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Old-guard WA Democrats stage an intervention as party tacks left
July 22, 2026 at 6:00 am

Former Gov. Gary Locke has decried how Democrats have used one-time
money to start programs that they now canrCOt sustain. “Even with
all the new taxes theyrCOve passed, they continue to have deficits as far
as the eye can see.” Locke and former Gov. Christine Gregoire have blasted their party’s enthusiasm for spending and taxes. (Ken
Lambert / The Seattle Times, File photo

Former Gov. Gary Locke has decried how Democrats have used one-time
money to start programs that they now canrCOt sustain. rCLEven with all the new taxes theyrCOve passed, they continue to have deficits as far as the
eye can see.rCY Locke and former Gov. Christine...

Danny Westneat By Danny Westneat
Seattle Times columnist
Call it an intervention.

Or maybe call it the last laments of the old Democratic Party.

Either way, the eldest two of WashingtonrCOs living former governors, Christine Gregoire and Gary Locke, have now called out their own party
for rCLout of controlrCY spending and taxes in Olympia.

rCLChristine and I had a good conversation a couple of months ago, and we
came to an agreement that we needed to speak out,rCY Locke, who was
Washington governor from 1997 through 2004, told me.

Gregoire, 79, went first. She was governor for eight years right after
Locke. Speaking at an Association of Washington Business conference in
May, she lacerated what she described as the current partyrCOs bloated spending.

rCLI would suggest to you, we donrCOt really have an income problem, we have
a spending problem,rCY she said.

She noted the state budget was around $33 billion when she left office
in 2013 and has ballooned to more than $80 billion today. When adjusted
for inflation and population growth, that $33 billion is more like $60
billion in todayrCOs dollars. But the $20 billion difference still
reflects how dramatically Democrats have added to spending and new
programs in the past dozen years.

Gregoire, who now heads a business alliance called Challenge Seattle,
said she scarcely recognizes her own party. She compared it to how
moderate Republicans must feel about MAGA.

rCLI became a Democrat with John F. Kennedy, if you can believe that far back,rCY she said. rCLI donrCOt know that he could get a nomination today.rCY

Locke, 76, went next, appearing at another business-sponsored event last
week. He elaborated to me on the critique he delivered there.

rCLThey donrCOt have any budget discipline in Olympia, the spending has
gotten out of control,rCY Locke said. rCLTheyrCOre spending way beyond the revenues.rCY

He decried how Democrats have used one-time money to start programs that
they now canrCOt sustain. rCLEven with all the new taxes theyrCOve passed, they continue to have deficits as far as the eye can see.rCY

Locke cited subsidized preschool. Democrats started early learning
programs in 2021, using federal COVID-19 money. Since that money went
away, funding for preschool has become an annual political crisis, with parents and educators decrying any cutbacks while business leaders and
others fume over higher taxes.

The estimated costs have also quadrupled.

Locke said he supports the idea of universal preschool. But it needs to
work.

rCLMy concern is that the promises are not being kept,rCY he said. rCLIt leads to distrust. I think there could be a rude awakening.rCY

WhatrCOs fascinating about this intervention is where itrCOs coming from.

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Gregoire and Locke are the old Democratic Party rCo both in age and
political temperament. I would characterize them as 1990s Democrats.
ThatrCOs when both were first elected to statewide office, and also when Democrats were reeling from being walloped by Republicans and had
responded by shifting the party toward the center.

Consider that in 1995, just as Locke was beginning his first run for
governor, Republicans occupied eight out of the 11 U.S. House and Senate
seats in this state. It seems unimaginable today, but Washington had a predominantly red Congressional delegation.

As a result, there was scant support back then for taxes. Gregoire was governor during the big 2010 recession and was essentially forced to
pass all-cuts budgets after voters rejected even a temporary
2-cents-per-can soda tax. That was also the last time werCOve voted on a
state income tax on the wealthy rCo which got slaughtered by 28 points.

Are these scions of that past Democratic Party in touch with what
animates Washington voters today?

Current Democratic officeholders defend themselves by pointing to the
people.

In 2024, for example, three of their major new spending programs went up
for statewide votes. There was the new climate change program for
roughly $1.5 billion per year, a tax for long-term care that raises
another $1.5 billion annually, and a capital gains tax to help pay for education, about $1 billion per year.

ThatrCOs $4 billion in yearly taxing and spending rCo the most ever up for vote at one time. And voters backed every penny of it.

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So is the spending a rCLproblemrCY if voters want more of it?

rCLItrCOs not a problem, itrCOs democracy, right?rCY said state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle. rCLThe voters are just in a different place right
now. YourCOve got this dramatic cutting of taxes on millionaires and billionaires at the federal level, combined with slashing Medicaid for
poor people rCo itrCOs just got voters reflecting on what are we doing here?rCY

As much as anything IrCOve seen in local politics, those 2024 votes
emboldened Democrats to go bigger. It explains the passage of this
yearrCOs millionaires income tax, sponsored by Pedersen. The progressive
base isnrCOt saying rCLok, thatrCOs enough,rCY itrCOs demanding still more on top
of that.

rCLBig corporations, billionaires, and Republicans, as well as Christine Gregoire, want to convince WA that we donrCOt need a millionaires tax
because the problem instead is somehow that we spend too much,rCY local Democratic organizer Robert Cruickshank said last month on Bluesky
social media. rCLWe have to fight back, hard.rCY

What werCOve got here is a bit of a war for the soul of the Democratic
Party. Old or new? 1996 or 2026? Middle way or all the way.

WhorCOs right depends on where you sit. But thanks to this public intervention, itrCOs all out in the open now.

That statewide vote on the millionaires tax this fall? It sure looks
like itrCOs now going to double as a referendum on rCLwhich wayrCY for the future of Democratic Party politics.

Correction: This article was changed after publication to note that in
1995 eight out of 11 of WashingtonrCOs congressional delegation were Republicans.

Danny Westneat: dwestneat@seattletimes.com. Danny Westneat, a metro news columnist at The Seattle Times since 2004, takes an opinionated look at
the Puget Sound region's news, people and politics.



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