Monday morning in Olympia: Jeff Baxter, a previously little-known politico from Spokane Valley, raises his right hand and does duly swear to uphold his duties as Eastern Washington’s newest state senator.
Watching from the edge of the crowd is Rep. Matt Shea, a rising star in state and Tea Party politics, who was the heir apparent to this senate seat until Spokane County Commissioners last Friday chose Baxter instead.
After completing the oath of office on the senate floor with state Supreme Court Justice Jim Johnson, Baxter sees Shea.
Do they bristle? Swear? Growl?
Hardly.
They’re buddies. Baxter once worked on Shea’s campaign. They take an official snapshot together, side by side. And back in Spokane, there’s the same civility: County commissioners sounded like cheery bluebirds of spring this week when they trilled over Baxter’s qualifications. Small-business owner. Has kids. Education is important to him.
From all the decorum, you’d never guess Baxter’s appointment followed a month of fire-spitting, blood-spurting histrionics in the Spokane County GOP.
To recap: In January, Republican precinct committee officers were tasked with presenting the commissioners three party members to replace Sen. Bob McCaslin, 84, who retired for health reasons.
They picked two no-names and Matt Shea. And of those, the commissioners picked one of the no-names.
“Jeff Baxter is literally an unknown, but he is the person we picked because he has some very strong attributes,” Commissioner Todd Mielke says.
See above — small-business, kids, education.
“Jeff Baxter is a small-businessman. He is the only candidate who had kids,” says Commissioner Al French. And education, he adds, is among the primary functions of state government.
Even Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, came away impressed after meeting Baxter on Monday, citing his small-business experience and enthusiasm for joining the fray, according to a GOP senate caucus spokesman.
“We had a ton of e-mails saying we need representation in the Fourth District,” French continues. “If we would have appointed Matt, that would have created a vacancy in the House. We were really looking at what is the best solution to get us through this legislative session.”
Nope, there is no animus against Matt Shea at the county courthouse.
Even though in the run-up to the appointment, Mielke filed a statement saying Shea yelled and swore at him in a Capitol hallway in Olympia. Or that Shea backers roared and thundered that their man stood tall and didn’t participate in a shady back-room deal engineered by McCaslin to skew the replacement list. Or that Shea blockers were able to establish that the Shea backers were actually the ones holding secret meetings to grease the list for Shea.
“We were simply spectators,” Mielke says. “And it was interesting from that perspective. You had people saying Matt Shea’s team was attempting to manipulate the process. People accused McCaslin and others of trying to manipulate the process. It was interesting to see both sides throw jabs at each other.”
Shea backers, many with Tea Party ties, flooded the commissioners with e-mails urging his appointment.
“I don’t know whether there’s going to be any political fallout. Certainly there was a lot of threats and innuendo during the process,” French says. “A lot of folks on all sides are not shy about letting their feelings be known — and that’s fine, that’s politics.”
The newly filled senate seat comes up for election this year, and the GOP party machinery will fire up once again.
Baxter, appointed to three committees (including the powerful Ways and Means committee), says he has yet to decide if he will run to hang onto the seat. No other candidates have announced.
Perhaps we should ask, why such a rash reaction on the part of the PCOs.
The 4th district PCOs are not a cult or a group of irrational politicos. They are a duly elected body of citizens of the 4th district. Their names were on the ballot and their fellow citizens elected them to serve. The PCOs function is to be their precinct’s voice if an elected official of the same party needs to be replaced.
A large majority of the 4th district PCOs were under the impression that Matt Shea would not be fairly considered to be the appointed state senator of the 4th district. Matt Shea is by far the most qualified person in the district to be McCaslin’s replacement. Why?
A) A Spokane area state rep is already in Olympia and has all the logistics of living and working there already resolved. This is not as much a factor if one lives in Thurston County or within reasonable driving distance of Olympia. From Spokane however, it is relevant. Since this was an in session appointment, time was indeed mission critical.
B) Matt Shea has two recent massive wins in the 4th district. (2008,2010) The voters there clearly believe he serves their interest well.
C) Any replacement senator by the PCOs needs to be someone who has a reasonable chance to be retained by the voters in November 2011. This is in the best interest of the GOP which the PCOs serve. Perhaps this is why Shea got the Spokane County GOP endorsement. Shea would more than likely not be challenged; saving the expense of an election. A newbie might force an expensive election; bad for the Spokane GOP…
D) Any current state rep is going to already have a working relationship with leadership in Olympia and local officials in their district. A newbie will not. There are two state reps for every district. If Shea became the State Senator, the 4th District would still be represented by the other state rep. Shea would be the one single person in the entire district that would be up to speed in the Senate seat in a minimal amount of time. In this case, time is mission critical.
E) Age is a factor. The more times one is elected to the senate, the more power they derive through seniority. Shea is in his early thirties. Baxter, mid forties; Paddon and Wilhite, mid sixties.
It’s not unreasonable to believe Shea would be a slam dunk expedient choice for the senate seat. Why then would these PCOs go to the trouble of forming a slate of candidates?
Because Todd Mielke made it clear he would not support Matt Shea’s appointment. Mielke, a former state rep, lobbyist and Spokane County Commissioner in his third year of his second term indicated his dislike for Shea this long before McCalsin stepped down.
This is the root cause of the PCOs creating a slate of candidates. (The slate tactic is not new, illegal or even frowned upon. The PCOS had a secret ballot and were not forced to go along with the slate. Polling before a vote is common practice before an official vote in bodies of elected officials. It happens in most critical votes in congress, city council, parliament, state senate, state house etc…)
Mielke should never have made this anti-Shea statement. He lost his temper and forgot that he is just an elected county commissioner, not the king for life of Spokane County. He did not act in the best interest of the people of Spokane County or the GOP; instead he acted out of ego, personality conflict or anger. Todd was hired by election by the voters to administrate the business of Spokane County; not carry out personal political vendettas at the expense of the best interest of the people of Spokane County and the GOP.
Ultimately, the blame for this entire debacle falls squarely on Todd Mielke. He used the power of his office to try to destroy Matt Shea; not just to keep him out of the senate seat, but to end his political career.
Was it fear, envy or eliminating a potential rival if McMorris – Rodgers steps down; we can only speculate. It is clear however Todd Mielke abused the power of his office. Todd’s act hurt the people of Spokane County, the GOP, and the honorable Matt Shea; a twice elected state rep and decorated combat veteran.
The Board of County Commissioners, The Spokesman Review and other folks are attempting to cast blame on the PCOs. With just a little reason one can see beyond the hype and find the root truth.
What will happen between now and November?
Mike Padden will announce with in the next two weeks that he will seek the senate seat in November, 2011. Jeff Baxter will decide if he will run and most likely will. Matt Shea will need to decide if he is going to stay in his rep seat, drop out of politics all together, run for state senate or even run for County Commissioner in 2012.
If Shea does run, expect the Spokesman Review and his opponents to trot out all this previously published dirt on him yet again (they first did it on July 31st, 2008 on the day the ballots were in the hands of the voters.) They are clearly in the Mielke camp when it comes to Matt Shea. (The Spokesman Review supported Shea’s opponent in 2008, Diana Wilhite. She did not win a single precinct.)
Will the Review trot out their file on Mike Padden, Todd Mielke, Mark Richards as well? I wonder if their personal information will make AP as well….
1 of 2 Feb 17, 2011 | Reply to this comment
Will the Spokesman Review or even the Inlander discuss any bankruptcies, divorce(s), former jobs as lobbyists and resigned offices due to scandal? They haven’t done this in the past with candidates which they endorsed…
One more point to consider. Did anyone notice that the Roy Murry story made the front page headline space; a spot generally reserved for top stories such as 911 attacks or war declarations. This unknown kid gets arrested in Vegas on a charge that will most likely be dismissed and happens to be the third choice on the list for the senate seat replacement. Debra Wilde, who is a longtime local celebrity, drove her car into a local creek, requiring rescue via emergency services and was arrested for Driving While under the Influence of Alcohol made a small mention on page A6. Wilde was also a former employee of the Spokesman Review associated company, KHQ 6.
Was the Spokesman Review reporting the news or manipulating it?
Feb 17, 2011 | Reply to this comment