Following the passage of three initiatives to the state Legislature, success in the 2023 election and promising data in the presidential primary, the Republican Party is poised for success, state Republican Party Chairman and state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, said Tuesday.
“We see trends that are favoring common sense conservatives in this state, and that’s very hopeful,” Walsh said. “So we’re going to build on this momentum as we go to November.”
The comments came as Walsh joined Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, and Third Congressional District congressional candidate Joe Kent at a town hall recapping the 2024 legislative session on Tuesday at O’Blarney’s at the Gibson House in Centralia while previewing the upcoming election.
Walsh will host a town hall on Friday from 7 to 8 p.m. in Battle Ground at the Manor Grange, located at 17901 NE 72nd Ave.
“Washington, D.C., pretty much has one agenda right now, and that’s to spend us into oblivion,” Kent said, referencing two spending packages that recently funded the federal government through September. “This inflation that we’re all feeling every time we go to fill up at the gas pump or the grocery store, that is because Washington, D.C., has prioritized, well, pretty much everything else other than basic fiscal responsibility.”
President Joe Biden signed a second package of six government spending bills on Saturday, March 23, averting the potential for a government shutdown. Between both spending packages, the bills include $5.16 billion for Washington, which includes nearly $242 million in congressionally-directed spending.
“Guess how much money was allocated to secure our wide open southern border? Yeah, that’d be zero,” Kent said. “That’s Joe Biden’s America, fully supported by Marie (Gluesenkamp) Perez.”
While the bill cleared the Republican controlled House of Representatives, a majority of Republican representatives opposed the measure.
In state politics, Abbarno highlighted some of the wins in the 2024 session, including a trio of initiatives to loosen vehicle pursuit restrictions, establish a parental “bill of rights” and prevent the state from implementing an income tax in the future.
“When I talk to police officers, sheriff’s deputies, chiefs of police, sheriffs, they said the single most important step we could take is restoring pursuits, allowing them to chase criminal suspects,” Walsh said.
The three other measures — Initiative 2109 to repeal the capital gains tax, Initiative 2117 to repeal the Climate Commitment Act, and Initiative 2124 to allow more people to opt out of the state’s long-term care program — will appear on the November ballot.
“So they split the baby, but any of you who have read the Bible know that strategy, generally, doesn’t work,” Walsh said. “And I don’t think it’s going to work for the left in this state.”
Walsh said the initiative process could be replicated in the future.
The supplemental capital budget, which Abbarno negotiated, will send more than $43 million in funds for projects in the 19th and 20th legislative districts, including nearly $2 million to fund the United Learning Center in Centralia, funding Abbarno said Tuesday would help address Lewis County’s status as a “child care desert.”
In his recap, Abbarno warned the group the upcoming election will be dominated by “cash from Washington, D.C.”
“And it’s going to drown out our message, and (Kent’s) message, all of our messages,” Abbarno said. “So we need to talk to people now before that money comes in. We need to make sure we get the word out so that we turn out the vote.”
Walsh, entering his second election season as chair of the Washington GOP, cited the party’s involvement in 36 school board candidates throughout the state, including the re-election campaign of Tanya Naillon in Onalaska. While the party did not officially endorse candidates, it did provide voter data, messaging assistance and other non-financial assistance. Of the 36 candidates, 32 were elected.
“We tried to pick those 36 school board races that were examples, that were good tests,” Walsh said.
Walsh also touted the 2024 presidential primary as a success, a race that saw 904,000 Democrats submit ballots compared to 786,000 Republicans. The split, he said, was smaller than it’s been “in like 20 years.”
The election saw Republicans gain in support among young voters, Walsh said.
One potential hiccup, Walsh warned, is a legislative map that shifts some voters in South Thurston County from the 20th Legislative District to the Second Legislative District and will likely be used in the upcoming election. The new map will connect Latino communities from East Yakima in Yakima County to Pasco in Franklin County.
“(Judge Robert S. Lasnik’s) map is not designed to help Latino voters, it’s designed to help Democrats,” Walsh said. “And, it does.”
