The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

9 | Majority Rules
On noveMBeR 8, 1966, Gorton won his fifth and final two-year
term in the Washington State House of Representatives, capturing
78 percent of the vote against a faceless Democrat. Better yet,
his hard-won victory in the redistricting wars produced a gain of 16 seats
and the first Republican majority in the House since 1953. In the Senate,
however, thanks in no small part to Greive’s artful machinations, Democrats
maintained a 29–20 majority.
With their 55–44 majority for the 1967 legislative session, the Republicans
elected Mount Vernon’s gentlemanly Don Eldridge speaker of the
House and Gorton majority leader. Eldridge, an Eagle Scout, had never
thirsted for the speaker’s job. Years later, he said he believed Dan Evans “and
their group would have preferred” Slade
as the speaker, “but they knew he couldn’t
get elected.” Eldridge respected Gorton “for
his intelligence, enthusiasm and energy.”
He was also less liberal than Evans, which
won him points with many of the old
guard. Still, Eldridge observed, “there were
a lot of people who just didn’t like Slade.” 1
House Majority Leader Gorton
in 1967. Vibert Jeffers/Washington
State Archives
Gorton had played hardball for his party
in 1965 and had zero regrets. Being majority
leader was no hollow consolation prize
to him. He relished the idea of being the
governor’s right-hand man in the Legislature.
He also correctly surmised that Eldridge
would be a relatively passive speaker.
He was the one who goosed Eldridge to
pack his shaving kit and campaign for the
job. They spent many weekends on the
road, lobbying fellow Republicans to back
the Eldridge-Gorton ticket.
75