SPOKANE, Wash. – Organizers of party conventions want them to be boring. Quick-and-clean party nominations allow parties to maintain a public image of unity and focus on defeating upcoming general election opponents.
The Washington State GOP convention was anything but boring, and ended with the endorsement of Semi Bird on Saturday.
The convention was embroiled in controversy on Friday over a fight as to whether gubernatorial candidate Semi Bird was eligible to be considered for a party nomination after he allegedly failed to disclose a 1993 misdemeanor conviction.
Bird received the Washington GOP nomination on Saturday according to The Spokesman Review.
Fellow governor’s race candidate Dave Reichert withdrew his name from party nomination consideration on Friday while remaining in the race and argued that the nomination process was deceptively constructed.
A prominent gubernatorial candidate withdrawing their own name from party consideration but remaining in the race marks a significant change in the tone of conservative politics in Washington State.
On a national level, Republicans in the US House are also in disagreement. House Speaker Mike Johnson allowed a $95 billion aid package to Israeli, Ukrainian and Taiwanese national security efforts to proceed to a final vote on Saturday.
The package was passed with bipartisan support, but it could also signal the beginning of the end for Johnson’s tenure as speaker. Three Republican representatives have called for Johnson’s ousting as speaker, arguing that he has insufficiently represented the values of Trump-aligned voters.
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the role in Oct. 2023 by a cohort of House conservatives who had similar criticisms of the California lawmaker which are now being leveled at Johnson.
On both a state and national level, it appears that tension between the established wing of the party and a more conservative and populist brand of Republican politics is heating-up.
