What would it take for Republicans to surge back in Washington politics? It’s up to Jim Walsh to help figure that out.
Walsh, a state House member for the 19th District, was named the next chair of the Washington State Republican Party on Saturday. He told The Daily News before the election that this year would be a proving ground for his approach to boosting Republican turnout.
“The people are there,” Walsh said. “They just aren’t activated or organized in a way that is effective. We can try to implement that with the fall local elections as the catalyst for getting more grassroots functioning.”
In particular, Walsh said the school board elections in November would be a good measure for the party’s strength heading into the 2024 elections. School board leadership positions are officially nonpartisan but issues around transgender students and curriculum decisions have politicized upcoming local elections across Washington.
Walsh, of Aberdeen, has represented the 19th District in the House of Representatives since 2016, with his election marking the beginning of the district’s conversion from a blue stronghold to a red one. He joins Senate Republican leader John Braun as conservative leaders from Southwest Washington.
The biggest issues for state Republicans are at the higher levels. The 19th District is fully represented by Democrats in Congress after Marie Gluesenkamp Perez‘s election last year. The disappointing “red wave” turnout in 2022 left Republicans out of all state-level elected offices, when Steve Hobbs won Secretary of State after Republican Kim Wyman resigned.
Walsh said despite the electoral struggles, the GOP in Washington does not have glaring problems. The fundraising and party leadership are doing fine. The biggest issue is converting complaints about gas prices and crime rates into votes.
“The party can play a role in reshaping some narratives, educating voters and basically improving the public policy in Washington, if it acts a little more decisively,” Walsh said.
Being vocal about narratives is not an issue for Walsh. During his time in the House, Walsh filed bills that he admitted had little shot of passing in order to shift attention or discussion. On his Facebook page Walsh posts regular Q&A videos about state issues that receive thousands of views, along with posts calling global warming “climate hysteria” and criticizing the state’s crime rate.
Walsh’s outspokenness extends to some of the recent unsuccessful initiative drives in Washington. Walsh was a promoter of the initiative attempting to repeal a new state policy about runaway teenagers pursing gender-affirming medical care, which fell short.
In 2022, he dedicated a series of his videos to a political action committee called Let’s Go Washington, and is now working with them on an initiative campaign.
Walsh said the current drive focuses on the kind of “common sense conservative” ideas that could gain ground in Washington: eliminating the cap and trade program and the capital gains tax, and making parents more involved in classroom operations.
“We can win on issues and we need to keep issues front and center in what we do. That’s what the initiatives are good for. They are all policy. There’s no personality attached, or very little,” Walsh said.
Another piece of Walsh’s platform is getting Republican voters to return their ballots, including a technique that would be taboo for conservatives in other states: ballot harvesting. Third-party ballot collection has been a subject of conspiracies about election fraud in other states but the practice is currently allowed in Washington.
Walsh will continue to hold his House seat through the 2024 legislative session and potentially longer. He said the dual roles will be a lot of work but could help keep different wings of the Republican Party on the same page.
