GOP Chairman Caleb Heimlich expects more gubernatorial candidates to emerge soon

The potential Republican candidates for Washington state governor are not nearly as numerous as the amount of Democrats running for president. Republic Police Chief Loren Culp — known for his opposition to gun control initiative I-1639 — recently announced his run, and both Senator Phil Fortunato and Representative Drew Stokesbary have expressed vague interest.

Washington GOP Chairman Caleb Heimlich joined the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH to discuss the process for finding the right candidate.

“I’ve been talking with a lot of people behind the scenes and we’re going to have an open process. I think we’re going to see over the next couple weeks a couple of candidates announce,” he said. “We’re going to let the voters decide. That’s the way the Republican Party works. We actually trust our voters, unlike the Democrats that try to rig things with backroom deals that always backfire.”

Fortunato has frequently made headlines in Olympia. Back in January, he proposed a law that would require any legislator crafting a gun-related bill to go through mandatory firearm training. Most recently, he garnered attention for a letter he issued to current governor Jay Inslee, asking that Inslee reimburse taxpayers for security costs incurred by his 2020 presidential campaign.

Rep. Stokesbary: ‘We could’ve funded all priorities without raising taxes’

This year, Representative Drew Stokesbary introduced legislation that would allow student-athletes from the state’s colleges to earn compensation. And after the state House passed a significant piece of legislation to address the opioid crisis, he added an amendment that also prohibited partnerships between the state and safe injection sites.

As to who would actually have a shot at winning in Washington state, Heimlich simply hopes to build a foundation for whoever emerges so that they have a strong chance.

“The state party will continue to build that infrastructure so that whoever wins that primary in August of 2020 — we will be able to unite behind them and make sure they get elected,” he said. “I think as we saw in 2016 there were 16 candidates for president. I think nobody would have thought of those 16 — or very few people — would have said Donald Trump is the guy that’s going to get it done.”

State Sen. Phil Fortunato weighs possible run for Washington governor

“The Republican Party allowed a fair process to play out, we trusted our voters across the country. And the voters picked the person that got the job done and won. And so that’s I think our approach to the 2020 nomination in Washington state.”

Heimlich sees a potential backlash against the current Democratic-controlled status quo and believes voters are in need of a fresh approach.

“Voters are fed up with the status quo in Seattle and King County where you’ve got Dow Constantine, the culture of corruption from the Democrats, and so I think people are looking for alternatives. It’s all about how you present those alternatives whether it’s a very conservative person or whether it’s a moderate.”

“I think it’s going to be decided by the voters in the primary. And I think we’re going to have a healthy discussion, a healthy debate, and ultimately whoever that person is, work to unite behind them and win.”

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jasonrantz