Seattle Times columnist, Danny Westneat, recently asked for thoughts on what it would take for the Republican Party to become competitive again in Washington state. I have opined more than once that the answer to that question is the party must return to “the core Reaganite conservative values and policies which once made the GOP competitive in a place like Washington state.” But what specifically, what does that mean? What would a healthy, competitive Republican Party look like?
Before I launch into specifics let me make clear that I am going to be talking in broad strokes about how the GOP can win back center right voters, largely in the suburbs, who have left the party. Liberals who hate Trump, but also hated Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Slade Gorton are not my target audience here.
First, it’s not going to happen until 2028 when Trump is finally forced off the stage by the calendar and the Constitution. As long as Donald Trump defines the GOP there is absolutely nothing local Republicans can do between now and November to win back what has been lost the past ten years. In fact, they are almost certainly going to suffer further losses.
Once Trump is no longer the face of the party, national Republicans need to return to the themes and policies that once won elections for us: prosperity, and peace; peace around the world and here at home.
Politically, the economy is job 1. Donald Trump won in 2024 because he convinced swing voters that he would make the economy better. Instead, he has made it much worse with his populist, protectionist Big Government Republicanism. Republicans need to return to good old fashioned free market, fiscally responsible conservative policies. Trump’s massive tariffs, and the $3 trillion he has added to the debt, are an anchor around the neck of the economy. Capitalism works. Big government populism from the left or right does not.
Republicans should pledge to roll tariffs back to 2015 levels. Tariffs are taxes on products Americans want to buy, which lead to retaliatory taxes on products Americans want to sell. Lowering these taxes would reduce inflation and boost economic growth and job creation. And Republicans should commit to the very realistic goal of decreasing yearly deficits to 3% of GDP, which would also reduce inflation and increase growth by lowering interest rates. Republicans used to understand how the free market works. Just by returning to traditional pre-Trump Republican policies the GOP can once again be the party of jobs and lower prices, especially if the Democrats continue to drift towards socialism.
Next, Republicans need to reassert that they are the party of peace through strength, and the party that will stand with our allies in Europe and Asia against authoritarian aggression by Russia and China. Trump’s isolationism, hostility to Ukraine and NATO, and flirtations with despots like Vladimir Putin and the leaders of China and North Korea have never made political sense. If you doubt that take a look at this data from the Ronald Reagan Institute
And Republicans need to be the party of peace, stability, and unity here at home. Americans hate turning on their TVs and seeing disorder and chaos in the streets. That’s why the “law and order” message once worked for the GOP. Lately it has been ICE and MAGA that have created the street scenes. Republicans need to calm the culture wars and the immigration wars. Pledging to work with Democrats on comprehensive immigration reform would be a huge step in the right direction.
Once the national Republican Party is again committed to running on more jobs, lower costs, and peace at home and abroad, it will be possible for Washington state Republicans to make a comeback, if they focus on the right things.
Yes, Republicans here should continue to blast Democrats for raising taxes even as state revenues continue to rise. Even former Democratic Governors Gary Locke and Christine Gregoire have said Olympia has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
Yes, Republicans should continue to blast Democrats for crime and the appalling conditions that exist in parts of Seattle. Again, even Mayor Wilson admits how bad the situation is in some neighborhoods.
But Republicans here, and nationally, need to abandon their obsession with non-existent voter fraud. Washingtonians love voting by mail and aren’t going to support anyone who wants to end it.
Republicans need to accept that Washington is culturally one of the most progressive states in the nation. Campaigning on undoing our current laws on abortion, same sex marriage, the rights of transgender citizens, or environmental protection, is a path to defeat.
Finally, Republicans need to retake the high ground on the issue of support for public education. Somehow, while increasing spending and raising taxes, Democrats have managed to dramatically underfund public schools, to the point where multiple school districts are operating under state controls because they can’t balance their budgets. Republicans used to go to Olympia pledging to spend at least 50 percent of the state budget on K-12 education. To win back suburban parents the GOP must once again be the party of public education.
Fiscally conservative, but socially moderate. Pro-growth. Pro-public education. Tough on crime. No new taxes. Peace through strength abroad, and through unity at home. That is the once and future path to Republican relevance in our state; if, and only if, GOP leaders are willing to disabuse themselves of ten plus years of MAGA myths and mistakes.
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Well Chris, you very conveniently neglected to mention that among the “core Reaganite values” that your hero pursued was union-busting. If you think that’s going to fly in this state, I have an Alpine ski lodge in Death Valley to sell you.
And tell us, please, how the Republican Party might “once again be the party of public education” when its voters have been steadily inculcated, in the 60+ years I have lived in this state, to regard teachers, and their unions, as “the enemy,” while right-wing pressure groups like “Moms for Liberty” meddle in curricula and school libraries?
Republicans look to have a tough row to hoe here in the immediate future, and they have brought it on themselves.
Please don’t lump Gorton together with Reagan and W. Sure, Gorton was conservative, but not in that league for dishonesty.
“Campaigning on undoing our current laws on … environmental protection, is a path to defeat.”
This is going to be tough on the treasury, and no one’s going miss that connection. You’re going to have to do more than just keep your hands clean, there will have to be ardent, conspicuous support for environmental protection. It isn’t like Republicans have never gone there, before the Reagan thing torpedoed the party in this state.
There are two issues that contribute to underfunding schools which Republicans refuse to acknowledge or to fix. The brand is so wedded to tax cuts that they can’t effectively govern when tax reform is needed.
The first issue is the threshold for passing school bond measures. House Bill HB1032 would have reduced the threshold for passing bond measures from 60 percent to simple majority, just like other elections. It is more often than not that school bond measures fail in Republican districts where this threshold is not met. For example, East Valley School District near Spokane has a $220 million bond that failed in February despite having a 54% approval. Bonds have not passed in East Valley since February 1996. If Republican voters aren’t willing to fund their own neighborhood schools, why should Democrats in King County send their tax dollars elsewhere.
The second issue is the 1% property tax limit which means that non-voter approved property tax levies cannot increase by more than 1% per year for a taxing district’s budget. Since inflation is greater than 1%, the property tax revenue is eroded over time with the result that schools and local governments are underfunded. Legislation which would fix this is HB1334 which would tie property tax to the rate of inflation and population growth while still retaining a 3% cap.
We should also talk about reforming the B&O tax which everyone acknowledges is just a really bad tax. It makes Washington rank at the bottom of business competitiveness.
We can’t take you guys serious when you want to have your cake and eat it too. Saying that you retain a broken tax system and also increase funding to schools is not being honest with voters and frankly is just pandering. Republicans need to get serious about governing if they expect to make any election in roads.
Washington’s current per-pupil spending reached about $18,564 in FY 2024, above the national average of $17,619, placing it roughly in the top third of states.
Total funding from all sources commonly falls in the $19,600–$21,200 range in recent years.
The state outspends neighbors such as Oregon and Idaho (even though academic outcomes have declined during this period.)
Per-student spending rose from roughly $10,800 in 2012–13 to about $18,350 by 2022–23—a 148% increase that exceeded inflation. Real (inflation-adjusted) funding also grew substantially after the McCleary decision.
Average teacher salaries hit $96,589 in 2024–25, ranking third-highest nationally and about $22,000 above the U.S. average. Enrollment has declined by tens of thousands of students since the pre-pandemic peak, which further raises per-pupil figures. Overall, Washington directs more resources per student than most states and has markedly increased funding over the past decade.
That argument frankly just doesn’t hold up to scrutiny when one looks at both the cost of living in Washington and how much our economy brings in.
As compared to the national average:
– Housing (Buy and Rent) is 50% higher
– Utilities (Monthly) are 3% lower
– Food is 9% higher
– Healthcare is 15% higher
– Transportation is 26% higher
– Goods & Services are 14% higher
On average the cost of living is 24% higher than the national average. In fact Washington ranks 5th in the nation in cost of living. By any measure salaries are going to be higher in Washington than the national average.
Now look at whether Washington state can afford to pay our educators. The GDP per capita in Washington state is approximately $111,860, placing it 3rd highest among all U.S. states.
Seems to me that based on where we rank nationally that teacher pay is not the issue here.
Washington is not a high tax state. Our tax burden for local and state taxes is about 8.5 percent of total personal income, which puts us as 25th in the United States. What we do have is a very archaic and tax inefficient system that is highly regressive and archaic and which doesn’t reflect where and how economies create wealth.
Zing! Great research. Context is everything. The old saying about a knowing the cost of everything but the value of nothing is apt.
Chris, you say that Republicans should blast Democrats for raising taxes and then you agree that “we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a taxing problem.”
It’s mystifying how you can argue for better funding state schools and law enforcement without revenue.
Seems like you want to have it both ways. Where are the funds both schools and policing require? What will produce them if not taxes?
It’s about choices, Jean. The percentage of the general fund budget going to K-12 has fallen to 42% from a high of 52% just a few years ago. Democrats have chosen to spend on other programs and force school districts to once again unconstitutionally rely on levies. It is as if the McCleary decision never happened.
According to the presentation by Chris Reykdal in January 2026 of this year, the inflation adjusted state & local K-12 funding per student has increased since 2021 to $17,945/student which is roughly the same as it was in 2018-2019 at $18,198/student. Reykdal states that this is about $250/student below what McCleary decision requires.
Reykal’s presentation also shows that after one adjusts for regional costs that Washington state is exactly the average cost per pupil as the national average of $17,853.
With that data, I can’t square the circle with your argument.
One thing to consider is that Washington has 295 school districts with a population of 8.2 million. That is about 36 school districts per million. Utah has 41 school districts for a population of 3.6 million or about 12 districts per million. California has 26 per million. I have to think that with declining rural student populations that there are economies to be had by consolidating districts and reducing overhead.
Remember, Washington is one of the few states with equalized k-12 funding.
A few years ago my daughter taught in the Clayton school district in Missouri. At the time Missouri & Washington spent roughly the same per student state-wide but Clayton spent three times what my district, Mercer Island, spent per student. Missouri‘s school financing is essentially local and districts like Clayton invest heavily in K-12 while the rest of the state doesn’t.
Washington does well on average, but doesn’t allow the level of local funding most states do.
You mean we are supposed to have equalized funding. Unfortunately the legislature has not enforced the Constitution so Mercer Island spend significantly more than less affluent districts, such as White River down here in eastern pierce county
“First, it’s not going to happen until 2028 when Trump is finally forced off the stage by the calendar and the Constitution. As long as Donald Trump defines the GOP there is absolutely nothing local Republicans can do…”
Allowing Trump to simply term out or die will not be enough. For Republicans to change course and cleanse themselves of a dozen years of shameless opportunism and cowardice Trump needs to be repudiated. Explicitly. Otherwise, the MAGA base simply moves on to its next authoritarian savior — the line to succeed Trump is already forming to the right. Trump’s rise within the GOP was not just some sort of bad luck accident. So the demise of Trumpism, if it indeed ever occurs, will also need to be conscious and deliberate. This means rejection of the politics of hate. The Trump cult is based on the deliberate cultivation of a powerful emotion, hate. That is why it is so persistent.
The second thing that needs to happen is that the GOP must firmly embrace repeal of the Trump tax cuts. The national debt is growing faster than the GDP. Bond yields are rising, increasing the cost of debt service. It is unsustainable. When out of office Republicans howl righteously about balanced budgets and deficits. But when they are in office they greatly add to the problem by pandering to the wants of their rich oligarchic benefactors. If Republicans desire to be taken seriously by anyone other than the lunatic fringe, they need to put their money where their mouth is. Fiscal responsibility must again become a genuine commitment, not just an empty hypocritical political slogan.
Is any of this likely to happen? Nope.
If America is again to have a genuine and responsible conservative party, the impulse will likely have to come from elsewhere.