Donkey Kong

Look out, Olympia, the Democrats are in charge! As the state Legislature convenes this week, Democrats control all three chambers of government: the state House, 55 to 43; the state Senate, 26 to 23; and the governor's mansion. The last time these stars aligned was 1993.

Republicans hope to make Gov. Christine Gregoire's term as short as possible. On Friday, Jan. 7, the state Republican Party challenged Gregoire's election in court (see "The Do-over Campaign," p. 10), claiming the chaos of the vote counting made her victory invalid. The GOP hopes that a judge will require a "revote" between her and former Republican state Sen. Dino Rossi. Gregoire is pushing ahead, clearly hoping that governing will be the best medicine for the illness plaguing the electoral system

A fractured franchise hasn't stopped other executives from being extremely successful at pursuing their political agenda—Presidents George W. Bush and Thomas Jefferson spring to mind—yet another specter is haunting Olympia: the ghost of 1993. That was the last time that a new Democratic governor, Mike Lowry, came into office with a Democratic majority in the Legislature. Lowry and the Democrats passed progressive, comprehensive health care reform and helped close a $1 billion state deficit with $600 million in new business taxes. It was good legislation, but political disaster. Voters responded by pounding the Democrats at the ballot box the following year. In 1994, the Democrats lost 28 seats in the state House and haven't controlled Olympia since.

This year, the Democrats have a difficult task in front of them. They have no money (a $1.8 billion budget deficit is projected for the next biennium); a state full of problems (transportation gridlock, education shortfalls, health care crises, and unemployment woes); a whole bunch of riled-up interest groups that worked hard to get them elected and now expect payback; an ambivalent electorate ("We want more services but fewer taxes"); and some really angry Republicans just waiting for them to overreach.

Democrats are divided about how to respond. Some are trying out new rhetoric, hoping that a different way of talking about raising taxes and requiring employer health care will produce broader public support. Others want to tack to the middle—stick with Gov. Gary Locke's 2003 no-new-taxes approach. They also face very real divisions within their caucuses over style and personality.

The Players

At the beginning of this new legislative session, the most powerful player in Olympia, Gov. Gregoire, is also the biggest cipher. What kind of a governor will she be? Will we get the dynamic three-term attorney general who in 1998 orchestrated an incredible $206 billion settlement between the states and the tobacco companies that is bringing Washington more than $4.5 billion? Or will we get the tentative gubernatorial candidate of 2004 who never found a strong message, connected poorly with the voters, and eked out a meager 129-vote win after three counts?

Gregoire, 57, born in Auburn and raised by a single mom who worked as a short-order cook, rose through the ranks of state government, first reaching prominence as the head of the Department of Ecology under former Gov. Booth Gardner. At Ecology, in 1989, she cut her first megadeal: the Tri-Party Agreement between the state and the federal government over the cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Not only was the agreement a model for cleanups around the nation, but for the last 15 years, Gregoire has also consistently earned high marks from nuclear watchdogs for her defense of the accord in the face of the feds' efforts to weaken it. Look for her to operate as governor in a similar fashion: She will bring all parties to the table, conduct some intense negotiations, and try to fashion agreements that drop jaws.

She'll have to learn how to talk to the public first. During the gubernatorial campaign, Gregoire failed to communicate effectively. Her style was so legalistic that people came away never knowing what she stood for. Town Hall's David Brewster, founding editor of Seattle Weekly, says, "I don't know what she really is. She ran an issueless campaign." You hear this criticism of Gregoire repeatedly—yet she delivered detailed policy papers on education, the economy, and health care with a host of specific proposals (although much vagueness on how to pay for them). The details never gelled into something people could grasp. Gregoire needs to define herself quickly. Right now, the Republicans are rushing to label her—in a variation of President Rutherford B. Hayes' nickname—Her Fraudulency.

Gregoire's main collaborators face big challenges of their own.

(Jay Vidheecharoen) House Speaker Frank Chopp: a control freak who plays an inside game.

Speaker of the House Frank Chopp has to prove that he can be as good a legislator as he is a campaigner. Chopp, 51, born in Bremerton, is president of the social-service agency the Fremont Public Association. He has had a stormy tenure as leader of the House Democrats—frequently clashing with members of his own party. He was elected in 1994, the year the Democrats lost 28 seats and control of the House. In 1998, he took over as leader of the House Democrats and has picked up 16 seats in the last six years. There's no doubt that Chopp has been extremely effective at recruiting good candidates and helping them run winning campaigns. His ability to help Democrats govern is another question. Chopp plays a very inside game, so it is hard for outside observers, including the press, to know what is really going on. Pundits, Republicans, and some of his fellow Democrats accuse Chopp of being a control freak who hampers his team's ability to negotiate by never delegating authority. He dismisses the criticism. "I don't think what they are saying is accurate, fair, or timely." Feuds between Chopp and some other key Democratic players—Locke; House Appropriations Chair Helen Sommers, D-Seattle; and House Transportation Chair Ed Murray, D-Seattle—are Olympia's biggest open secret. Says Chopp, "We have had numerous conversations with Ed. We are finding a lot of common ground. The same goes for Helen."