outmaneuvered Moos to succeed Evans as
minority leader and resented Slade’s ascendancy and closeness to the governor.
Greive stepped into the breach. Soon, he and Copeland “were pro-