Dan Evans, former Washington governor and US senator, dies at 98

Daniel J. Evans, who served three terms as governor of Washington, has died at the age of 98. The Seattle Times broke the news Saturday afternoon. Evans apparently died on Friday.

Evans, who was the last Republican governor to be re-elected in the Evergreen State – when he secured his third and final term in 1972 – later served in the United States Senate. Governor John Spellman, the last Republican governor to be elected by Washingtonians back in 1980, appointed Evans to fill the seat vacated when U.S. Sen. Henry M. Jackson passed away in 1983. Spellman, who passed away in 2018, failed in his reelection bid in 1984.

Dan Evans was born and raised in Seattle and early in his career worked as an engineer on what became the Alaskan Way Viaduct. After becoming active in Republican precinct politics in the 1950s, he served in the state legislature and then ran for governor in 1964, defeating Democrat Albert Rossellini. After leaving the governor’s mansion in early 1977, Evans became the first president of The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

With his old-school Evergreen State Republican approach – fiscally conservative yet socially moderate, and not afraid to be called an environmentalist – Evans drew wide support from Democratic voters in his multiple statewide election victories. Still, in 1968, Evans was the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention in Miami; in that year when Richard Nixon won the party’s nomination, Evans was Nelson Rockefeller supporter. Later, when President Gerald Ford ran for re-election in 1976, Evans was on the shortlist to be his vice president. Ford ultimately chose Bob Dole as his running mate.

Evans is fondly remembered by many for the role he took and welcoming Vietnamese refugees to Washington following the collapse of Saigon in 1975.when California governor Jerry Brown made it clear he did not want Vietnamese refugees in California, Evan sent his aid Ralph Munro – who later served as Washington Secretary of State – to Camp Pendleton to assess the situation and to create a channel to bring Vietnamese refugees to Washington.

“Dan Evans was an honorable, independent-minded public servant who put Washington state first and dedicated his life to protecting and investing in the places and people in our state,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said Saturday in a statement. “We were lucky to have him — and I have no doubt his legacy will live on for generations to come.”

Evans was a dominant force in Washington politics for decades and, until current Gov. Jay Inslee, he was the only person to be elected governor three times. In a statement posted to the social platform X, the Democrat said it was difficult to think of another resident who had such a positive impact on so many aspects of the state.

“We all, no matter our party, can feel fortunate for the progress he led during each of his three terms as governor,” Inslee said.

Daniel J. Evans was serving the first of his three terms as governor of Washington when he gave the 1968 Republican National Convention keynote speech in Miami. (Photo courtesy of Feliks Banel)

Over the past decade or so, Evans often spoke with KIRO Newsradio about the history he witnessed firsthand as an elected official and as a citizen of the Evergreen State, including being in office during the Civil Rights era. His passing truly marks the passing of the eldest of Washington’s elder statesmen, and the end of multiple eras of politics – and of just plain leadership – in the 42^nd state.

The Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Guidance at the University of Washington is named in his honor, as is the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness  in Olympic National Park.

In later years Evans served as a regent at the University of Washington, his alma mater. He also served on many nonprofit and corporate boards.

“His legacy of coming together for the greater good, despite party lines, has inspired and will continue to inspire public servants and the Evans School community,” Jodi Sandfort, the school’s dean, said in a statement.

Sandfort recalled a quote from Evans: “Accomplishing good things takes bipartisan effort, because often what we’re trying to accomplish isn’t partisan.”

“Seattle’s Morning News” will have a remembrance of the late Dan Evans on Monday.

Contributing:  The Associated Press

You can hear Feliks Banel every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien. Read more from Feliks here and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast here. If you have a story idea or a question about Northwest history, please email Feliks. You can also follow Feliks on X.

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