“This heavy-handed tactic risks fracturing our party further and losing more winnable seats for Republicans.”
CAMAS, WA – On Saturday, The Columbian published an op-ed written by Leslie Lewallen in which she lays out the risks associated with the Washington State Republican Party’s attempts to control who appears on the ballot in the state’s August primary. “Circumventing the electorate by trying to manipulate who appears on the ballot at the state convention risks endorsing a candidate who does not represent the views or needs of the district they seek to represent.”
Lewallen: GOP Attempt to Force Unity Will Fracture Party
By: Leslie Lewallen
. . .This election cycle, the Republican Party of Washington has taken the familiar theme of unity to new extremes.
The party is attempting, in the spirit of “unity,” to use the state convention to whittle down the field of candidates before voters ever have a chance to cast a ballot. Far from bringing Washingtonians together, this heavy-handed tactic risks fracturing our party further and losing more winnable seats for Republicans.
Expecting candidates and voters to fall in line with the endorsements made by a self-selected sampling of party representatives is undemocratic and antithetical to the robust electoral process envisioned by our Founding Fathers.
. . .Circumventing the electorate by trying to manipulate who appears on the ballot at the state convention risks endorsing a candidate who does not represent the views or needs of the district they seek to represent. It also opens the process up to undue influence by candidates seeking to strong-arm endorsements outside the prescribed processes.
This undue influence came to bear at the state committee meeting in August, when the rules were sidestepped to secure a premature “endorsement” for my Republican opponent in this congressional race.
A mere 40 people ignored the will of more than 100,000 3rd Congressional District voters who clearly demonstrated in 2022 that they wanted a Republican who wasn’t Joe Kent to represent them.
. . . For more than 30 years, there hasn’t been one federal or statewide rematch in Washington state that has resulted in a flipped outcome. History is not on Joe Kent’s side, and ignoring the will of voters isn’t going to lead to different results this time around.
Unlike Joe Kent, I know what it is like to win an election and represent voters, and it’s not by circumventing their voice.
As such, I will not be participating in a convention that has shown itself willing to support a failed candidate over the concerns of Southwest Washington voters.
I do not think the process, as it has played out, reflects the will of the electorate; and it is the electorate that I want to hear from.
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